The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is reportedly directing officers to screen applicants for “anti-American” views, a vague new policy that has sparked a heated debate.
August 21, 2025: The U.S. government is adding a new, more subjective level of review for everyone who wants a visa, a green card, or to become a citizen. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently said that an application could be denied if an adjudicating official thinks the petitioner has “anti-American” attitudes.
The new policy says that “anti-American activity will be a very bad thing in any discretionary analysis.” Matthew Tragesser, a spokesman for USCIS, said in a news release on the USCIS website, “America’s benefits should not be given to those who hate the country and spread anti-American ideas.” He also said, “Immigration benefits, such as the right to live and work in the United States, are still a privilege, not a right.”
Under the new rules, USCIS inspectors will check to see if applicants have “endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused” beliefs of terrorist groups or ideologies that are against America, against Jews, or connected to antisemitic terrorism.
This new policy is one of many adjustments that the Trump administration has made. In April, USCIS said it will keep an eye on the social media accounts of overseas students and anyone who want immigration benefits, with the goal of finding “antisemitic” attitudes. In the middle of June, the agency started doing in-person visa interviews for overseas students and exchange visitors again. This time, applicants had to make sure that their social media accounts were public.
A key requirement for U.S. citizenship is “good moral character.” The definition of this term has been changed to include a full evaluation of an applicant’s behavior, taking into account both bad behaviors (like misdemeanors or unpaid taxes) and good traits (like education and work history).
Immigration lawyers and legal experts are very upset about the new guidelines. They say that the policies are becoming more and more subjective and based on the officer’s own judgment. Cyrus D. Mehta, an immigration lawyer in New York, said the policy was unclear and asked how USCIS defined “anti-Americanism.”
Mehta stated on social media, “Being critical of the Trump administration or any other administration should not be seen as anti-American.” “Criticizing America or its government should be seen as a good thing because it lets us think about all sides of an issue, fix our mistakes, and grow.” Some other critics have gone to social media to make fun of the regulation for being imprecise and what they think to be its ridiculousness.