The Trump administration has unveiled a sweeping immigration policy change that could force hundreds of thousands of foreigners currently living legally in the U.S. to leave the country while waiting for green card applications to be processed.
According to a new policy announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, many immigrants seeking permanent residency will now be required to return to their home countries and complete the process through American consulates abroad instead of remaining inside the United States during the application period.
The move marks one of the most significant immigration policy shifts of President Donald Trump’s second term and could dramatically alter how green card applications are handled moving forward.
USCIS framed the change as a return to the original intent of immigration law.
“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,” the agency stated in its announcement.
Under the policy, immigrants currently inside the United States on temporary visas — including students, workers, tourists and some humanitarian parole recipients — may no longer be allowed to stay in the country while their permanent residency requests are reviewed.
Instead, they would have to leave the United States and complete the process at U.S. embassies or consulates overseas unless they qualify for what officials described as “extraordinary circumstances.”
USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler defended the change and argued the current system had strayed far beyond the original law’s purpose.
“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” Kahler said.
“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,” he continued.
Kahler also argued the policy could reduce deportations by preventing denied applicants from disappearing into the country illegally after failed applications.
“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 stated.
The administration additionally argued that the move would free up immigration resources currently tied up handling adjustment-of-status applications inside the country.
Officials say the policy would allow USCIS to redirect manpower toward processing other immigration priorities, including visas for violent crime victims, trafficking victims and citizenship applications.
Supporters of the change argue the administration is simply enforcing immigration law as originally written and closing loopholes that gradually evolved into standard practice over decades.
Critics, however, are warning the policy could create massive chaos for legal immigrants, businesses and refugee populations.
Immigration attorney Rosanna Berardi told ABC News the new interpretation could potentially affect nearly all foreigners with pending green card applications, including legal workers and humanitarian parole recipients, per The Western Journal.
That could include Afghans who assisted American forces during the war in Afghanistan as well as Ukrainians who fled Russia’s invasion under temporary humanitarian protections.
Another immigration lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, argued the administration is likely overstepping its legal authority.
“You can’t, through a stroke of a pen, overturn a statute,” Pomerleau said. “I think it’s illegal, and it’s going to get shut down in court very quickly.”
Legal experts now expect immediate lawsuits challenging the administration’s interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
