Trump Forces Green Card Applicants to Leave the US
The Guardian reported Friday that the Trump administration has ordered green card applicants already living in the United States to leave the country before their cases can be processed. The policy, announced by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, dismantles an application pathway that had existed unchanged for more than six decades.
A 60-Year Process Scrapped Overnight
USCIS issued a policy memo directing officers to evaluate cases individually. Only in extraordinary circumstances will exceptions be granted. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, framed the change as a return to legal intent. DHS said the prior system had incentivised what it called loopholes. Previously, immigrants already in the US could seek permanent residency through a process known as adjustment of status, filing without leaving the country. That route is now effectively closed for most applicants.
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Who Gets Hurt and How
According to a Cato Institute analyst cited by The Guardian, more than one million immigrants are currently in the queue for green cards. Many are embedded in American life. They hold jobs, rent homes and share households with US citizens. The new rule could force them abroad for an indeterminate period while their applications move through an already overburdened system. USCIS has been managing significant visa and green card backlogs. The fate of pending cases filed under the old rules remains unclear. Aid organisation HIAS raised particular alarm over vulnerable populations. The group said trafficking survivors and abused children fleeing dangerous conditions would now be compelled to return to those same environments.
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Background: A Pattern of Tightening
This change fits a broader and accelerating pattern. The Trump administration curtailed visa durations for students, cultural exchange visitors and journalists last year. In January, the State Department announced it had revoked over 100,000 visas since the start of the second Trump term. The administration has separately targeted refugees and other protected immigrant categories. Each measure has ratcheted restrictions tighter on legal immigration pathways, not just undocumented entry.
What Happens Next
Immigration attorneys and advocacy groups are expected to mount legal challenges. The memo’s case-by-case language around extraordinary relief leaves narrow room for discretion. Businesses that sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency face operational uncertainty. Workers mid-process may now face forced absences of unknown length. The policy represents one of the most structurally disruptive immigration changes in recent memory.
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