U.S. government broadens prerequisite for good moral character in naturalization process for citizenship

Enlargement of the prerequisite for 'good moral character' when applying for naturalization as a U.S. citizen under the Trump administration.

The Trump administration has announced a new policy aimed at more thoroughly scrutinising the lives of individuals applying for US citizenship or immigration-related benefits. The policy, overseen by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, is causing concerns among immigration attorneys due to its potential to introduce uncertainty and administrative burden.

Under the new policy, USCIS officers have been directed to consider both positive and negative attributes of people going through the naturalization process. The standard to show good moral character, long a part of the naturalization process, is being expanded to account more heavily for an immigrant's positive attributes, rather than simply the absence of misconduct.

The updated policy requires a more "holistic approach" in evaluating an immigrant's worthiness of US citizenship. This includes considering multiple traffic tickets as a factor in determining good moral character, as well as harassment or aggressive solicitation. However, the memo does not provide a clear definition for these terms, leading to concerns about the lack of clarity regarding what an immigrant needs to do to "affirmatively establish" their worthiness of US citizenship.

The policy change is intended to ensure that US citizenship is only offered to the "world's best of the best." USCIS stated that the new policy aims to ensure that immigrants who have engaged in wrongdoing are properly rehabilitated and reformed. The agency is also expanding vetting to seek out "anti-American" attitudes in those seeking immigration-related benefits.

The US State Department ordered embassies to pause visa interviews for international students to more heavily scrutinise students' social media. The memo gives individual officers more authority to ask about private lives, and the new policy creates a subjective standard without providing the analysis that will be performed in adjudicating an application for naturalization, according to immigration attorney Susan Ramos.

Ramos described the policy change as "troubling" and argued that it effectively changes the substantive requirements for naturalization without proper notice and comment. Emily Ryo, a professor of law and sociology at Duke University, shared similar concerns about the lack of clarity regarding what an immigrant needs to do to "affirmatively establish" their worthiness of US citizenship.

Kathrin Mautino, a California-based immigration attorney, stated that the directive makes it more difficult to challenge an individual officer's decision on whether the character standard has been met. The search results do not provide the name of the author of the memorandum issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); no public source explicitly states the author's name.

The new policy also requires the "full payment" of overdue taxes for immigrants, in addition to other obligations such as child-support payments. The Trump administration is more heavily scrutinizing the lives of people applying for citizenship or for the right to live, work, or study in the United States.