The Board of Immigration Appeals has determined that an Immigration Judge does not have authority to terminate removal proceedings to give an arriving alien an opportunity to present an asylum claim to the Department of Homeland Security in the first instance. The Department of Homeland Security has the exclusive discretion whether to subject such individuals to the credible fear process or whether to initiate removal proceedings, and once a charging document has been filed, the Immigration Judge has exclusive jurisdiction over the asylum application.
The full text of Matter of J-A-B- & I-J-V-A can be found here: