Camp Springs, Maryland (AP)-A fresh rule that enables a US immigration authority to check the “anti-American” views of a person when applying for a green card or other advantages that are not aimed at political beliefs, but to identify support for terrorist activities, the director of the organization of the associated press said.
In a far-reaching interview on Monday, the director of the US citizenship and immigration services, Joseph Edlow, the controversial guideline of the agency announced last month with which the officials can decide whether a foreigner who applies for a certain advantage, which in their opinion are anti-American views.
Edlow detailed problems he sees with a training program that is popular with international students, but hates some Trump supporters. He described how and why he thinks of changing the process through which hundreds of thousands of people become American citizens every year.
Edlow supervises the crucial immigration authority at a time when President Donald Trump maintains conventional immigration policy and receives an aggressive agenda that restricts that come to the USA through legal ways.
Questions about what anti -Americanism is
The fresh guideline of USCIS stipulates that his civil servants could now consider whether an applicant “supports anti -American, terrorist or anti -Semitic views” if they make their decision about whether they should give the advantage.
Critics asked whether there were too much scope for the officials to reject foreigners due to a subjective judgment.
Edlow said the agency must be aware of what people who apply for services, say online and when this speech is being hateful. He said the agency would not automatically refuse an advantage because of what he said, but it is a factor that he takes into account.
He said they are not looking for people who have posted anti-Trump speech. He said that the criticism of an administration was “one of the most American activities in which they can practice.
“This goes beyond that.
In examples of language that could arouse a red flag, Edlow noticed students who publish Pro-Hamas beliefs or take part in Campus protests in which Jewish students are blocked from entering buildings.
The Trump administration has made the protests of students a high priority. The government said that non-citizens who take part in such demonstrations should be excluded from the United States because it expresses views that the administration considers as anti-Semitic and “pro-Hamas”, which refers to the Palestinian militant group that attacks Israel on October 7, 2023.
In one of the best-known examples, the federal immigration authorities arrested the Palestinian activists and Green Card owner Mahmoud Khalil in March, who played an outstanding role in propalestinic protests by Columbia University as a student.
USCIS agents now carry weapons and could make arrests
Uscis recently announced that she could now hire law enforcement officers who could make arrests, carry out search command and carry weapons. This is a change for the agency, which historically examines a fraud with immigration fraud, but hands over cases to other agencies for prosecution.
Edlow said her focus would be on “big criminal activities” such as enormous -scale asylum fraud or marriage fraud.
“You are not a police. This will be a highly qualified and very small part of this agency, which is specifically running out of emigration fraud,” said Edlow. He previously said that the agency had been hindered by the implementation of cases because it finally had to hand it over to another agency for law enforcement.
Edlow said it would start a “couple hundred” of the officials, but in the context of the “thousands and thousands” of other employees, which the agency makes available to decide advantages.
The role of the agency when checking the voter rolls
The program for systemic alien check for claims was created in 1987 as a way for various government agencies to check whether someone is entitled to public benefits.
Edlow said his agency had worked with the social security management to facilitate states and local governments to facilitate access. You can now access the system with a social security number or the last four digits instead of a certain identification number that most of them did not have to need a certain Homeland security. And you can submit a number of inquiries at the same time in contrast.
Edlow also said that USCIS also concludes agreements with the state secretaries so that they can employ the system to check their voters in what he said was an offer to counteract voter fraud.
Critics have questioned the reliability of the data and whether people are incorrectly discontinued by voters and whether their privacy is protected.
Edlow says the agency has a “big team” to check whether the information is correct.
Put “parameters” on work for international students
While Edlow creates an excitement in his confirmation hearing when he said that he would like to see an end to the conclusion of the work permit for international students, he informed the AP that he is currently not proposing any specific changes.
Around 240,000 of the 1.1 million people with student visa in the United States are optional for a one-year period after the conclusion that they are authorized to work in areas in connection with their degrees. It can take up to three years for graduates in the areas of natural sciences, mathematics and technology that were exposed to a continuing shortage of work in the United States
Edlow said ultimately the fate of the program was not only to be decided by his agency, but he would like to set “parameters” on it.
“In my opinion, it creates a competitive, unfair, competitive advantage for companies to hire these students through US students because they can become cheaper at short notice,” he said.
Changes in the officer for citizenship tests
Anyone who wants to become an American must pass tests about English and American government and history.
Edlow said the agency would soon employ a test in Trump’s first term in 2020. This test required applicants to answer further questions. He examines various changes to the current test without a fixed timeline. He described it as “too easy” and said answers can simply be memorized.
“This shows no bond with the constitution of how this is required by the law,” said Edlow. “Also to write a single sentence in English and read a single sentence in English that shows a familiarity with the English language to a certain extent.”
Edlow said he weighed that applicants write an essay to evaluate their understanding of the citizenship process.
H1-B visa and the “expulsion of the American workers”
The H1-B Visa program, which is usually connected to the tech industry, was founded in 1990 for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher in areas where jobs are considered challenging to fill, in particular science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Critics say that the visa enables companies to pay lower wages with less occupational safety.
The controversy about the program was particularly pronounced in the Republican Party. Wealthy members of the Tech world have supported the visa, while many people in Trump’s are based.
It is believed that the White House weighs fresh rules for the program.
Edlow said his concern about H1-B visa was the “expulsion of American workers”.
“These companies can bring in simple and cheap very experienced foreign employees at a lower wage level instead of having US employees who may have to pay at another level,” he said.
___
