Feels Like Starting From Zero: Asylum Seekers in Limbo

(UNITED STATES) The Trump administration’s 2025 immigration crackdown has pushed thousands of asylum seekers into what advocates describe as a legal “deep freeze,” as sweeping new rules block access to the border, pile on new fees, and expand fast‑track deportations nationwide. Announced through a series of moves capped by a presidential proclamation on January 20, 2025, the policy shift has left people who fled violence and persecution feeling, in their own words, that they are “starting from zero” every time they try to seek protection in the United States 🇺🇸.

Border access and ports of entry

Central to the new approach is a rule that makes it effectively impossible for people to present themselves at U.S.–Mexico border ports of entry to ask for asylum. The January 20 proclamation imposed strict documentation demands and procedural hurdles that most people fleeing danger cannot meet, especially those who arrive with few belongings, limited money, and no access to lawyers.

Instead of what used to be relatively orderly processing at official crossings, many now face closed doors, confusing instructions, or are told they cannot even start an asylum case. For families who believed that going to ports of entry was the “legal way” to ask for protection, this has created deep fear and chaos at the border.

Expedited removal and due process concerns

At the same time, the administration has expanded expedited removal nationwide, turning what was once a limited tool into a fast‑track deportation system.

• Expedited removal allows officers to order someone deported without a regular court hearing, often based on a brief interview.
• This shift raises sharp concerns about due process, because people who might once have had a chance to explain their fears to an immigration judge now risk being quickly removed.
• Reports of immigration raids in sensitive places such as schools and hospitals have heightened insecurity and fear in communities.

People seeking asylum under U.S. law and international refugee protections now face the risk of rapid removal even when they are attempting to present a claim for protection.

Important takeaway: expanded expedited removal means many people may be denied the fuller review they would have received in immigration court.

Changes to parole programs and Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

The crackdown extends beyond the border and into existing humanitarian programs.

• Parole programs that had provided a narrow lifeline for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have been terminated.
  • Individuals from these countries who were paroled into the United States within the last two years can now be placed directly into expedited removal.
  • For many, the temporary safety they thought they had is suddenly at risk.
• The administration has also ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 300,000 Venezuelans, exposing them to possible deportation back to conditions widely documented as dangerous and unstable.

Financial penalties and fee structure

Financial penalties are now central to the new asylum system, creating heavy burdens for people who arrive with almost no resources.

• The government introduced a non‑waivable $100 application fee for asylum.
• There is an annual $100 fee for every year an asylum case remains pending.
• A $5,000 penalty is applied for unauthorized border crossings.

These measures often hit asylum seekers who, blocked at ports of entry, feel they have no choice but to cross between them. According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, these combined costs function less as standard filing fees and more as punishment for people simply trying to ask for protection.

Important: The annual fee applies even if delays are caused by government backlogs — applicants still must pay while cases remain pending.

Fee summary

Impact of fees on asylum seekers

Lawyers say these financial measures create an impossible bind.

• Asylum seekers are often barred from working legally for many months and depend on community support.
• They are now expected to come up with hundreds or thousands of dollars just to keep cases alive.
• When cases drag on because of court delays or government scheduling problems, the annual fee still applies — many feel they are paying for the system’s own slowness.

For people already traumatized by war, gangs, or political persecution, the repeated resets and financial drain reinforce the sense that they are always “starting from zero.”

Increased role for state and local police

Another major shift is the deeper role given to state and local police in federal immigration enforcement.

• Local officers can be deputized to carry out immigration arrests.
• Jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate may face cuts in federal funding.

Advocates warn this change invites racial profiling and makes immigrant communities afraid to contact police even when they are victims or witnesses of crime. Routine traffic stops or minor infractions can now turn into immigration arrests, placing asylum seekers and mixed‑status families under constant stress.

Community leaders say the message is clear: anyone who looks or sounds “foreign” may be seen as a target.

Refugee resettlement: near shutdown with one exception

The administration has moved to almost shut down refugee resettlement, a long‑standing program that brings people found to be refugees overseas to safety in the United States.

• Resettlement is indefinitely suspended for everyone except Afrikaners, a white minority group from South Africa.
• That exception has drawn sharp criticism from advocates who argue the policy effectively closes a main legal pathway for most of the world’s refugees while carving out space for one favored group.

With resettlement suspended and asylum squeezed at the border, legal pathways for people seeking protection have narrowed dramatically.

Human cost and daily realities

For those already in the system, the combined impact of blocked ports of entry, expanded expedited removal, lost parole, canceled TPS, and mounting fees has left many in prolonged limbo.

• People who once believed they had a clear path to present their claims now face long waits with no clear end, constant fear of sudden deportation, and heavy financial pressure.
• Some are scared to seek medical care or send their children to school because of enforcement actions in those spaces.
• Others skip check‑ins or hearings because they cannot pay the latest fee, putting them at risk of losing their cases entirely.

In border shelters and crowded apartments in U.S. cities, the human cost is visible.

• Parents describe children waking at night afraid that “la migra” will come to the door.
• Adults who escaped political violence speak of giving fingerprints again and again, paying fee after fee, and still being told their case is effectively back at the beginning.

For many asylum seekers, the phrase “feels like starting from zero” is not just a slogan but a daily reality inside an immigration system that now seems designed to push them out rather than hear them out.

Responses from officials and advocates

Officials defending the policies argue that stricter rules are needed to deter irregular migration and keep the system from being overwhelmed.

Legal aid groups, faith leaders, and local officials in border communities counter that the strategy is pushing asylum seekers into more dangerous routes and trapping them in endless uncertainty. They point to long‑standing U.S. and international commitments not to return people to places where they face persecution and argue that fast‑track deportations and fee‑based barriers conflict with those promises.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website still describes asylum as protection for people who cannot return home because they fear serious harm, but the on‑the‑ground reality in 2025 looks very different from that basic principle.