The Trump administration has released a regulatory reform that could send thousands of green card applicants back to their home countries while their applications are considered.
Immigration lawyers said hundreds of thousands of people who have temporary work visas and are seeking green cards could be impacted, according to ABC.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the change in a news release on its website.
The release said that “consistent with long-standing immigration law and immigration court decisions, aliens seeking adjustment of status must do so through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the country.”
“Officers are directed to consider all relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether an alien warrants this extraordinary form of relief,” the release said.
“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” agency representative Zach Kahler said in the news release.
“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. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes,” he said.
Kahler said the change will reduce deportations.
“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,” he said.
“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process,” he said.
Kahler said the change will make better use of resources.
“Following the law allows the majority of these cases to be handled by the State Department at U.S. consular offices abroad and frees up limited USCIS resources to focus on processing other cases that fall under its purview, including visas for victims of violent crime and human trafficking, naturalization applications, and other priorities,” he said.
Kahler said the change is a return to the way the green card system was supposed to work.
“The law was written this way for a reason, and despite the fact that it has been ignored for years, following it will help make our system fairer and more efficient,” he said.
A memo to staff noted that allowing those seeking a green card to remain in the U.S. has always been a matter of discretion and not an inherent right.
Exactly who will be affected and how remains to be seen as the new policy is implemented.
However, New York immigration lawyer Rosanna Berardi told ABC that it could potentially hit all foreigners in the country with pending applications for green cards — including legal workers and those granted parole in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.
That means Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the war in their country, or Ukrainians who fled Russia’s invasion of their homeland, could be at risk, she said.
Immigration attorney Todd Pomerleaus said he believed the Trump administration was misreading the Immigration and Nationality Act, according to ABC.
He also said he expects court challenges to the memo to succeed.
“You can’t, through a stroke of a pen, overturn a statute,” he said. “I think it’s illegal, and it’s going to get shut down in court very quickly.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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