The Donald Trump administration has introduced new immigration screening guidelines that target applicants for immigration benefits such as permanent residency and citizenship, using social media to censor those who exhibit anti-American sentiments. It has significantly raised the bar for legal immigration, even considering minor infringements such as habitual traffic violations as grounds for disqualification due to 'Good Moral Character.' This has led to criticism that it is essentially conducting an 'ideological verification' of immigration hopefuls.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on the 19th (local time) revised its policy manual to instruct immigration officers to assess applicants for 'anti-American activities'. The agency has decided to expand the social media review to encompass all immigration benefit assessments and consider anti-American activities as an 'overwhelmingly negative factor' in discretionary analysis.
Matthew Tragesser, a spokesperson for the immigration agency, stated, "Those who hate America and hold anti-American ideologies should not receive American privileges," adding, "Immigration benefits, including U.S. residency and employment, are privileges, not rights." However, concerns have been raised that the agency has not clearly defined what constitutes 'anti-American views,' potentially allowing for arbitrary judgment by the officers.
This measure is part of a broader movement by the Trump administration to tighten regulations even on legal immigration. The agency issued a policy memorandum on the 15th that significantly strengthened the standards for assessing the 'Good Moral Character' of citizenship applicants. Previously, meeting the moral character requirement was considered sufficient if applicants did not have records of specific serious crimes such as murder or aggravated felonies. Now, applicants must actively demonstrate 'positive attributes.'
According to the new guidelines, immigration officers will evaluate applicants' community involvement, family support responsibilities, educational achievements, tax payment, and other financial responsibilities as 'positive attributes.' Conversely, habitual traffic violations or behaviors that are legally permissible but considered 'socially suspicious' such as harassment and aggressive panhandling may adversely impact the evaluation.
Experts criticize that the new criteria are overly vague and broad, effectively functioning as barriers that elevate the immigration threshold. Gabriel Chin, a professor at UC Davis School of Law, noted, "They are too loose and discretionary, likely to be enforced arbitrarily," and pointed out that many American-born citizens might not even pass these criteria.
The Trump administration has launched large-scale deportation operations against illegal immigrants since the beginning of its second term while threatening to strip legal residency status. It has faced criticism for suppressing freedom of expression, especially by canceling the visas of many international students who participated in anti-Israel protests related to the Gaza conflict. This year, the State Department has canceled a total of 40,000 visas, more than 6,000 of which were student visas.