The Trump administration is using a unique power of the attorney general's office to block migrants and reshape immigration law, NBC News is reporting.
The latest example is a Monday ruling by Attorney General William Barr that limited the ability of migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. According to the news network, Barr used a process called "certification" for a decision that shuts the door on most asylum seekers who are fearful of persecution due to family ties.
Barr has used the certification process to restrict the discretion of immigration judges and narrow asylum law, NBC News said.
"All of these things fit into the same master plan of trying to force judges into becoming this kind of assembly line for issuing deportation orders," said Jeffrey Chase, a former immigration court judge.
Barr is able to exert the power of his office because immigration courts are part of the executive branch and are controlled by the Justice Department. Since the attorney general runs the Justice Department, he is essentially both the nation's top prosecutor and the immigration courts' top judge, NBC News said.
Although other attorneys general have used the power in the past, Barr is on pace to outdo them all.
Critics charge the process puts too much power in the hands of the attorney general.
"It's very dangerous practice," said Stephen Legomsky, a former chief counsel for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. "It should be judges and not politicians, and certainly not prosecutors, who should be deciding individual cases."