Trump Administration Green Card Policy Change Triggers Backlash Over Applicants Returning to Home Countries

The Trump administration’s recent immigration policy change on green cards triggered backlash and concerns that “hundreds of thousands of green card applicants would be forced to leave the U.S. to continue their cases,” CBS News reported.

“Following intense backlash, the Trump administration is seeking to downplay the impact and scope of a recent immigration policy change that triggered concerns that hundreds of thousands of green card applicants would be forced to leave the U”

CBS News

CBS News said a USCIS spokesperson told the outlet that someone “who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.”

CBS News

After the alarm, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement portraying the guidance as “longstanding law and policy,” and CBS News reported DHS said the “policy will not prevent any alien from obtaining a green card who legitimately and properly qualify.”

CNN described the impact on Francisco and Julia, who said they were advised they could apply to change immigration status while living in the U.S. rather than returning to Chile, but now face uncertainty as messaging shifts.

CNN quoted Julia saying, “This change in policy puts us in a situation where we made a family decision based on a certain policy expectation, and now that’s been changed retroactively,” as she said she could be “alone with two newborns.”

Lynden Melmed, who served as the top lawyer at USCIS under the George W. Bush administration, told CBS News that DHS’ new statement sought to narrow the scope of the green card guidance, making it “less categorical.”

CBS News reported Melmed said the guidance will still likely prove to be “burdensome” for immigrant applicants and their lawyers, prompting them to submit more evidence to show why they should not be required to leave the U.S. and apply abroad.

CNN

CNN reported that USCIS described adjustment of status as a “loophole,” but Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration attorney, said “It is the law, and the law will continue to allow for adjustment of status for individuals who otherwise qualify inside the United States.”

CNN also quoted Kuck saying, “I do not expect a massive series of denials, plus there is no way they can apply this memo retroactively,” as he argued no judge would uphold a retroactive requirement to restart the process abroad.

In the same CNN account, Julia said the prospect of separation is “really scary to think about being separated when the kids are little,” after DHS sought to backpedal on the most expansive interpretation of the directive.

Beyond the green card dispute, SinEmbargo alleged that the Republican administration used far-right imagery and phrases, including a Department of Homeland Security message that “We will have our home again,” written on January 9, two days after the murder of Renee Good at the hands of immigration agents.

“On the National Mall in Washington, this weekend a giant replica of a birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein bearing the name Donald Trump was erected as part of a collection of letters gifted decades ago to the late convicted sex offender”

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SinEmbargo said Christopher Hayes, labor historian and professor at Rutgers University, warned that “the motivation behind this, the message, the feeling and the desired outcome” were alarming, tying the phrase to a white supremacist band’s chorus.

In the same SinEmbargo account, Puneet Maharaj of National Nurses United said, “Not surprising that a fascist regime would publish fascist propaganda on a fascist social network like X, but it remains troubling to see the DOL posting content that serves a fascist and white supremacist agenda.”

CNN’s green card reporting centered on the personal stakes of policy confusion, with Julia describing the possibility that she would be “alone with two newborns in a full-time job” if the restrictive interpretation applied to her case.

CNN also captured the couple’s anxiety about separation, as Julia said, “It’s really scary to think about being separated when the kids are little,” while they waited to see how USCIS officers would apply the guidance in individual cases.