The Trump administration has paused the processing of Green Cards filed by certain people, including approved refugees, as part of its larger policy to clamp down on immigrants. These requests for legal permanent residency filed by immigrants who were granted asylum or refugee status have been suspended, according to a report by CBS News. This move might have huge implications for some Indians.
In 2023, over 51,000 Indian nationals applied for asylum in the US, a significant increase from previous years, with the highest number of asylum requests during the recorded period.
Indians seeking asylum in the US grew from 9,000 in 2018 to 51,000 in 2023, a 466% rise in five years, according to research by Johns Hopkins University.
The asylum requests by Indians came as the American immigration system allowed illegal immigrants nabbed at the border to seek asylum, citing fear of persecution in their country of origin.
These refugees, including Indians, enter the US and undergo a long process of security checks, medical screenings and interviews. They are granted their asylee status by asylum officers or immigration judges.
The freeze comes even as Green Card holders, including Indians, are facing a tough time with American officials, according to multiple reports.
The Trump administration has attacked these asylum and refugee programmes in several ways.
It has targeted congressionally enacted programmes, suspended the refugee process and closed the asylum system at the US-Mexico border through its executive orders, which were passed after Trump was sworn in as President on January 20. These orders are currently being challenged in court.
For example, a federal judge on March 28 temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting people to third countries without safety reviews.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND ITS IMMIGRATION VETTING
The pause on Green Cards was in compliance with two executive actions issued by President Trump, the US Department of Homeland Security confirmed.
One of these orders even questioned immigration vetting procedures during the Biden administration.
“USCIS is placing a temporary pause in finalising certain Adjustment of Status applications pending the completion of additional screening and vetting to identify potential fraud, public safety, or national security concerns, in alignment” with Trump’s orders, said the DHS.
The officials cited how, under the orders, Trump instructed federal agencies to “vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the United States”.
The other executive order being cited has led to the State Department designating Mexican cartels and gangs like Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organisations.
In February, the Trump administration cited fraud concerns and paused immigration applications by all Latin Americans and Ukrainians who arrived in the US under Biden-era programmes.
The administration has also said it will now scrutinise the social media accounts of immigrants applying for citizenship, Green Cards and asylum. The social media accounts are needed for “enhanced identity verification, vetting and national security screening”, it said.
This comes amid moves of deportation and self-deportation of students, including Indians, who were in any way linked to campus protests. Columbia University student Ranjani Srinivasan self-deported to Canada, while a judge has blocked the deportation of Indian researcher Badar Khan Suri over Hamas links.
On pausing Green Cards to asylum seekers, Laura Collins, director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative at the George W Bush Institute, told NBC News that those in the country had already undergone a vetting process.
“There’s a certain amount of documentation you have to provide as a refugee as well as an asylee. All of these people who are approved for resettlement or to remain in the United States, that’s because the United States government have already approved them to be here,” said Collins.
After the vetting process, an asylee has to wait for a year before being eligible to apply for a Green Card, and thereby become a permanent resident of the US.
The pausing of Green Cards to asylum-seekers would add to the wait for some genuine refugees, and it will also add to the vetting of those who falsely claim persecution to gain US citizenship. The decision might impact scores of Indians too.
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