Migrants Who ‘Despise’ US To Be Denied Benefits Under New Trump Admin Policy

The Trump administration is making it much more difficult for foreign nationals who display anti-American behavior to live and work in the U.S.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin screening foreign national applicants for anti-American behavior when they apply for certain immigration benefits, according to a policy update from the agency. Posting anti-American rhetoric online, voicing solidarity with terrorist groups or expressing anti-semitic language would be deemed an “overwhelmingly negative” factor for migrants hoping to upgrade their status.

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

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

The Trump administration is expanding on policies that encourage immigration officers to vet social media for anti-American sentiment and activities, according to the USCIS memo. Additionally, the agency will factor in a migrant applicant’s past use of parole programs that allowed them into the country, as hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals took advantage of loose parole programs under the Biden White House.

Tighter screening for anti-Americanism could have a serious impact on the foreign students who got involved in campus protests around the country, many of whom were accused of anti-semitic activity. The Trump administration has already attempted to remove many of the allegedly pro-Hamas foreign students.

The policy update also marks the latest hawkish reform by USCIS, the agency tasked with managing the country’s legal immigration system. Since President Donald Trump returned to office, USCIS has worked to support his border enforcement agenda.

Earlier in August, the agency announced it would no longer just consider an alien’s absence of misconduct during the naturalization process, but also weigh their “positive attributes” to society, a move the agency says will ensure integrity to the application process. Since taking the helm of the agency, USCIS Director Joe Edlow has also implemented new measures to bar non-citizens from partaking in U.S. elections and he aims to restore integrity to immigration programs that are rife with fraudulent applicants.

Edlow says much of his agency’s work now is shoring up the historic backlog of asylum cases that accumulated under the Biden administration.

“We already knew that there was a misalignment of priorities and resources, but that became painfully obvious that really USCIS was acting as kind of the the arm of the administration to help maneuver the parole programs, to do what they could on credible fear and to ultimately try to address the growing border crisis that the Bidens have created,” Edlow previously stated to the DCNF.