White House Says “Era of Amnesty” in Immigration Courts Is Over as Deportation Orders Rise

White House Says “Era of Amnesty” in Immigration Courts Is Over as Deportation Orders Rise
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The White House has declared that the “era of amnesty is over” in U.S. immigration courts, citing a sharp increase in deportation orders and a significant decline in asylum approvals under the current administration.

The statement comes amid broader debate over changes to immigration enforcement and court procedures, including increased scrutiny of immigration judges and shifts in detention and asylum policy. Immigration judges—administrative adjudicators within the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review—decide whether non-citizens are removable and whether they qualify for relief such as asylum.

Recent data cited in public reporting indicate that asylum approval rates have fallen to historic lows, with estimates ranging below 10% in 2026, compared to higher rates in previous years. At the same time, deportation orders have increased, driven in part by a large backlog of cases and changes in how immigration enforcement is applied.

The article argues that these shifts are linked to earlier Biden-era policies, including expanded use of “catch and release” at the southern border and broader case management decisions that increased the immigration court backlog to nearly four million cases. Critics of those policies say they contributed to higher in-absentia removal orders when respondents failed to appear in court.

It also references a so-called “quiet amnesty” practice under the previous administration, in which hundreds of thousands of cases were dismissed, terminated, or closed under prosecutorial discretion, reducing the number of formal asylum adjudications.

Supporters of the current approach argue that tighter enforcement restores consistency in immigration law, while critics say policy swings between administrations have contributed to instability in the immigration court system.