The administration of Donald Trump announced a strengthening of the control of candidates for immigration and naturalization, by expanding the notion of “good morality” and by now scrutinizing the opinions deemed “anti -American” published, including on social networks.
Citizenship and immigration services (USCIS), responsible for granting residence permits and citizenship, claim that “the advantages offered by the United States must not be granted to those who despise the country and promote antia-American ideologies,” said his spokesperson Matthew Tragesser. According to him, the right to reside and work in the country “remains a privilege and not a right”.
Extended control of behavior and opinions
The American immigration law, which dates back to 1952, already included a clause targeting “antiamericalism”, initially applied to the Communists. But the new directive goes further: the authorities will now examine whether a candidate expresses or relays anti -Semitic speeches or hostile to American values.
At the same time, an internal note from the USCIS published last Friday – and reported by CBS News – redefines the requirement of “good morality” imposed on any candidate for naturalization. So far, this condition has been met until no serious offense was noted. From now on, the evaluation must be “holistic”, taking into account the entire behavior of an individual, his contribution to society and his respect for civic standards.
A global hardening strategy
The memo also specifies that agents must give “greater importance to positive attributes”, such as community involvement, professional stability, payment of taxes or family ties. Conversely, “technically legal” behaviors but deemed “contrary to civic responsibility” – for example repeated traffic offenses or harassment – may be retained against a candidate.
Our file on the United States
This development is part of the broader strategy of the administration of Donald Trump, which aims to restrict not only illegal immigration but also legal immigration. In addition to the drastic reduction in refugee admissions and the limitation of visas, the White House has implemented a reinforced control of the history, including the analysis of the online activities of the applicants. Each year, between 600,000 and one million permanent residents access American citizenship.