ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
This week, the Trump administration announced a policy that's expected to make it harder for foreigners to get a green card. In a memo dated May 21, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, told its officers to require more green card applicants to go back to their home countries and apply from there. NPR's Martin Kaste has been following this story and joins us now. Hi, Martin.
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: Hey, Adrian.
FLORIDO: Martin, explain this. Does every foreign national here in the country who wants a green card have to go back to their home country to apply under this new policy?
KASTE: Well, not everyone, but maybe a lot more. It's likely to affect people who are here on some kind of temporary status, like a student on a student visa or a work visa, or maybe a tourist, or maybe someone who's marrying an American. People in these situations often apply for something that's called adjustment of status. That allows them to apply for permanent residence - what we call a green card - even though applying for a green card was not their official purpose in coming to the U.S.
More than half of the people who get green cards have done this by getting this adjustment of status. The figure was 600,000 people back in 2023. And the Trump administration says that's too many. It says, adjustment of status is a matter of what they call, quote, "administrative grace," that it should be an exception and not a rule.
FLORIDO: Does the administration say why it's doing this?
KASTE: Well, they say they're closing a loophole. They say people are coming to the U.S. for these non-immigration purposes, like work or tourism, and that often means less vetting when they come from their home countries. But once they're here, they're violating the intent of the visas and becoming de facto immigrants. In a written statement, the USCIS spokesman said, quote, "when aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency," close quote.
FLORIDO: So how does this work then, for someone who is in the U.S. right now? Say, someone on a work visa who wants to stay permanently - how much harder does the green card process become?
KASTE: Well, I was wondering that, and frankly, we don't really know for sure yet. But I did call Anne Rowley, who's an immigration attorney in San Diego, and she says she thinks it is going to be harder on people who've already put down some roots.
ANNE ROWLEY: You know, they might have to leave their home. They might not be able to work. And then to wait for an effectively indefinite period of time outside the country to wait for their green card, of course, brings a lot of uncertainty, as well.
KASTE: And she points out that the green card process is actually different when you're applying at a consulate overseas because the State Department runs that, and they ask for other things. So if you're applying from overseas, you may have to, for example, produce police certificates from every country where you've lived before, something you wouldn't have to do if you're applying here.
FLORIDO: Well, what has the reaction been to this new announced policy from pro-immigration groups?
KASTE: It's been pretty negative. It's being interpreted as an attack - or another attack, they would say - on legal immigration. David Bier at the libertarian Cato Institute yesterday posted an article that ridiculed the idea that adjustment of status is supposed to be an exception, not the rule. He says most green card applicants have received adjustments for years and that Congress meant this as a normal way for immigration to work, to spare people the work of having to go back home to their countries of origin. He says this is what he calls a radical expansion of DHS's quiet quitting on legal immigration.
FLORIDO: So how soon does this new policy take effect?
KASTE: Well, this is a memo for USCIS officers. It's already in effect as guidance. But you have to keep in mind that these are officers who have a lot of discretion case by case, and immigration lawyers say they're not really sure yet how this is going to play out and how closely they're going to implement this policy. Also the administration itself is already indicating that it may make some exceptions for people because of, quote, "an economic benefit" or "national interest." Things like that may be good news, for example, for people who are on H-1B visas working in the tech industry.
FLORIDO: I've been speaking with NPR correspondent Martin Kaste. Thanks, Martin.
KASTE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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