Immigration advocate condemns new Trump migration policy

NEW YORK, CMC – An immigration advocate has condemned a new policy by the Trump administration denying green cards to Caribbean and other applicants for exercising freedom of speech against the administration’s policies.

President and chief executive officer of the New York Immigration Coalition, Murad Awawdeh, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that new guidance issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) states that applicants could be denied green cards based on their “expressed political opinions, including participating in pro-Palestinian campus protests and individuals with a history of endorsing, promoting or supporting anti-American views, including non-violent views critical of Israeli policy."

“Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy, and it must apply to everyone, no matter where they were born. Yet, Donald Trump is taking a dangerous step toward punishing immigrants for the public expression of their beliefs,” Awawdeh said.

He said this is part of the administration’s broader deportation agenda that is predicated on expanding every available avenue to silence and detain people whose views are not shared by the federal administration, deny them their rights, and deport them.

“The Trump administration’s new policy effectively censors individuals and sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the rights of all Americans.

“We must stand firm in defending our constitutional values by protecting the right to free speech for everyone and advancing policies that create real, fair pathways to citizenship, ensuring that our immigration system reflects our values of freedom, dignity, and justice,” Awawdeh added.

In the past, immigrants who had followed US rules and had not run afoul of the law stood a strong chance of obtaining a green card, or permanent residency.

But now, under new guidance issued by the DHS, immigrants can now be denied a green card for expressing political opinions antithetical to the administration’s views or for desecrating the American flag.

“There is no room in America for aliens who espouse anti-American ideologies or support terrorist organisations,” DHS Director Joseph Edlow has told the US Congress.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), overseen by DHS, said it is updating guidance in its policy manual regarding the factors that officers consider in certain benefit requests where an exercise of discretion is required, including factors relating to “aliens’ past requests for parole and any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organisations, as well as the use of discretion in adjudication of certain benefit requests where evidence of antisemitic activity is present.”

Separately, USCIS said it has expanded the types of benefit requests that receive social media vetting, adding that reviews for anti-American activity will be added to that vetting.

It said “anti-American activity will be an overwhelmingly negative factor in any discretionary analysis.”

“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,” said USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser.

“US Citizenship and Immigration Services is committed to implementing policies and procedures that root out anti-Americanism and supporting the enforcement of rigorous screening and vetting measures to the fullest extent possible.

“Immigration benefits, including to live and work in the United States, remain a privilege, not a right,” he stressed.

But Amanda Baran, a senior DHS official in the Joe Biden administration, said that basing green card decisions on “ideological screenings is fundamentally un-American and should have no place in a country built on the promise of free expression”.

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