WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Trump administration has said it will re-examine green cards issued to migrants from 19 countries who immigrated to the United States as directed by President Donald Trump.
'At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,' U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow wrote on X Thursday.
In a press release later, USCIS said that in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard service members in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national, it issued new guidance allowing for negative, country-specific factors to be considered when vetting immigrants from 19 high-risk countries. This guidance comes after the Trump administration halted refugee resettlement from Afghanistan and the entry of Afghan nationals in its first year of office.
It did not specify the countries that are targeted by the guidance.
BBC reported that the countries of origin of green card holders who will be subject to re-examination include Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Venezuela, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo and Libya.
'My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,' said Edlow. 'This includes an assessment of where they are coming from and why. Yesterday's horrific events make it abundantly clear the Biden administration spent the last four years dismantling basic vetting and screening standards, prioritizing the rapid resettlement of aliens from high-risk countries over the safety of American citizens. The Trump administration takes the opposite approach. Effective immediately, I am issuing new policy guidance that authorizes USCIS officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative factors when reviewing immigration requests. American lives come first.'
The updated guidance, including consideration of country-specific factors such as a country's ability to issue secure identity documents, will further strengthen USCIS' implementation of Trump's Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10949, Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, USCIS said in the press release. It will allow USCIS officers to more meaningfully assess whether an alien is a threat to public safety and national security.
USCIS said this policy guidance goes into effect immediately and applies to requests pending or filed on or after November 27.
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