The US Supreme Court overturned the decision of the lower court, according to which the new rules for issuing green cards were previously blocked. The stricter rules were to come into force in October, but the document was suspended by decision of the federal courts.
According to the rules approved by the Armed Forces, the grounds for refusing to provide a green card may be the participation of the applicant in social state programs. Obtaining coupons for free meals, social benefits or using the Medicaid preferential medical insurance - all this now becomes an obstacle to obtaining a residence permit in the United States.
In addition, the reason for the refusal to issue a residence permit may be the presence of serious diseases in the applicant that may require expensive treatment and affect the ability to work. Lack of private health insurance and inadequate English proficiency will also be negative characteristics.
“This decision allows the government to ensure compliance with legal standards that enact a long-passed federal law, according to which immigrants arriving in the country must be financially secure and not be“ supported ”by our country and its citizens,” the White House spokeswoman quotes Stephanie Grisham edition of The Washington Post.
The National Partnership for New Americans organization, which supports migrants, has already criticized the Supreme Court ruling.
“This is a sad day for America. The US Supreme Court approved a completely discriminatory policy that measures a person’s value not by the strength of his character, but by the size of his bank account, ”the organization said in a statement.
The plans of the White House to tighten the procedure for issuing a residence permit were reported back in 2018. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has drafted an order under which the chances of low-income migrants to receive a green card are markedly reduced. Then, the department specified that the reform will be adopted after a thorough discussion. The discussion lasted until August 2019, when the document was published in the Federal Register - the state journal where the by-laws adopted by the government are published. However, the entry into force of the measure was suspended by a federal court decision.
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According to experts, the introduction of property qualification when issuing green cards could result in an increase in illegal migration for the United States.
“Such a measure will reduce the chances of obtaining a residence permit legally, reduce the number of those who can legally gain a foothold in the United States and lead to an increase in illegal migration. Namely, illegal migration is today the main problem for the United States, according to rough estimates, there are about 10 million illegal immigrants in the country. This environment is criminalized, people do not pay taxes and evade the law, ”explained Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt United States Research Foundation at Moscow State University, in an interview with RT.
Natural selection
This is not the only innovation in the field of migration adopted by the Trump administration in recent times. Last week, the State Department explained the new procedure for issuing American visas to foreign citizens. The purpose of the innovation is to limit the so-called “maternity tourism” when women intentionally come to the country on a tourist visa shortly before delivery. A child born in an American jurisdiction automatically receives US citizenship.
This right is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. The norm was adopted in 1868 after the end of the American Civil War to confer citizenship on former black slaves. In a modern interpretation, the amendment guarantees US citizenship to any person born in the country.
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However, this order does not suit the head of the White House, Donald Trump. The politician back in 2018 announced plans to abolish the right of citizenship by birth for children of illegal migrants. Trump even said that in order to make such a decision it is not necessary to conduct a constitutional amendment through Congress, but a presidential decree is enough.
So far, in practice, the Trump administration has not been able to revise the constitutional norm. Innovations concern only the rules for issuing visas for foreign citizens. As explained in the State Department, childbirth for the subsequent acquisition of American citizenship by a child cannot be considered the basis for issuing a temporary visa.
With respect to applicants, a presumption of intent is introduced - a woman applying for an American visa will have to prove to the embassy employees that her trip is not connected with “maternity tourism”. The only exception can be made for those women who can prove that their plans to give birth in the United States are associated with the need to receive special medical care due to complications during pregnancy.
As specified in the document, “maternity tourism” poses risks to national security.
“The maternity tourism industry is also characterized by a high level of criminal activity, including international criminal schemes, which is reflected in federal lawsuits against individuals and legal entities involved in this industry,” the State Department said.
As noted by Yuri Rogulev, it is not yet clear whether these measures can somehow reduce the “maternity tourism”.
“There is no guarantee that the White House initiative will really help reduce the scale of this phenomenon,” the expert said.
Election theme
The topic of migration was the focus of Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign. It was the disagreements between Trump and Congress over the financing of the construction of fences on the border with Mexico that caused the longest shutdown in US history.
The White House is not limited to building a wall on the southern border. Earlier, the Trump administration took a number of measures aimed at reducing the influx of migrants into the United States.
Thus, as part of the campaign to combat migration, the White House decided to close the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for protecting juvenile immigrants from deportation, adopted in 2012 by the Barack Obama administration. The program protected foreigners caught in the United States in childhood from being expelled. At the time of curtailing the program, it extended to approximately 800 thousand foreign citizens.
- Migrants on the border with Mexico.
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The abolition of the DACA caused serious outrage among supporters of the Democratic Party, but even more dissatisfaction provoked the decision of the White House to share the children of illegal migrants with their parents on the Mexican border. As part of this practice, adults caught trying to cross the border illegally were sent to custody, and their children were sent to special centers. Under pressure from the public, Trump revised his decision.
In addition, at the beginning of 2017, Trump signed a decree banning the entry into the United States of citizens of several states - Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Iran, subsequently the list was also supplemented by Venezuela, North Korea and Chad. Despite protests from the Democrats, in 2018, Trump's decision was upheld by the Supreme Court.
According to experts, the Democratic Party, although it criticizes the measures taken by Trump, will not be able to change the situation. As Andrei Sidorov, head of the department of international organizations and world political processes at the Moscow State University’s Faculty of World Politics, said in an interview with RT, although the Democrats control the House of Representatives, they are opposed not only by the White House, but also by the Senate, where Republicans have the majority of seats.
“Now the initiatives of both Trump and the Democrats in the migration sphere will pursue purely propaganda goals. Donald Trump again updated the topic of migration, he forms his agenda in anticipation of new elections. American society is deeply divided on the issue of migration, many Americans really believe that newcomers are taking away their jobs. And Trump skillfully plays on these moods, ”the expert emphasized.
But at the same time, the White House administration is clearly exaggerating the danger allegedly emanating from migrants, the expert said. According to Yuri Rogulev, a large influx of migrants has traditionally been America's advantage, the country has never experienced problems with labor.
“In fact, migrants are the foundation of material power and economic growth in the United States. But now the authorities want to put migration flows under tight control. This is part of Trump’s campaign promises, and he is trying to follow them, ”the expert concluded.