The Trump administrationhas shifted its focus towards tighter legal immigration rules across the United States, unveiling amajor new policyon Friday that will force mostgreen card applicantsto leave the country while their cases are processed, even if that means long separations from family members.
The move comes after internal polling reportedly showed that President Donald Trump's high profile crackdown on illegal immigration in cities such as Chicago and Minneapolis was politically unpopular.
The shift follows a bruising year in which federal immigration agents were sent into Democratic led cities and confronted not only undocumented migrants but also growing public anger. In Minneapolis, resentment surged after thedeaths of two American citizenswho were protesting the federal immigration crackdown, prompting the White House to scale back enforcement there.
At the centre of the latest pivot is thegreen card system. Green cards give lawful permanent residence to people already vetted by US authorities and on a path to citizenship. Until now, many applicants were allowed to stay in the country while their paperwork moved through the system, but under the newDepartment of Homeland Securitydirective most will have to leave the US and wait abroad, often for months or even years, before getting a decision.
Immigration lawyers say they were caught off guard. The rule targets a process that had long been treated as bureaucratic and politically low key, and law firms and advocacy groups spent the weekend warning clients they may have to choose between career stability in the US and staying close to spouses or children.
The Trump administration on Friday announced a sweeping policy designed to make it harder for immigrants already in the U.S. to get permanent residency, or a green card.Officials said they would eliminate the option for many immigrants seeking a green card to complete the…pic.twitter.com/4l6r4aMIsX
The green card change sits alongside a wider wave of restrictions. The Trump administration has ordered broadtravel limits affecting immigrantsfrom more than 35 countries, paused a longstanding diversity lottery that offered more than 50,000 visas, halted long term immigrant visas from 75 countries and frozen immigration applications from people already in the US who are from restricted countries, even when they are seeking only temporary status.
The administration has also been developing a separate policy that would make it harder for would be immigrants who might one day need public assistance to secure green cards, according to previous reporting. The result is a denser web of barriers affecting students, workers and families who had followed the rules.
For officials close to Trump, this is not a contradiction but a coherent approach. David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the distinction between legal and illegal migration was always thinner than it appeared. 'They do not see their legal immigration agenda as being separate and apart from their illegal immigration agenda,' he said. 'The legal immigration agenda is an extension of their illegal immigration agenda.'
This is a MASSIVE change in policy and LONG OVERDUE to protect America.President Trump is demanding thta all noncitizens leave the country if they're applying for a green card.Translation: You can't skip the line and wait for your application to be processed while sitting…pic.twitter.com/tGbn1orWfw
Source: International Business Times UK
