IRISH PEOPLE LIVING in the United States and hoping to get permission to remain there permanently have been dealt a blow by the Trump administration, which announced last week that applications for green cards must be made outside the US except in “extraordinary circumstances”.

How the change in policy will be implemented remains to be seen, according to immigration lawyers who spoke to The Journal, but it could result in family separations and the loss of jobs for Irish people currently living in the US.

On 22 May, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the new policy, saying “aliens” must apply for green cards through US consulates in their home countries. 

The US typically issues just over one million Green Cards per year and around half of those go to people who apply while in the country. 

There are two ways to get a green card. People can apply for an “adjustment of status” from within the US, or go through a US consular service in their home country. 

The policy change will mean that the hundreds of thousands of people who apply for adjustment of status every year may now have to return home to do so, unless they get an exemption. 

A US law firm that specialises in immigration, Margaret W Wong and Associates, stressed that the memo itself does not prevent people from applying for a green card while in the US, despite “the foreboding language” in the USCIS announcement.

Louise Corrigan, a lawyer based in Dublin who specialises in US immigration law, said the policy will likely affect many Irish people. 

She said that because many Irish applicants may be spouses of US citizens, be seeking a green card for employment reasons or may have overstayed a visa or, “it may be something that affects Irish immigrants in the US trying to adjust in this way”. 

Both firms said they will have to wait and see how forcefully the new policy is implemented before knowing its full effect. 

What remains to be seen is how the term “extraordinary circumstances” is interpreted and what guidance immigration officers are given in that regard. For now, the overriding mood among immigration lawyers in the US is one of uncertainty. 

James Hollis, a partner at McEntee Law Group in Chicago, was more optimistic than others, telling The Journal:

“For Irish folks who are here and don’t have immigration violations or prior contact with police, most likely they’re going to be fine.”

But he added that “folks who have issues on their record should get legal counsel as soon as they can so that they are protected”. 

Hollis also believes the policy will not survive legal challenges.

“I look forward to its eventual demise in court,” he said.

One organisation that intends to challenge it is the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

In press conference on Thursday, AILA painted a starker picture than the firms that spoke to The Journal, saying the move abandons decades of established practice and is effectively an attempt to change the law without going through Congress. 

Ben Johnson of AILA said it represents “a profound shift” and shows “a stunning indifference” to the people it will affect. 

“This is the agency trying to rewrite settled law,” said Shev Dalai-Dheini, another lawyer with AILA, adding that the policy “risks penalising individuals who are trying to follow the law”.  

She said the Trump administration has essentially laid a trap for people who have overstayed their visas but were granted permission to remain pending green card approval. If they are denied a green card under the new USCIS policy, they will find themselves without permission to remain and face deportation. 

Jeff Joseph, head of AILA, said the new policy is “wrong, reprehensible and illegal” and would be challenged “very quickly” once plaintiffs can be found.