Trump Administration Halts Certain Green Card Applications

By Staff, Agencies

The Trump administration has halted certain green card applications, which could affect thousands of people who arrived in the United States as refugees or asylum seekers.

National Immigrant Justice Center Director of Policy Azadeh Erfani told Newsweek Tuesday that two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump caused the halt.

"This sweeping and indefinite stop on green card processing is yet another attempt for this administration to baselessly paint all immigrants as a national security risk," Erfani detailed. 

The hold might mean that thousands of applicants would have to wait even longer for permanent residency as the Trump administration dismantles some of the legal channels they took to get there.

Trump's promise to deport millions of illegal immigrants raises concerns about including individuals without criminal histories in the statistics.

Between October 2023 and September 2024, asylum seekers submitted 67,800 green card applications, with over 40,000 from refugees, who must arrive at least a year earlier.

The average wait period for such applications to be decided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) was about 10 and 8 months, respectively.

The DHS attributed the actions to Trump's executive orders, focusing on protecting the US from foreign terrorism and identifying cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and global terrorists.

The first directed agencies, including DHS, to strengthen the vetting and screening of those seeking legal status in the United States.

This encompassed both individuals attempting to enter the nation and those who had previously been accepted from countries classified as "security risks."

One refugee rights organization told Newsweek that it was watching the situation to see how many individuals would be affected, as USCIS flags applications on occasion.

Many refugees and asylum seekers come to the US fleeing conflict, unstable governments, or natural disasters. 

Despite Trump's criticism of the previous administration's immigration procedures, refugees undergo extensive vetting, including medical exams and interviews. 

Erfani explained how the action is discriminatory as USCIS "already conducts extensive vetting of all individuals who apply for permanent resident status."

David Bier, director of immigration research at the Cato Institute, expressed on X that these applications "already have insane wait times, and Trump is freezing them solely to make it easier to deny and deport them."