New US Green Card rule sparks outrage among immigrants

Washington (IANS): The Trump administration unveiled a sweeping immigration policy today that could force thousands of legal, temporary immigrants to leave the United States and apply for their Green Cards from abroad. The sudden shift has triggered fierce backlash from immigrant advocacy groups, Democratic lawmakers, and local officials.

In a newly issued policy memorandum, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) declared that “adjustment of status”—the decades-old mechanism letting eligible immigrants secure permanent residency without leaving U.S. soil—is a “matter of discretion and administrative grace” rather than an entitlement. The agency emphasized that the process should not replace standard consular processing in an applicant’s home country.

Going forward, USCIS will require its officers to review applications strictly on a “case-by-case basis” to evaluate whether an applicant deserves what the agency now defines as an “extraordinary form of relief.”

“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” USCIS spokesperson Zach 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.”

Kahler added that the policy will curb visa overstays, reduce the agency’s domestic caseload, and allow USCIS to redirect its limited resources toward processing naturalization applications, humanitarian cases, and visas for victims of human trafficking and violent crime.

Who This Impacts Most

The rule fundamentally disrupts long-established immigration paths for several key groups currently residing legally in the United States:

• H-1B & L-1 Professionals: Skilled workers with employer sponsorships face heightened scrutiny, as maintaining “dual-intent” status alone will no longer guarantee in-country approval.
• F-1 & J-1 Students and Researchers: Academics transitioning from student or training visas to permanent employment tracks.
• B-1/B-2 Visitors and Tourists: Temporary entrants trying to adjust status through family or marriage sponsorships after arrival.

The sudden directive effectively upends how the vast majority of employment- and family-sponsored immigrants secure permanent residency. Historically, thousands of Indian technology professionals have relied heavily on internal status adjustments to maintain employment continuity while navigating decades-long Green Card backlogs and country-specific visa caps. Immigration attorneys warn that forcing these workers abroad could fracture families, disrupt corporate operations, and throw long-term residency plans into chaos.

Immigration advocacy group FWD.us swiftly condemned the administration’s policy pivot.

“Today’s announcement is a stark, deeply harmful upheaval of more than 70 years of legislative, administrative, and judicial precedent,” FWD.us President Todd Schulte said. “It will create chaos and impose massive costs on immigrants who have lived and worked legally in the United States for many years.”

Schulte accused the administration of engineering a “massively disruptive” hurdle designed to make the legal immigration system deliberately punitive, noting that the majority of successful Green Card applicants have adjusted their status from within the country since the 1950s.

Lawmakers also voiced intense opposition. Representative Grace Meng, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), slammed the policy as a direct assault on the legal pipeline.

“The Trump administration is once again proving that they are not going after the ‘worst of the worst,’” Meng said. “Instead, they are blatantly attacking legal immigration, with family separation at the center of its agenda.”

Meng warned that for immigrants originating from over 100 countries currently affected by overlapping Trump-era travel and visa restrictions, an order to return home to apply could result in separations lasting “for years, if not indefinitely.”

Local leaders fear the guidelines will trigger an economic chill. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich warned that treating legal immigrants as “disposable” would severely damage America’s competitive edge.

“These are our neighbors, coworkers, business owners, researchers, health care workers, teachers, and entrepreneurs,” Elrich said. “It weakens our ability to attract and retain the people who help drive innovation, create jobs, and strengthen our economy.”

While the USCIS memo notes that officers retain the authority to grant in-country adjustments under exceptional circumstances, it explicitly places the burden of proof on the applicant. Legal experts expect an immediate surge in Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and a significant rise in discretionary denials in the coming months.