- By Supratik Das
- Sun, 16 Nov 2025 07:53 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Trump Green Card Policy: In a move that could significantly reshape the US immigration landscape, the Donald Trump administration is preparing a new policy that would restrict green cards and other immigration benefits for people from countries already covered under Trump’s expanded travel ban.
The proposed changes, first reported by The New York Times after reviewing internal draft documents, have not yet been finalised but are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The US State Department has confirmed that the 2027 Green Card (Diversity Visa) lottery rules are also being revised and that registrations have not yet opened.
Who Is Affected Under Trump’s Travel Ban?
In June, President Trump signed an executive order blocking entry for citizens of 12 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East. Under the directive, nationals of Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen are barred from travelling to the United States.
Even immigrants from these countries who arrived in the US before the ban took effect may now face new hurdles. According to the draft policy, they could be denied green cards or other immigration approvals if US agencies believe their home countries do not provide adequate security vetting or have weak passport-issuing systems.
Officials cited “country-specific factors” and difficulties verifying identity documents as key concerns. Seven other nations—Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, already face partial restrictions. Citizens of these countries cannot settle permanently in the US and are blocked from obtaining tourist or student visas.
What Exactly Is The New Green-Card limitation?
While the administration has not formally announced the details, the draft documents indicate a major tightening of legal immigration. If approved, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would be required to scrutinise applicants from travel-ban nations more aggressively and reject cases when officials cannot obtain verifiable information from the applicant’s home country.
The proposed policy aims to expand Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, arguing that some governments fail to share security data or maintain reliable civil-registry systems. This, officials claim, prevents the US from confirming whether applicants meet eligibility and security standards.
A former senior USCIS official, Doug Rand, criticised the plan as “a radical change,” saying it could overturn long-standing expectations for immigrants who have lived in the US for years. “They’re trying to reach inside the United States and restrict people who are already here legally. This is an escalation of the attack on legal immigration,” he told NYT.
Exceptions Remain, But Uncertainty Grows
Trump’s original travel ban included exemptions for those with existing visas or green cards, national-interest travellers, certain Afghans eligible under Special Immigrant Visa schemes, and athletes participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup or the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. However, it remains unclear whether these exemptions will carry over into the upcoming green-card policy.
The administration has also left open the possibility of adding more countries to the travel-ban list “as threats emerge around the world.”
For now, the USCIS has declined to comment on the internal deliberations, but the emerging framework indicates a stricter and more far-reaching immigration system—one that could reshape the lives of thousands of immigrants already inside the United States.