Trump admin tells immigration judges to dismiss cases in tactic to speed up arrests

A memo to immigration judges provides new insight into a tactic the Trump administration is using in a bid to increase the number of immigrants it's detaining.

A recent memo to immigration judges obtained by NBC News provides fresh insight into how the Trump administration is pulling off a new tactic — dismissing pending immigration cases, then immediately moving to arrest the immigrants — that is part of its bid to quickly increase the number of immigrants it is detaining.

In the memo, the Justice Department instructs immigration judges, who report to the executive branch and are not part of the independent judiciary, to allow Department of Homeland Security lawyers to make motions to dismiss orally and then move quickly to grant those dismissals, rather than allow immigrants the 10-day response time that had been typical.

“Oral Decisions must be completed within the same hearing slot on the day testimony and arguments are concluded,” says the memo, which is dated May 30. It also tells the judges that “[n]o additional documentation or briefing is required” to grant the dismissals.

Once their cases are dismissed, the immigrants in question may be put in expedited removal proceedings, which means they can be deported without a chance to make their cases for asylum before immigration judges. The memo notes that people in expedited removal proceedings “are subject to mandatory detention” and can be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which falls under DHS.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.