In a stunning move on Friday, the Trump administration in the United States announced that Caribbean and other applicants for permanent residency status, or green card, must return to their homeland to apply.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a new policy memo that Caribbean and other immigrants 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,” USCIS said.
USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler said the administration is “returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly.
“From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” he said. “This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes.
“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 US illegally after being denied residency,” he added.
Zahler noted that nonimmigrants, such as students, temporary workers, or individuals on tourist visas, come to the US for a short time and for a specific purpose, and that the system is designed for them to leave when their visit is completed.
“Their visit should not function as the first step in the green card process,” he warned. “Following the law allows the majority of these cases to be handled by the State Department at US 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, naturalisation applications, and other priorities.
“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,” Zahler added.
The new policy directive comes as US President Donald J. Trump, as part of his overall deportation agenda, seeks to strip some Caribbean and other immigrants of their green cards, and, in some cases, US citizenship.
On Thursday, for instance, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a Cuban national allegedly tied to a top Cuban financial official has been arrested and her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, or green card, terminated at his direction.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants residing in Miami, said in a statement that Adys Lastres Morera is now in the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. She is the sister of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, who was sanctioned earlier this month by the State Department for her role as the executive president of GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.), the Cuban military-controlled financial conglomerate.
Meantime, Caribbean immigration advocates have condemned a proposal by the Trump administration to force the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify the immigration status of taxpayers.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organisation that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, said that the proposed changes would directly affect undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants who use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), a nine-digit number issued to people who are not eligible for a Social Security number but still file and pay taxes in the United States.
“Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe contributing to their economy and trust that paying taxes will not place them or their families at risk,” NYIC President and CEO Murad Awawdeh told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“The Trump administration’s latest effort to use the IRS to force the disclosure of the immigration status of taxpayers is a dangerous attempt to weaponise the tax system,” he added, stating that the proposed changes would undermine the trust of public institutions and push hundreds of thousands of immigrant taxpayers further into the shadows.
Awawdeh said undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants in New York contribute US$6.7 billion in local, state, and federal taxes annually, while immigrants with status contribute US$74.8 billion.
“Instead of punishing people who fund our schools and comply with our tax laws, the federal government should be working to protect their rights and ensure that all communities can safely participate in our economy,” he said, calling on the Trump administration to stop targeting Caribbean and other immigrant communities.
Awawdeh also urged the US Congress to uphold taxpayer privacy protections for everyone in the United States.
According to reports, the proposed changes would distinguish codes for undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants from others with ITINs, requiring applicants for codes to clearly disclose their immigration status to the IRS.
Last year, an attempt by the Trump administration for the IRS to share the immigration status of taxpayers with the administration, as part of its deportation agenda, was blocked by federal courts.
Several senior IRS officials also resigned over the programme, fearing violation of federal tax privacy law.
In the interim, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to deport even permanent residents through the institution of a new “revetting” unit.
Speaking for USCIS, which falls under the DHS, Kahler said the changes are also in keeping with Trump’s immigration policy.
“USCIS’s first and foremost mission is to safeguard America by rigorously vetting and screening aliens,” he said. “We will continue to implement changes as we identify opportunities to strengthen the US immigration system.”
In addition, USCIS disclosed on Thursday that it has “partnered” with the DOJ in its recent filing of denaturalisation actions in various US district courts against 12 immigrants accused of serious offences—including providing material support to a terrorist group, committing war crimes, and sexually abusing a minor.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalised U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalisation cancelled, if the naturalisation was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation,” said USCIS in a statement. (CMC)
