Trump Administration Orders Temporary Green Card Applicants To Return Home To Apply

The Trump administration announced Friday that “An alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply,” a policy delivered through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Zach Kahler’s statement.

“Trump administration issues directive requiring green card applicants to apply outside the US "We're returning to the original intent of the law," a spokesperson said”

ABC News

CBS News said the memo would eliminate the option for many immigrants to complete the process without leaving the U.S., requiring in most cases that applicants return home to apply for an immigrant visa overseas through an American consulate.

ABC News

The policy was described by USCIS as a return to the “original intent of the law,” with Kahler saying “From now on, an alien 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 reported that current and former U.S. immigration officials said the change could affect students, tourists and other temporary visa holders, as well as people who entered legally but overstayed their visas, when they seek green cards through sponsorships filed by U.S. citizen spouses or employers.

Immigration advocates and lawyers warned the policy could create indefinite family separation, with World Relief saying, “If families are told that the non-citizen family member must return to his or her country of origin to process their immigrant visa, but immigrant visas are not being processed there, it’s a Catch-22.”

The Independent quoted USCIS guidance that “aliens seeking adjustment of status” must do so “outside of the country,” while also reporting that David J. Bier of the Cato Institute wrote, “Impossible to explain how stupid and evil this policy is.”

Al Jazeera

NBC News reported that former USCIS official Doug Rand said, “The purpose of this policy is exclusion,” adding that forcing consular processing abroad is “no pathway at all.”

ABC News quoted immigration lawyer Todd Pomerleaus saying, “You can't, through a stroke of a pen, overturn a statute,” and said he expected the policy to be “shut down in court very quickly.”

The policy’s scope, as described by CBS News, could reach immigrants seeking permanent residency through U.S. citizen spouse or employer sponsorships, including those on temporary visas and those who overstayed, because the memo would treat adjustment of status as an “extraordinary” relief.

“The Trump administration on Friday announced a sweeping policy designed to make it harder for immigrants already in the U”

CBS News

CBS News reported that Michael Valverde said the announcement would “disrupt the plans of hundreds of thousands of families and employers annually,” and said it was “a largely unprecedented move that will limit lawful immigration to the U.S. greatly.”

Al Jazeera reported that USCIS guidance instructed officers to consider factors including visa violations, overstaying authorised periods of stay, unauthorised employment, fraud and whether applicants complied with the terms of their admission.

The Hill reported that David Bier said there are already “1 million pending claims for adjustment of status,” and described the policy as intended to cost people “their jobs and their families,” while noting USCIS could face litigation over the change.