U.S. tells immigrants to go home to apply for green cards

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Friday said that any individuals in the United States temporarily must go home before they can apply for a green card. Previously, individuals who were temporarily in the United States were allowed to apply for lawful permanent residency and receive their green cards without ever leaving the country. Citizenship and Immigration Services was returning to what it called Congress's “original intent” for how the immigration system should be run.

The new policy applies to any individuals in the United States who arrived via a humanitarian parole pathway. It also applies to those who came to the U.S. by way of a non-immigrant visa, such as those given out for students, temporary workers, and tourists. Those individuals must now head back to their home countries before applying to return to the United States permanently, Citizenship and Immigration Services’ memo explained.

Are there any other changes the agency is making? The memo instructed agency staff that granting green cards was a discretionary choice—one they were not required to make, and one they should not make lightly. They were only to hand out green cards in extraordinary circumstances to potential permanent residents, the agency said. The agency said that the Board of Immigration Appeals—the executive branch’s highest immigration court—had routinely described adjustments of status, including green cards, as an extraordinary form of relief.

What are immigrant advocates saying about this? World Relief, a Christian refugee advocacy group, criticized the decision by USCIS, describing it as a departure from longstanding practice. The organization specifically lamented the effects that the order could have on families who would be more likely to be torn apart. Many individuals who receive green cards are foreigners who married a U.S. citizen or are sponsored by a family member in the United States. AfghanEvac, an organization that advocates for Afghans who assisted the United States in their home country and fled the Taliban, also criticized the decision. The United States didn’t have consular services in Afghanistan that former Afghan allies could use to apply for green cards, the organization said. Going home would also mean they could die at the hands of the Taliban, according to AfghanEvac.

Dig deeper: Read my report in Compassion about what Americans really think about the Trump administration’s immigration policies.