Citizenship and Immigration Services to refer certain asylum applications directly to immigration judges without first conducting an interview, a change officials say is designed to reduce a backlog that has grown to more than 1.4 million pending cases. Under the previous process, USCIS asylum officers interviewed affirmative applicants before deciding whether to grant asylum or refer the case to an immigration judge for a fresh review. The new rule allows USCIS to skip that interview step and refer certain applications straight to Department of Justice immigration judges. Officials said up to 444,724 cases, or roughly 31% of the 1.43 million pending affirmative asylum backlog, could be affected by the change. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow defended the rule as a way to redirect agency resources toward legitimate claims.