Trump administration to screen ‘anti-Americanism’ for immigrants seeking lawful work, citizenship in US

According to USCIS, officers will vet applicants who have applied for benefits, like green card, whether they “endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused” anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views.

By: Express Web Desk

Updated: August 20, 2025 06:03 AM IST

3 min read

Critics have said the policy revision by the USCIS would allow more subjective views of officers regarding anti-Americanism. (AP Photo/ File)

In another major hurdle for the immigrants seeking to live and work in the United States legally, President Donald Trump’s administration has said that they will screen immigrants for “anti-Americanism”, which has raised the eyebrows of critics who said the move could give too much leeway to officers in rejecting foreign applicants based on subjective judgements, AP reported.

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the officers will vet applicants who have applied for benefits, like green card, whether they “endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused” anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views.

In a statement, the USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said “America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies.” Clarifying the air over immigration benefits, Tragesser said “Immigration benefits, including to live and work in the United States remain a privilege, not a right.”

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However, an exhaustive list wasn’t released by the USCIS that specifies what constitutes anti-Americanism and it wasn’t immediately clear how and when these directives would be applied on the immigrants applying to work and live in the US.

As per Elizabeth Jacobs, director of regulatory affairs and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, the United States and immigration agencies have given a message that they are going to be less tolerant towards anti-Americanism or antisemitism when vetting and deciding the applications of immigrants.

“The agency cannot tell officers that they have to deny — just to consider it as a negative discretion,” Jacobs said, reported AP.

Critics have said the policy revision by the USCIS would allow more subjective views of officers regarding anti-Americanism and their judgements could be clouded with personal bias.

The policy changes follows a series of other major changes that have cropped up under Trump administration since January this year, including social media vetting and the recent addition of assessing applicants seeking naturalization for ‘good moral character’

(with inputs from AP)

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