According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Trump administration has introduced new requirements for permanent residency applicants, which will replace the green card.
In a statement released on Wednesday, two days after Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, beginning January 22, 2025, applicants seeking to change their status to lawful permanent resident will no longer be required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination on Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination, and Vaccination Record.
USCIS will not issue a Notice of Intent to Deny or Request for Evidence to demonstrate COVID-19 immunization. If an applicant fails to demonstrate that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will not reject their application for adjustment of status.
The new requirements imposed by Trump to obtain a green card
Those applying for Green Card status, also known as permanent residency in the United States, must still provide proof of vaccination against polio, tetanus, measles, and hepatitis B. The COVID-19 immunization requirement was implemented by former Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration in October 2021.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie praised the move by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday. Massie had previously introduced legislation to repeal the COVID-19 immunization requirement.
Since returning to the White House last week, Republican President Donald Trump has attempted to implement a tough, anti-immigrant agenda, despite the fact that a USCIS rule change has removed a potential barrier to obtaining Green Card status.
In a series of executive orders, Trump declared illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency and dispatched additional troops to the region to assist the Secretary of Homeland Security in establishing full operational control of the US southern border.
On the day of Trump’s second inauguration, the White House issued a statement alleging that America’s sovereignty was under threat. Cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, people traffickers, smugglers, unscreened military-aged men from foreign enemies, and illegal drugs that harm Americans, particularly Americans, are all concentrated along our southern border.
According to the Washington Post, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have been instructed to increase daily detentions to more than 1,000, indicating that the Trump administration has begun conducting immigration raids across the country.
To enforce US immigration law and maintain public safety and national security by preventing potentially dangerous criminal aliens from entering our communities, ICE said in a statement announcing raids in Chicago on Sunday that it would conduct increased targeted operations. Trump has also removed the CBP One application.
This smartphone program enabled 1,500 asylum seekers to receive daily immigration appointments at the US border, allowing them to enter the country legally while their application was being processed. Every appointment that had already been scheduled was cancelled.
Trump’s move on green card could end birthright citizenship in the US
As part of his anti-immigrant policies, one of Trump’s executive orders seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship in the United States. According to the American Immigration Council, birthright citizenship is a legal doctrine that grants people citizenship at birth and appears to be protected by the United States Constitution.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states that all people born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its authority are citizens of both the country and the state in which they currently reside.
However, the Trump administration claimed in a statement describing the executive order, which is being challenged in several courts, that the 14th Amendment has never been interpreted to grant citizenship to all people born in the United States.
