Green card pause

The decision by the United States government to, as of January 21, pause the processing of ‘green card’ applications from 75 countries, including Jamaica, is raising concerns among Jamaicans in the diaspora, with Jamaican immigration attorneys arguing that the move would drag out efforts at family reunification by nationals of these countries.

The US Department of State announced yesterday that it was putting a pause on the processing of immigrant visa applications as a re-evaluation of the process of screening applications takes place.

“The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people,” said Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson at the State Department.

Yesterday, Sylvia, a teacher in Brooklyn, New York, who has filed for her mother and who did not want her full name published, questioned what would become of the application now that a pause has been placed on its processing.

“This makes no sense, because there are already safeguards in place to stop new immigrants from accessing government programmes such as Medicaid and food stamp,” she said.

Sylvia said she believes the move was mainly intended to affect persons filing for their relatives from countries like Jamaica.

“If I sponsor someone for residency in the United States and that person was to apply for government assistance within five years of coming to America, the government can garnish my pay to recover the funds,” she told The Gleaner.

Immigration attorney in Jacksonville, Florida, Michelle Fanger told The Gleaner that since the news broke, she has had several calls from clients from Jamaica seeking to find out how the pause will affect their applications.

She said the calls have come in from entertainers, athletes, as well as a client who has filed green card application for his wife.

“I don’t think that those who are applying for work visas, like entertainers and athletes, will have their application affected as they already meet the financial conditions to show that they will not be a charge on the public’s purse,” she said.

Fanger said that while the announcement has come as a shock, she doubted the impact would be as severe as is feared.

“Pausing the application process will drag out the situation, and people will have to wait for longer periods before their applications are approved, but I don’t think denial will be widespread,” she said.

The US State Department, in reviewing the application process, will be looking at areas such as police background checks, the financial status of the person making the application, more in-depth medical examinations and other areas which could allow a new green card arrival in the United States to go on welfare. The background of the person applying to bring relatives to the United States will also now be scrutinised in depth.

Wayne Golding, Jamaican immigration attorney in Orlando, Florida, told The Gleaner that there are going to be delays in the processing of applications, so he would advise persons filed for to not dispose of their properties and holdings at this time.

“I suspect that they are going to revamp how they look at migrants and if they will become a charge on the public purse. If you don’t meet the financial threshold, this could derail the application,” he said.

Golding said this would have an impact on family reunification, therefore cutting back and cutting down on the number of migrants coming from countries such as Jamaica.

“There will be extraordinary delays in processing the applications, and [it] will have a big impact on family reunifications,” he said.

He said what the government is doing is putting a stop to everything while it builds out a new system.

“What we do not know is how long this new system will take to be put in place,” he told The Gleaner.

Golding said the hope is that once the US government sees the impact on the country’s economy, there will be a change in the policy.

Employment-based petitions, non-immigrant visas, such as visitor, student, seasonal worker and other work visas, are not expected to be affected by the pause.

In 2022, just over 16,000 Jamaicans were granted green cards by the US government. No later figures are available on the US government website. However, it is estimated that more than 10,000 Jamaicans are granted green cards per year.

Immigration attorney Winston Tucker reminded that the Trump administration, in its first term, started to implement a similar process, but this was reversed by the Biden administration.

He said that US embassies in host countries would have a greater say in the processing of the applications, and this could have a major effect on the number of people approved for a green card.

“They will be looking at the health, education and financial strength of the applicants, and this could be used to disqualify people,” he said.

He said that the impact of this on family reunification could be significant as it could reduce the number of applications approved.

Irwine Clare, head of Caribbean Immigration Services, a Queens-based immigration service company, said he was not surprised by the announcement, as the administration of US President Donald Trump has been talking about reducing the number of immigrants from Third-World countries.

“This is a true onslaught on legal migration and I expect additional rules to follow from this administration,” he said.

Clare said the administration’s decision is unfortunate, but “is so it go” in these times.

“Family reunification will definitely be affected,” he said.

Clare warned that people should ensure that their applications meet all the criteria as set out by the administration, but pointed out that even in such instances the delays will be long and could turn off people from seeking to migrate to the US.

editorial@gleanerjm.com