The government of U.S. President Donald Trump initiated an update of the factors that will be taken into account to grant immigration benefits such as moral character, anti-American, terrorist, or anti-Semitic activity that will be considered as negative points and may result in the denial of the application.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) announced Tuesday that it is updating its policy manual guidelines on the elements that officers consider in certain benefit applications that require their discretion.
Among these factors will be considered any involvement in organizations that are against U.S. policies or terrorist organizations, as well as anti-Semitic activity.
As part of that review, USCIS included anti-U.S. activity among the topics subject to verification on social networks, which will be “an overwhelmingly negative factor” in any analysis at an officer’s discretion.
In this regard, Matthew Tragesser, USCIS spokesman said that immigration benefits in the United States “should not be granted to those who despise the country” and stressed that as far as possible, rigorous investigations will be carried out in each case.
“Immigration benefits, including living and working in the United States, remain a privilege, not a right,” he added.
Good moral character for citizenship
Tuesday’s announcement follows a recent memo in which USCIS instructs that aliens applying for citizenship must demonstrate that they “have been and continue to be persons of good moral character,” known as GMC.
“Going forward, USCIS officers should consider an alien’s positive attributes and not simply the absence of misconduct,” the memo reads.
Positive attributes may include active community involvement, educational attainment, family ties, a stable and legal work history, and responsible financial behavior, such as tax compliance, among others.
Under the new policy, officials can also expand the definition of disqualifying factors, if deemed appropriate by the official, such as repeated traffic violations, EFE reported.
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