Trump administration raises bar for US citizenship to include 'good moral character'
Federal immigration officers are now screening immigrants for anti-American ideologies and scrutinizing whether citizenship applicants possess "good moral character," under new White House orders.
The Trump administration issued the new screening rules in two separate notices this month, granting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers wide discretion to deny immigrants legal residency or citizenship.
The changes, which don't specifically define what constitutes "anti-American activity," build on the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on people entering the country – including through legal avenues.
"America's benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies," USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement.
Civil rights advocates say the new guidance are subject to interpretation and risk turning immigration officers into "thought police."
According to the new guidance, USCIS will expand its use of social media vetting for certain immigration benefits, as officers search for evidence of "anti-American" or antisemitic content. Effective immediately, it applies to people applying for a student or worker visa, or a green card.
Separately, USCIS said Aug. 15 that it will put citizenship applicants through "a holistic assessment" of behavior, including judging their "adherence to societal norms and positive contributions that affirmatively demonstrate good moral character."
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the criteria for determining "anti-American ideologies" and "good moral character" are vague and risk further bogging down an already overburdened legal immigration system.
"We don't really know how it will be enforced," he told USA TODAY, adding that, for the Trump administration, "the goal is to slow down immigration and reduce the number of people coming in by any means necessary."
Robert McCaw, government affairs director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he sees an anti-Palestinian bias in the new rules that amount to "ideological tests."
"Immigrants should not have to choose between their immigration status and their conscience," he said.
The Trump administration has sought to deport multiple student protesters who support Palestinian rights amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, calling some demonstrations antisemitic.
USCIS reviews hundreds of thousands of applications for work permits, legal permanent residency cards and naturalization each year. The agency already collects applicants' biometrics and makes an exhaustive review of their eligibility, including screening out applicants with ties to terrorism.
Elizabeth Jacobs, director of regulatory affairs and policy at the right-leaning Center for Immigration Studies, said immigration officers have typically checked for ties to terrorism in their applications reviews.
'Immigration officers probably have always been able to deny on that basis of anti-American ideology or activities,' Jacobs, a former USCIS counsel, said. 'But what they're doing here is they're being explicit about it."
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