Trump’s 180-Degree Turn on Green Cards: New Requirements for Permanent Residency

Trump’s administration has introduced new requirements for permanent residency applicants, replacing the green card, as announced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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, as of January 22, 2025, it will no longer require applicants seeking to change their status to that of a lawful permanent resident to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination on Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. 

No Notice of Intent to Deny or Request for Evidence about demonstrating a COVID-19 immunization will be issued by USCIS. If an applicant fails to prove that they were vaccinated against COVID-19, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will not reject their application for an adjustment of status.

The new requirements imposed by Trump to obtain a green card

Those applying for Green Card status, generally known as permanent residency in the United States, will still need proof of vaccination against polio, tetanus, measles, and hepatitis B. In October 2021, the government of former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, implemented the COVID-19 immunization requirement. Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican, praised the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) move on Wednesday. Massie had previously introduced a bill to repeal the COVID-19 immunization requirement.

Since returning to the White House last week, Republican President Trump has attempted to implement a tough, anti-immigration agenda, even though the USCIS rule change has eliminated a potential barrier to obtaining Green Card status. In a series of executive orders, Trump has deemed illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency and sent more troops to the region to assist the Secretary of Homeland Security in gaining full operational control of the US southern border.

On the day of Trump’s second inauguration, the White House released a statement claiming that America’s sovereignty was being threatened. Cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, people traffickers, smugglers, unscreened guys of military age from foreign enemies, and illegal drugs that hurt Americans, especially Americans, are all swamped along our southern border. The Washington Post notes that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have been instructed to increase daily detentions to more than 1,000, indicating that the Trump administration has also begun conducting immigration raids around the United States.

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To execute U.S. 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 was conducting increased targeted operations. Trump has also removed the CBP One app. This smartphone program allowed 1,500 asylum seekers to get daily immigration appointments at the US border, enabling them to enter the country lawfully while their request was being processed. Every appointment that was already scheduled was canceled.

Trump’s move on green card could end birthright citizenship in the US

Additionally, one of Trump’s executive orders aims to abolish birthright citizenship in the US as part of his anti-immigration policies. According to the American Immigration Council, birthright citizenship is a legal doctrine that confers citizenship on people automatically at birth and appears to be safeguarded by the United States Constitution. 

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states that all people born or naturalized in the United States and under its authority are citizens of both the United States and the state in which they currently live. However, the Trump administration asserted in a statement describing the executive order—which is being challenged in several courts—that the 14th Amendment has never been construed to grant citizenship to all people born in the United States.

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