Immigrants seeking lawful work and citizenship are now subject to ‘anti-Americanism’ screening

By COREY WILLIAMS and VALERIE GONZALEZ Immigrants seeking a legal pathway to live and work in the United States will now be subject to screening for anti-Americanism leadership stated Tuesday raising concerns among critics that it gives officers too much leeway in rejecting foreigners based on a subjective judgment Related Articles Trump administration revokes shield clearances of current and former authorities representatives Trump s Justice Department is analyzing whether DC police agents falsified crime material California redistricting hearing turns heated as Republicans mount opposition campaign Trump vows to change how elections are run The US Constitution doesn t give him that power states and DC sue DOJ to stop immigration requirements on victim funds U S Citizenship and Immigration Services mentioned officers will now consider whether an applicant for benefits such as a green card endorsed promoted supported or otherwise espoused anti-American terrorist or antisemitic views America s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies Matthew Tragesser USCIS spokesman stated in a report Immigration benefits including to live and work in the United States remain a privilege not a right It isn t specified what constitutes anti-Americanism and it isn t clear how and when the directive would be applied The message is that the U S and immigration agencies are going to be less tolerant of anti-Americanism or antisemitism when making immigration decisions Elizabeth Jacobs director of regulatory affairs and procedures at the Center for Immigration Studies a group that advocates for immigration restrictions declared on Tuesday Jacobs commented the authorities is being more explicit in the kind of behaviors and practices officers should consider but emphasized that discretion is still in place The agency cannot tell officers that they have to deny just to consider it as a negative discretion she declared Critics worry the protocol update will allow for more subjective views of what is considered anti-American and allow an officer s personal bias to cloud his or her judgment For me the really big story is they are opening the door for stereotypes and prejudice and implicit bias to take the wheel in these decisions That s really worrisome revealed Jane Lilly Lopez associate professor of sociology at Brigham Young University The guidelines changes follow others not long ago implemented since the start of the Trump administration including social media vetting and the the bulk fresh addition of assessing applicants seeking naturalization for good moral character That will not only consider not purely the absence of misconduct but also factor the applicant s positive attributes and contributions It means you are going to just do a whole lot more work to provide evidence that you meet our standards Lopez stated Experts disagree on the constitutionality of the agenda involving people who are not U S citizens and their freedom of speech Jacobs of the Center for Immigration Studies reported First Amendment rights do not extend to people outside the U S or who are not U S citizens Ruby Robinson senior managing attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center believes the Bill of Rights and the U S Constitution protects all people in the United States regardless of their immigration status against governing body encroachment A lot of this administration s initiatives infringe on constitutional rights and do need to be resolved ultimately in courts Robinson added Attorneys are advising clients to adjust their expectations People need to understand that we have a different system nowadays and a lot more things that apply to U S citizens are not going to apply to somebody who s trying to enter the United States revealed Jaime Diez an immigration attorney based in Brownsville Texas Jonathan Grode managing partner of Green and Spiegel immigration law firm stated the approach update was not unexpected considering how the Trump administration approaches immigration This is what was elected They re allowed to interpret the rules the way they want Grode noted The plan dependably to them is to shrink the strike zone The law is still the same