The government of the United States introduced a new immigration policy that could impact a significant number of immigrants seeking legal residency through family members, particularly through marriage.
- This means that having a pending application no longer provides effective protection against possible removal.
- USCIS explained that “the policy manual update introduces greater integrity in benefits and provides new evaluation opportunities, establishing guidelines for the decision-making process, including the requirement for in-person interviews.”
- “We see the Trump administration sending a message through every possible means to unauthorized immigrants that they should consider leaving their lives in the United States and returning to their countries of origin,” she said.
According to guidelines published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), authorities may now initiate deportation proceedings for those without valid legal status who apply for a Green Card or legal residency through a spouse.
The announcement, made on Monday, August 4, and effective immediately, states that the policy applies to both pending applications and new ones filed on or after August 1. The measure also affects those seeking permanent residency through other family-based pathways, not just marital relationships.
In the policy manual, USCIS warns that a family petition “does not, by itself, grant immigration status nor prevent deportation.”
This means that having a pending application no longer provides effective protection against possible removal.
According to a USCIS data analysis, approximately 520,000 petitions known as I-130, the initial step for legal residency through a family member or spouse, were filed in the first six months of 2025. As of June, over 2.4 million such applications were pending, with 1.9 million awaiting a response for more than six months.
Attorney Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, emphasized the magnitude of the measure: “This is one of the most important pathways people have to adjust their immigration status and obtain legal residency in the United States.” She added that USCIS now “appears empowered to initiate deportation proceedings against an applicant at any point in the process.”
Mukherjee warned that until now, families did not expect to appear before an immigration court during the process, except in serious circumstances, such as criminal violations. In her view, the new directive could “generate fear among immigrant families, even those complying with all legal requirements.”
USCIS explained that “the policy manual update introduces greater integrity in benefits and provides new evaluation opportunities, establishing guidelines for the decision-making process, including the requirement for in-person interviews.”
The agency argued that this change aims to “ensure the integrity of the U.S. immigration system” through a “comprehensive evaluation that prevents, detects, and dismantles fraud and threats to national security and public safety.”
Additionally, it justified that fraudulent family petitions “erode trust in family-based mechanisms for obtaining legal residency and weaken the immigration system.” USCIS maintained that only “authentic, verifiable relationships in compliance with all laws” should allow access to residency.
Julia Gelatt, deputy director of the Migration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, stated that the change aligns with the mass deportation agenda promoted by the Trump administration.
“We see the Trump administration sending a message through every possible means to unauthorized immigrants that they should consider leaving their lives in the United States and returning to their countries of origin,” she said.
Gelatt added that the consequences of the policy change could also affect individuals “whose legal visa expired while waiting for their Green Card resolution, Dreamers, and hundreds of thousands of immigrants threatened by the potential cancellation of temporary pathways implemented under the Biden administration.” According to her analysis, “many people are losing immigration status, and this action eliminates one of the alternatives for remaining in the country.”
For her part, Mukherjee emphasized that if the new policy is rigorously enforced, “it will be a radical shift in the enforcement of immigration law and will discourage eligible individuals from seeking to regularize their status.”
Image: Infobae
