The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has introduced new rules for processing asylum applications that, according to officials, will make it possible to speed up the deportation of hundreds of thousands of migrants and reduce the accumulated backlog of pending cases, AFP reports.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), some asylum applications will now be sent directly to immigration judges at the Department of Justice without a preliminary interview with officers of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The agency said the current system effectively gave migrants a “second chance” to obtain asylum. In the authorities’ view, the new procedure will shorten case review times both for USCIS officers and for immigration judges.

According to DHS, the changes could affect up to 444,724 cases, which is about 31% of the total 1.43 million pending asylum applications.

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said that the asylum system is intended to protect people who genuinely fear persecution, not those who use it as a way to delay deportation or obtain work authorization.

U.S. President Donald Trump, having returned to the White House, continues to carry out his campaign promise to intensify the fight against illegal immigration, speed up deportations, and reduce the number of unlawful border crossings.