The Trump administration has stopped the green card process of certain immigrants, including sanctioned refugees. According to a report by CBS News, permanent residence requests presented by asylum or refugee status have been suspended. This step can also affect many Indian immigrants.
In 2023, more than 51,000 Indian citizens asked for asylum in the United States, which is much higher than in previous years. According to research from the University of Johns Hopkins, the number in 2018 was 9,000, which increased by 466% to 51,000 by 2023.
The American immigration system allows illegal immigrants to seek asylum, which are taken on the border and fear harassment in their country. These refugees must undergo security control, medical examination and an interview process after entering the United States. If they get a refugee status, they can request a green card after a year.
The position of the Trump administration on immigration
The Trump administration has taken many strict measures against immigrants. He targeted refugee and refuge programs, reported the refugee process and published decrees by closing the refuge on the American-Mexican border. However, these orders are disputed in court.
For example, on March 28, a federal judge temporarily prevented the Trump administration from the expulsion of people in third countries if their case was not protected.
The reason behind the prohibition of the green card
According to the United States Department of Security (DHS), the decision to stop the green card process was made in accordance with two decrees issued by President Trump. One of these orders is linked to the identification of immigrants and the hardening of security control procedures.
DHS said: “USCIS provides a temporary restriction on the finalization of certain status adjustments, so that the problems of fraud, public security and national security can be more studied.”
Other policies and effects of immigrants
The Trump administration also stopped all requests for Latin American and Ukrainian immigration in February, which came to America under the government of Biden. Apart from this, an investigation into the social media accounts of immigrants asking for citizenship, green cards and asylum was also made compulsory.
Meanwhile, some Indian students in the United States were also forced to do self-decoring due to immune policies. For example, the student of the University of Columbia, Ranjani Srinivasan, has self-defined in Canada, while the exile of the Indian researcher Badar Khan Suri was arrested by a judge at the moment.
Impact on Indian immigrants
Laura Colins, director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative, said immigrants who had been authorized to live in the United States had already undergone a difficult investigation. He told NBC News: “Refugees and those who receive asylum must give many documents. They can only settle in America when the government has already approved them.”
The prohibition of the green card process can increase the waiting period for certain real refugees, while it can also help investigate the false refugee complaints. This decision is also likely to affect many Indian immigrants.
