Trump's New Immigration Policy Could Restrict Green Cards for Travel Ban Nationals: What You Need to Know

The June travel ban restricted citizens from 12 countries.

According to internal Department of Homeland Security documents reviewed by The New York Times, the US administration is developing a new immigration policy that could significantly limit green cards and other immigration benefits for individuals from nations already under President Donald Trump's travel ban.

The draft guidance, not yet finalized, would instruct the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to consider "country-specific factors" from the travel ban as "significant negative factors" when evaluating certain immigration applications.

Doug Rand, who served as a senior USCIS official during the Biden administration, described this as "a radical change" to The NYT. "Now they're trying to reach inside the United States and overturn the settled expectations of people who have already been here. This is an escalation of the Trump administration's attack on legal immigration," he stated.

Under the proposed policy changes:

USCIS officers would treat travel-ban "country-specific factors" as automatic negative marks against applicants.

These considerations would affect applications for green cards, asylum, parole, and other discretionary benefits.

Citizenship applications would not be affected by these changes.

While officers currently evaluate factors such as community ties, criminal records, and humanitarian needs, this change would incorporate nationality-based risk into their decision-making process.

Michael Valverde, with over two decades of experience at USCIS, noted, "It will be telling if people actually are able to overcome the negative or if this is a de facto ban for people from the listed locations," according to The NYT.

The June travel ban restricted citizens from 12 nations, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, from entering the United States:

Afghanistan

Myanmar

Chad

The Republic of Congo

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Haiti

Iran

Libya

Somalia

Sudan

Yemen

An additional seven countries face partial restrictions, with their citizens unable to permanently settle in the US or receive tourist or student visas:

Burundi

Cuba

Laos

Sierra Leone

Togo

Turkmenistan

Venezuela

Trump justified the ban as necessary because a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted."

According to DHS draft documents, some nations were included because they:

do not share sufficient screening or identity-verification data.

lack reliable passport security.

cannot provide documentation that USCIS considers adequately verifiable.

Critics contend that this policy unfairly penalizes individuals for their governments' deficiencies.

Sarah Pierce, a former USCIS policy analyst, stated: "There is no way that this policy wouldn't increase denials... the thing that's illegitimate about this policy is that they're predetermining that because someone is from a certain country."

She further noted that implementing the policy for people already in the US makes it "more legally vulnerable."

The original travel ban included exemptions for:

People with existing visas.

Green-card holders ("lawful permanent residents").

Athletes visiting for the 2026 World Cup or 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas.

US government employees with Special Immigrant Visas.

Certain persecuted ethnic and religious minorities from Iran.

Individuals granted case-by-case waivers in the US national interest.

The proposed green-card restrictions could still affect many of these groups when they seek future benefits, unless additional exemptions are specified.