US Green Card applicants who ‘benefit’ economy may be exempt from new policy

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified that some would-be immigrants deemed to be an “economic benefit” to the country may be allowed to adjust their status to a Green Card without having to return to their home countries first.

It follows outrage from immigration attorneys and advocacy groups after the Trump administration on Friday decided that potentially tens of millions of visa holders in the US, including international students, temporary workers, refugees, and even those with American spouses, could no longer file paperwork to obtain a Green Card while remaining in the US.

They would now have to leave the country, apply through a US embassy, and wait for what could be years before the case is resolved.

Responding to a question from CBS News, USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said that “people who present applications that provide an economic benefit or otherwise are in the national interest will likely be able to continue on their current path, while others may be asked to apply abroad depending on individualised circumstances”. 

It remains unclear what the criteria are to become a boon to the US economy and interests. And last week, Kahler had already indicated that some “extraordinary circumstances” would be considered for some applicants. He did not elaborate further.

“Adjustment of status is an extraordinary matter of discretion and administrative grace not designed to supersede the regular consular processing of immigrant visas,” the policy memo said.

The document is guidance provided to immigration officers who assess applications. 

The immediate impact could result in family separation and the loss of career opportunities for those seeking to adjust their non-citizen status in the US.

“We’ve seen throughout this administration that they like to take what I call a ‘fire, ready, aim’ approach, especially when it comes to immigration,” Steven Brown, a Houston, Texas-based immigration attorney, told Middle East Eye. 

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“They’ll put something out, get all the headlines, realise ‘we kind of screwed up’, and then work it back a little bit till it’s more of a tenable solution to what’s going on.” 

Brown acknowledged that the way the policy memo is written marks a “huge shift in immigration policy”, but it can also be undone just as easily if a different administration comes into the White House in 2029.

US embassies and their consular officers also lack the resources to conduct the kind of scrutiny of applicants that the Trump administration wants, compared to USCIS, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, Brown noted. 

“If we just take the idea of national security and vetting, I think USCIS is better positioned to do that vetting in terms of resources, in terms of what documentation they have, and how they know to interpret that information…USCIS would have [the] institutional knowledge.”

In response to the new guidance, the American Immigration Lawyers Association wrote on X last week that both Republican and Democratic administrations alike “have implemented [the adjustment of status] process for decades, and courts have repeatedly upheld it. Reversing settled law by memo is legally questionable and needlessly chaotic.”

The policy is expected to be challenged in court.