Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) closed offices and for months would not provide alternative methods for completing the citizenship process, such as administering oaths virtually or incorporating social distancing in naturalization ceremonies. In March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Over 100,000 immigrants have been waiting to become U.S.

Naturalization Slowed and Ceremonies Stopped for Many Applicants: The five people who received naturalization at the White House on August 25, 2020, were fortunate. service members who represent a class of thousands in uniform.” Department of Defense, filed by the ACLU on behalf of eight non-citizen U.S. “A federal court today ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of depriving military service members of an expedited path to citizenship is unlawful,” reported the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). On August 25, 2020, the same day a naturalization ceremony was held at the White House, a federal court ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to make it more difficult for active-duty service members to become American citizens. Due to policy decisions, between FY 2016 and FY 2019 the number of immigrants in the military who naturalized dropped by 54%, from 8,606 in FY 2016 to 3,987 in FY 2019. New asylum regulations also make it difficult for those fleeing persecution to be approved if they receive a hearing.Ī Significant Increase in Denials for Military Naturalizations: The denial rate for military naturalizations increased from 7% in FY 2016 to 17% in FY 2019, a 143% increase in the denial rate, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis. In FY 2016, the last full year of the Obama administration, 182 Venezuelans were removed, compared to 327 in FY 2019 under the Trump administration, an 80% increase.Īsylum seekers from Cuba and Venezuela (and Central America) who try to enter the United States and apply for asylum would be unlikely to obtain a hearing under current administration policies at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed more than 900 people to Venezuela between 20.

“Rather than make things easier for fleeing Venezuelans, the Trump administration has tightened asylum standards,” according to Miami New Times reporter Manuel Madrid, who writes that many Venezuelans consider being deported to Venezuela to be a death sentence.ĭespite pleas from religious leaders, the administration has not designated Venezuelans for Temporary Protected Status and has continued to deport people back to Venezuela. immigration court facing removal, an increase of 277%, from 6,492 in September 2018, reports the Syracuse University Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). As of December 2019, 24,451 Venezuelans were in U.S.

Trump immigration policy