America is considered the world’s largest democracy and the land of opportunities. Every year millions of people come to this country to settle, work and fulfill their dreams. But getting American citizenship has not always been easy. It is a long, complex and strict process in which applicants have to fulfill many legal, social and moral conditions. Recently, the Trump administration has made this process even more stringent. Now those seeking citizenship will not only have to show that they have not committed any crime or improper work but also have to prove that they have excellent moral character and are people who make a positive contribution to American society. This change has become a cause of concern among immigration lawyers and experts, as this will make the path to citizenship more difficult and may prove almost impossible for many applicants.
New change: Additional emphasis on “good character”
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued a new memo for its officers. It says that a holistic evaluation of both the good and bad aspects of every person applying for citizenship should be done. Until now, the process focused mainly on whether the person has not committed a serious crime or obeys U.S. laws. But now officials will also look at what positive things the applicant has done in his or her life, such as social service, charity work, contributions to the community, or other things that show that he or she is indeed worthy of being a responsible and upstanding citizen. “U.S. citizenship is the highest standard in the world and should only be granted to those who are the best of the best,” said USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser.
Additional burdens and uncertainty in the citizenship process
Although “good moral character” has always been part of the U.S. citizenship process, it was relatively straightforward before. Not committing a crime, paying taxes, and obeying the law were usually considered sufficient. But now applicants are expected to provide “positive evidence” that they are indeed useful to American society. This is where the difficulty increases. How does an applicant prove that his or her life is sufficiently “worthy”? For example, if a person is a housewife or an elderly person and has not done much social work, does that mean he or she does not meet the criteria of good character? This question has not been clarified in the policy. Due to this, the citizenship process has now become more subjective than ever and has increased excessive dependence on the discretion of the officials.
Concerns of legal experts
Immigration lawyers and legal experts have expressed serious concerns over this change. Duke University professor Emily Rio, whose research focuses on immigration, says that this policy will bring great uncertainty and instability. Her question was, “If a person has to ‘actively prove’ that he or she is eligible for US citizenship, then what documents will be required for this? On what basis will the officials decide who is eligible and who is not?” On the other hand, Arizona lawyer Susan Ramos called it “worrisome” and said that this change changes the basic conditions of citizenship through just a policy without any public discussion or legal process. He said that “it imposes a new standard, but it does not tell the officials on what basis they should make a decision.” For example, he raised the question, “How much social work is enough? And who will decide what work is considered a sufficient contribution?”
California lawyer Catherine Mautino also expressed concern that this change will give the officials the right to interfere more deeply in the private lives of applicants. She said that “it opens a way in which the officials can ask what you do in your private life, who you socialize with, and whether you have contributed enough to your community.”
New and strict conditions
Many new and strict conditions have been added in this memo, which can become an additional burden for those seeking citizenship.
- Full payment of tax is mandatory—earlier, if someone had tax dues, it was enough to just show that he was involved in the tax payment scheme. But now he will be expected to pay the full tax.
- Full payment of child support—If a person is not paying the court-determined amount for the care of children, he can now be considered ineligible on the test of good character.
- Violating traffic rules—Even getting a traffic ticket multiple times can now be considered “lack of good character,” whereas earlier it was not taken seriously.
- Behavioral issues—The memo states that people who display “harassment” or “aggressive behavior” can also be denied citizenship, but the meaning of these words has not been clarified. This makes this condition even more vague and controversial.
Threat to privacy and arbitrariness of the officer
The most controversial aspect of this change is that it will give officers more power to question the private lives of applicants. For example, whether a person is doing enough community service or not will depend entirely on the individual thinking of the officer. One officer may consider a small contribution to be big, while another officer may consider the same contribution to be insignificant. Due to this inequality, applicants may face a lot of problems. The possibility of discrimination also increases. Apart from this, applicants will also have the fear that every small and big aspect of their personal life can be scrutinized.
Comprehensive investigation and strict stance on immigration policy
This change is part of the Trump administration’s comprehensive policy under which the lives of immigrants are being scrutinized more strictly. Recently, the US State Department had ordered additional investigation of the social media accounts of international students. During that time, visa interviews were also stopped so that the views of the students and their online activities could be deeply examined. Now USCIS has also announced that in the process of granting citizenship and visas, the “anti-American thinking” of the applicants will also be identified and efforts will be made to stop such people. This stance is an indication that the Trump administration is testing citizenship and immigration not only on a legal process, but also on an ideological and political criterion.
Conclusion
The Trump administration’s further tightening of the “good character” criterion in the citizenship process is a major change in the US immigration policy. While on one hand USCIS is calling it an effort to maintain the prestige of America and the quality of citizenship, on the other hand the migrant community and experts consider it a path of arbitrariness and discrimination. This change not only increases difficulties for those seeking citizenship but also raises the question of whether American citizenship is now based only on legal and moral criteria or whether the personal thinking and political inclinations of officials will also play a role in it. This new policy raises serious questions about the transparency and fairness of the immigration process and it remains to be seen how it affects American society and migrants in the future.
