President Donald Trump’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin screening legal immigrants seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States for anti-American views, including factors such as ties to terrorist ideologies.
“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,” USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said:
U.S. 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. [Emphasis added]
The policy update is outlined in a USCIS guidance manual. Adjudicators are instructed to take an immigrant’s past views and activities into account when deciding whether they are eligible for certain immigration benefits.
“USCIS guidance provides that an alien’s compliance with immigration laws is a relevant factor when determining if a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted,” the policy alert states:
USCIS is updating the Policy Manual to provide additional guidance for officers on the significant negative discretionary weight USCIS assigns in circumstances where an alien has endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic ideologies, in any case involving an exercise of discretion. [Emphasis added]
Similarly, USCIS has expanded its vetting of legal immigrants’ social media to weed out those who hold anti-American views. Such views, USCIS officials said, “will be an overwhelmingly negative factor in any discretionary analysis.”
The Trump administration has set out a series of reforms to ensure rigorous vetting is done for legal immigrants who can potentially receive naturalized American citizenship.
This week, for instance, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow issued a memo to improve the agency’s good moral character determinations when a foreign national is looking to secure citizenship.
Tragesser said the updated naturalization process “ensures America’s newest citizens not only embrace America’s culture, history, and language but … also demonstrate Good Moral Character.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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