WASHINGTON – For decades, immigrants who have followed the rules and have not broken the law have had hopes of earning a green card, a document that allows them to live legally in the United States and gain a path to citizenship.
But under new guidance issued by the Trump administration, immigrants can now be denied a green card for expressing political opinions, such as participating in pro-Palestinian campus protests, posting criticism of Israel on social media and desecrating the American flag, according to internal Department of Homeland Security training materials reviewed by The New York Times.
The documents, which have not been previously reported, show how expansively the Trump administration is carrying out a directive from August 2025 to vet green card applicants for “anti-American” and “anti-Semitic” views.
The materials were distributed in March to immigration officers at US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security and handles applications for green cards and other forms of legal status.
The Trump administration is also granting permanent legal residency to far fewer applicants. Green card approvals have fallen by more than half in recent months, according to a Times analysis of agency data.
Immigration officers have significant discretion in deciding whether to grant foreigners long-term permanent residence.
They have long considered a variety of factors, including criminal records, national security threats, family ties to the United States and employment histories.
Ideology has also traditionally been one of those factors. In some cases, US law forbids officers from granting green cards to people who have belonged to a communist or other “totalitarian” political party, have promoted anarchy or have called for the overthrow of the US government by “force or violence or other unconstitutional means”.
But in the past, immigration officers have focused on statements that could incite or encourage violence, given concerns about infringing on constitutionally protected speech, former USCIS officials said.
The new training materials reviewed by the Times guide immigration officers through the factors they should consider when ruling on green card applications.
They discourage officers from granting green cards to people with a history of “endorsing, promoting or supporting anti-American views” or “anti-Semitic terrorism, ideologies or groups”. Immigration officers have been told to weigh those factors as “overwhelmingly negative”. NYTIMES