Authorities are reconsidering the green card. What does that mean?
Green card holders and applicants from “high-risk” countries are being reviewed. Here’s what it means:
President Donald Trump further doubled down on his anti-immigrant policies on November 30, saying there is “no end date, but it could be for a long time” to suspend the processing of all asylum applications.
“We don’t want those people. We have enough problems,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Many of them are worthless and should not be in our country.”
Asked who “those people” were, the president said: “People from different countries that are not friendly to us, and people from countries that are out of our control.” He again referred to “Third World countries,” a term used to describe poor and developing countries.
“I don’t think they’re all ‘Third World,’ but in many cases they are. They’re not good countries. They’re high crime countries. They’re countries that don’t do good jobs,” Trump said. “Frankly, we don’t need them to come to our country and tell us what to do.”
President Trump had previously vowed to halt immigration from all “Third World countries” following the attack in Washington, D.C., that killed one West Virginia National Guard member and seriously injured another. The shooting was allegedly carried out by a suspect identified as an Afghan national who entered the United States under the Biden administration-era refugee program in 2021 and was granted asylum by the Trump administration in April of this year.
After the Nov. 26 attack, the Trump administration ordered a sweeping review of immigration policy, including a sweeping review of green cards issued to people from 19 countries deemed “high risk.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and ABC’s “This Week” on Nov. 30 that immigration officials will consider deporting people seeking asylum if there is a valid reason to do so.
President Trump also threatened to denaturalize some Americans. “I don’t know if I have the strength to do it, but if I did, I would definitely do degenerative surgery,” he said.
President Trump renews attack on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar
During a conversation with reporters, President Trump again attacked Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, referring to her country of origin, Somalia, and saying, “It’s not even a country, it doesn’t function like a country.” The president has repeatedly named Somalia as a country he considers unsuitable for allowing people to immigrate to the United States.
President Trump’s comments came days after he made a series of anti-immigrant posts on social media on Nov. 27 in response to the mass shooting in Washington, D.C. In one post, he claimed that “hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are taking over the once-great state of Minnesota.”
He also began criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Democrat Omar, calling Walz the “R” word and deriding Omar as “always swaddled in a hijab,” USA TODAY previously reported.
President Trump has long targeted Somalis and Somali immigrants in Minnesota. The state has become a destination for Somali immigrants in recent decades, dating back to the 1990s.
On November 21, the President announced that he was immediately ending temporary deportation protection for Somalis living in Minnesota. The program for Somalis was launched in 1991 by then-President George H.W. Bush to provide government protection to eligible foreign-born people who are unable to return home safely due to civil war or natural disaster.
There are 17 countries targeted, but the Trump administration announced that it would lift the designation of several countries, including Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Contributor: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY. Reuters
