{"id":708,"date":"2026-05-29T06:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T06:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708"},"modified":"2026-05-29T06:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T06:39:12","slug":"shady-immigration-attorneys-laughed-off-the-law-now-theyll-have-to-pay-for-their-asylum-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708","title":{"rendered":"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they’ll have to pay for their asylum games"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This week, the Department of Homeland Security announced\u00a0a new effort to crack down on asylum fraud \u2014 by going after the lawyers who enable it.<\/p>\n

DHS will be imposing civil fines on attorneys who file bogus and frivolous protection applications on behalf of their alien clients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About time: For decades, various administrations have turned a blind eye to those who exploit Americans\u2019 humanitarian instincts for pecuniary gain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By its nature, fraud generally is one of the hardest crimes to prove \u2014 it\u2019s axiomatic in law enforcement that the greatest con artists are the ones who never got caught.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our generous asylum laws, however, almost encourage fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To ensure immigrants aren\u2019t returned to persecution or torture back home, the US\u00a0asylum statute\u00a0is intentionally lax on the evidence applicants must present to support their claims.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Applicants\u2019 testimony alone \u201cmay be sufficient to sustain\u201d their burden of proof \u201cwithout corroboration,\u201d but only if the court finds it credible and concludes there\u2019s no supporting evidence they could and must present.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That overly compassionate evidence standard has been abused for years by aliens who concoct tales of mistreatment and harm, many of which boggle the imagination and strain credulity.<\/p>\n

But given that few judges are familiar with police practices in far-off lands, or with the political struggles in remote regions of the world, they don\u2019t have much to go on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The State Department used to help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior to President Barack Obama\u2019s administration, consular officers would pore over applications, opining on some directly and writing generalized \u201ccountry conditions\u201d assessments on the most common claims in the rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back then, asylum applications were far more limited, with a backlog of about 106,000 in 2012.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been over a decade since the State Department provided such comments, and in the interim, the backlog \u2014 nearly\u00a02.36 million\u00a0asylum applications in the nation\u2019s 73 immigration courts alone \u2014 has grown so large our consular officers abroad would be powerless to respond to more than a sample.<\/p>\n

The flood of cases, coupled with the relaxed evidentiary standards and the promise of a work permit for simply filing an application, has created a vulnerability that unauthorized aliens and more than a few attorneys and notarios<\/em> \u2014 hucksters who pass themselves off as lawyers with no license or training \u2014 have exploited.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Want proof?\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the first six months of FY 2026 alone, more than\u00a048,000\u00a0aliens who had already filed applications were ordered removed\u00a0in absentia<\/em>\u00a0when they simply stopped going to immigration court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The only reason an immigrant would file an application and not appear thereafter is because the claims therein were worthless.<\/p>\n

But going through the motions of making them was precondition to obtaining a work permit \u2014 and a Social Security number, which remains valid even after the employment document isn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Critically, and although DHS doesn\u2019t spell it out, the department is not only going after \u201cfraudulent applications\u201d \u2014 in which one or more of the claims is false or fabricated \u2014 but \u201cfrivolous\u201d ones, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A frivolous application is one in which the claims may be true, but they fail to satisfy the strenuous statutory requirements for asylum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To be granted asylum, an alien must show past persecution or a \u201cwell-founded fear of persecution\u201d on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poverty, common crime and even violent conflict aren\u2019t sufficient \u2014 but I have heard of claims from immigrants who argued the police back home give out too many parking tickets, the neighbors look at them funny,\u00a0or the smog in their hometown causes asthma.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asylum applicants themselves might not know those claims are woefully insufficient, but licensed attorneys either do or should.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With DHS consequences now in play, expect them to check the law and the facts before hitting send on an iffy application \u2014 or not send it at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Reviewing nearly 3 million applications will be challenging, but many judges and attorneys \u2014 the vast majority of whom are scrupulous and diligent \u2014 are fed up with shady practitioners and ready to drop a dime.<\/p>\n

And an assist from artificial intelligence will enable DHS to scan through hundreds of files at a time, looking for repeated phrases and scenarios, common markers of fraud in past investigations.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s well past time to end the fraud and the frivolity undermining our immigration system.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Andrew Arthur is a fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our generous asylum laws almost encourage immigration fraud, now the feds are cracking down \u2014 by going after the lawyers who help make it happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nShady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they'll have to pay for their asylum games - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they'll have to pay for their asylum games - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our generous asylum laws almost encourage immigration fraud, now the feds are cracking down \u2014 by going after the lawyers who help make it happen.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T06:39:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they’ll have to pay for their asylum games\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T06:39:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708\"},\"wordCount\":751,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708\",\"name\":\"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they'll have to pay for their asylum games - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T06:39:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=708#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they’ll have to pay for their asylum games\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they'll have to pay for their asylum games - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they'll have to pay for their asylum games - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Our generous asylum laws almost encourage immigration fraud, now the feds are cracking down \u2014 by going after the lawyers who help make it happen.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-05-29T06:39:12+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they’ll have to pay for their asylum games","datePublished":"2026-05-29T06:39:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708"},"wordCount":751,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp","articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708","name":"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they'll have to pay for their asylum games - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-29T06:39:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/697871b7f9b5ac786f5bb55d76132e1b.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=708#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shady immigration attorneys laughed off the law \u2014 now they’ll have to pay for their asylum games"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}