President Donald Trump’s administration quietly scaled back a recent crackdown on green card applicants in response to “enormous backlash” from the business community, according to a new report.
In a May 22 memo, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said foreigners seeking permanent residency would have to return to their home countries before applying to the State Department, with an exception only for those in “extraordinary circumstances.”
Immigration lawyer Chris Thomas, who represents employers nationwide, told The Washington Post that the move sparked “enormous backlash over this clearly flawed memorandum.”
“Company executives and business associations essentially saw this memorandum as the last straw, the moment that would compel them to outsource work to employees in other countries,” said Thomas, who’s based in Denver, Colorado.
In response to the opposition, USCIS officials privately told business leaders during a meeting last week that most people with work visas wouldn’t be affected, The Post said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
Some green card applicants were also reportedly informed this week that the May 22 order had been “paused” pending guidance from the Trump administration.
A White House official told The Independent on Friday that the directive merely restated longstanding law and policy, didn’t apply to people who’ve already applied for green cards and was aimed at addressing fraud and abuse of the immigration system.
The official also said that it won’t likely affect highly qualified applicants or skilled professionals who’ve followed immigration law, but could apply to anyone who’s overstayed a tourist visa or came from a country whose citizens use high rates of American public benefits.
Representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the tech industry were reportedly among those who voiced opposition to the May 22 memo.
“Business reached out in a straightforward way to the administration to share their concerns about the green card policy,” Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy group that represents Fortune 500 companies, told The Post. “We are glad to know that the administration is listening to those concerns and willing to work with the American business community.”
The Chamber’s chief policy officer, Neil Bradley, also told The Post that anecdotal reports of green card holders not being required to return to their home countries were “welcome news” and said that “we encourage the administration to provide greater clarity.”
But Doug Rand, a former senior USCIS official under President Joe Biden, accused the Trump administration of hypocrisy.
“They get to have it both ways,” he told The Post. “They can tell their base, ‘We haven’t ruled out anything out’ and tell the business community, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,’” he said.
Opposition to the May 22 memo followed months of broader, behind-the-scenes lobbying efforts against Trump’s anti-immigration policies, according to The Post.
Some business leaders have reportedly spoken with Trump confidantes perceived as friendly toward the business community, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the billionaire former CEO of the Cantor Fitzgerald financial services company, and members of the Kushner family headed by developer Charles Kushner, Trump’s ambassador to France.
Kushner is the father of Trump son-in-law and private equity billionaire Jared Kushner and Josh Kushner, a billionaire venture capitalist.
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