🚨DHS just changed the policy manual for @USCIS officers, making it much more difficult & confusing to get a green card (and ultimately US citizenship).
Let's dive into what is changing, & then why this is happening now...
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uscis.gov/news/alerts/us…
Let's dive into what is changing, & then why this is happening now...
1/
uscis.gov/news/alerts/us…
Bottom line: USCIS officers are being ordered to exercise their "discretion" to deny a lot more green card applications.
If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because USCIS made similar moves in July regarding work permit applications:
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If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because USCIS made similar moves in July regarding work permit applications:
2/
https://twitter.com/doug_rand/status/1283475176227831811
Today's update begins with some picayune xenophobic edits to the Policy Manual:
* Changing every instance of "foreign national" to "alien"
* Listing "national security & public safety" as more important than "family unity" as a Congressional goal for permanent residency
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* Changing every instance of "foreign national" to "alien"
* Listing "national security & public safety" as more important than "family unity" as a Congressional goal for permanent residency
3/
Then the substantive changes: What is the standard for getting a green card?
Old: "Absent compelling negative factors, an officer should exercise favorable discretion & approve the application."
New: A thumb on the scale *against* approving the application:
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Old: "Absent compelling negative factors, an officer should exercise favorable discretion & approve the application."
New: A thumb on the scale *against* approving the application:
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And the sudden appearance of a laundry list of "discretionary factors"—never articulated by Congress—imposing yet another layer of time-consuming red tape on top of the public charge rule:
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5/
Tough talk on marijuana in a new Footnote 37:
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6/
Oh, and for some indeterminate (but large) number of green card cases, the standard of proof jumps from >50% ("preponderance of the evidence") to "clearly and beyond doubt."
That's a big fat target for lawsuits. But why sue when this can all be revoked starting 1/20/2021?
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That's a big fat target for lawsuits. But why sue when this can all be revoked starting 1/20/2021?
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This isn't a regulation. It can be easily & immediately revoked by the incoming Biden administration. So why release this at all? Just guessing here...
a) Nobody in the federal gov't is allowed to acknowledge that Trump won't be president after Jan. 20.
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a) Nobody in the federal gov't is allowed to acknowledge that Trump won't be president after Jan. 20.
8/
b) If the Trump admin can throw sand in the gears of gov't (& in the face of Team Biden), no matter how petty, they'll still do it.
c) One more reason to for applicants to delay filing & pay their fees --> an even bigger fiscal headache for Team Biden
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nyujlpp.org/quorum/the-cas…
c) One more reason to for applicants to delay filing & pay their fees --> an even bigger fiscal headache for Team Biden
9/
nyujlpp.org/quorum/the-cas…
Primary sources for today's USCIS Policy Manual changes affecting green card applicants:
Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 1
Old: web.archive.org/web/2019043013…
New:
uscis.gov/policy-manual/…
Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 10
Old: web.archive.org/web/2019082319…
New:
uscis.gov/policy-manual/…
10/10
Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 1
Old: web.archive.org/web/2019043013…
New:
uscis.gov/policy-manual/…
Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 10
Old: web.archive.org/web/2019082319…
New:
uscis.gov/policy-manual/…
10/10
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