The American Council of Immigration does not approve or oppose candidates for elected offices. We aim to provide an analysis of the impact of elections on the US immigration system.
Raul Pinto and Jennifer Covalry
On March 25, news reports surfaced that the Trump administration had imposed a suspension on the processing of certain green card applications. News reports said US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have confirmed the suspension. The agency said the suspension was applied to people who entered the country as refugees or who were granted asylum in the United States. Additionally, DHS officials argued that the suspension was temporary so that additional reviews of those applicants could be made, as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a subagency of DHS that decides whether to approve or reject green card applications, requires a January 20 executive order to seek visas or other immigration benefits.
Unfortunately, these limited comments were the only information available about this major policy change. The sudden pause of the processing raised questions about why the DHS targeted refugees and Asili.
As a result, the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Bar Association filed a request for government documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on April 8, providing more information on the suspension and whether the enhanced review has been applied to the refugees in question and ASYLEES, and why these groups were targeted. The organization recorded records from key civil servants of DHS and USCIS that DHS press statements announced the suspension and directed agent staff on implementation of the suspension and new screening procedures.
Also known as the application for status adjustment, the green card application is an important step in the journey of individual immigration. If approved, the applicant will obtain legal permanent residency in the United States. Permanent residents place immigrants on the path to US citizenship and provide higher levels of protection from deportation.
Refugees must go through a painstaking, often uncertain process to reach the point where they can apply for a green card. Before they arrive, those who wish to enter the United States as refugees must show that they fear persecution in their home country due to the reasons for the protected reasons of a particular social group: race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or membership. During the refugee hospitalization process, applicants will review issues such as criminal history and relationships with terrorist organisations significantly.
Asylees must meet the same requirements as refugees, but such status is granted through removal procedures in the immigration court or through a positive application with USCIS. In both cases, the applicant is fingerprinted, allowing the government to thoroughly consider the application.
Once the Immigration Court, or USCIS, grants individual Asilee status, Asylee can apply for permanent residency one year after such grant. Similarly, refugees can apply for a green card one year after their arrival in the United States as refugees.
The lack of details regarding the suspension of processing green card applications for Asairee and refugees who came to the US for their own terms is concerning. Neither DHS nor USCIS have made information about the outage public on its agency website and have relied on the press for DHS statements. The agency failed to inform the public about when USCIS would lift the suspension or whether the suspension would affect other types of applicants beyond refugees and Asylees.
What’s more, the reason the DHS gave for the suspension is confusing. As mentioned earlier, upon taking office, President Trump issued an executive order mandating to conduct an enhanced review, and a DHS statement to the press confirmed that the agency had implemented a moratorium on the ruling to comply with the executive order. However, given the fact that refugees and ASYLE were already subject to important security checks before becoming permanent residents, it is unclear why green card screening was necessary.
The suspension of the Trump administration is particularly harmful to green card applicants in this category. Asylees and refugees often fall on a vulnerable population, and generally endure persecution in their home countries and fear persecution when reverting is necessary. Legal permanent residency is a step towards the stability of their lives. This suspension will suppress applications, particularly as a) USCIS is not approaching when it will resume processing. B) The Trump administration is increasingly accusing individuals of potentially serious adverse consequences for the United States and removing them to engage in protected speeches.
This processing suspension further exacerbates the delays already facing these green card applicants. USCIS data shows that in January 2025 alone we received 92,424 green card applications. Of these, 12,394 applications were submitted by individuals granted asylum or refugee status. According to case processing times, USCIS took 14-15½ months and approved 80% of applications submitted by Asylees and refugees. A pause in processing of these tens of thousands of applications will undoubtedly increase the backlog of submissions that USCIS needs to review when the suspension is released, and the delays can be astounding.
The public needs to be more clear about why DHS and USCIS targeted particularly vulnerable groups and how DHS and USCIS implement this outage. This suspension has little explanation for Americans and applicants, and could lead to extreme delays or green cards for Asili and refugees.
Submitted below: Department of Homeland Security, Green Cards, Trump Administration, USCIS
