US halts immigration applications, Ukrainians included – CBS
Photo: Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The administration of US President Donald Trump has suspended the review of all immigration applications submitted by citizens of Latin America and Ukraine who were allowed entry under programs from the tenure of former President Joe Biden. The initiators cite fraud and security concerns, CBS News reports.
The suspension of application reviews will last indefinitely while officials work on identifying potential fraud cases and enhancing vetting procedures for national and public security reasons.
The media resource notes that this previously unannounced measure threatens to create uncertainty for migrants who were in the process of applying for various immigration benefits that would allow them to stay legally in the US, and in some cases - permanently.
Although the exact number of affected migrants is unknown, the suspension applies to several Biden administration programs that allowed hundreds of thousands of foreigners to enter the US legally under immigration law. This law authorizes the US government to quickly admit foreigners for humanitarian or socially beneficial reasons.
As CBS writes, the Biden administration used this law on a large scale, partly to encourage migrants to register through legal migration channels instead of crossing the southern border illegally.
In turn, the Trump administration quickly suspended these efforts, arguing that they constituted an abuse of power.
Trump and fight against migrants
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that Trump, in the first hours of his presidency, declared a state of emergency at the Mexican border. In another executive order, he revoked the automatic granting of US citizenship to all individuals born on the territory of the country. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security suspended programs that allowed immigrants to stay temporarily in the US.
On February 6, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago, arguing that their sanctuary city policies hinder federal authorities from enforcing immigration laws.
