The Club PUBlication 06/01/2026

Lawyers puzzled by new green card rules
The Trump directive says seekers must apply from outside the U.S.
By SUSAN DU and SOFIA BARNETT The Minnesota Star Tribune

​Minnesota immigration policy groups and attorneys are scrambling to understand how to manage a new Trump administration rule affecting green card applications.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced last week it was tightening legal pathways to immigration, suggesting in a news release that many green card applicants must leave the United States while applying for lawful permanent residency.

"When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency," said USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler in the release.

The sweeping new policy could upend Minnesota institutions and disrupt immigrants looking to build families in the U.S.

Local attorneys are now trying to determine how the rules, which were expanded on in a policy memo, will affect their clients' chances of obtaining citizenship.

Gloria Contreras Edin, a longtime immigration lawyer based in St. Paul, said she's been flooded with hundreds of emails from attorneys across the country trying to interpret the change.

"The memo has just left us with many more questions," she said. "This is a really good example of another policy that muddies the waters and muddies the understanding of immigration law."

For decades, many immigrants who came to the U.S. legally could apply for lawful permanent residency, also known as "green cards," without leaving the country. Under the new policy, most applicants will be expected to complete the process through U.S. consulates and embassies abroad, according to Kahler. For example, a foreign student who travels to the U.S. to study and is later hired by a U.S. company would theoretically have to leave the country before applying for a green card.

Minnesota's business leaders have been quiet about the announcement, but immigration experts nationally say it will be harmful to employees and employers who rely on hiring skilled workers from overseas.

"It will drive talented people to other countries and make America a less competitive place for business," David J. Bier, the Cato Institute's director of immigration studies, wrote in a blog post about the new policy.

Other experts who have combed through the Trump administration memo say its language doesn't line up with the administration's rhetoric. While the memo said immigration officers should change an immigrant's temporary status to permanent only in "extraordinary" circumstances, it doesn't specify that green card seekers must apply from their country of origin.

Sarah Ramia, a Washington, D.C.-based immigration attorney who helps immigrants in Minnesota apply for green cards, characterized USCIS's statements on the policy change as "intimidation."  She said the memo didn't specify when changes would occur and whether it applies to new or pending applications. It also doesn't address the administration's January announcement that it was suspending immigrant visa processing at U.S. consulates and embassies in 75 countries worldwide.

"The administration can't change legislation because they're not going to Congress, so they're sort of going the lazy way about it where they just do a policy memo," Ramia said.

The ambiguity of the announcement means immigration advocates will wait to see whether the administration denies a green card under the new rules, Ramia said. She predicts a court challenge will likely follow.

The new policy also reminds immigration officers to consider an immigrant's full record when reviewing green card applications, including immigration or criminal violations.

"Adjudicators must weigh all positive and negative factors, including family ties, immigration status and history, the applicant's moral character, and any other relevant factor that bears on determining whether the alien warrants a favorable exercise of discretion," according to the memo.

Who does this impact? Federal officials have said the change is intended to discourage people from remaining in the country after unsuccessful applications. Kahler also said it will allow the immigration system to "function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes."

Contreras Edin said the new policy may target those who overstayed a tourist visa or humanitarian parole. But she also expects the government to continue granting green cards to many applicants currently living in the U.S., including refugees, asylees, special juvenile immigrants, those with crime victim visas, and other discretionary humanitarian visas.

The memo could harm some immigrants applying for permanent residency through marriage or other family connections, as well as those seeking to work.

More than 7,000 immigrants living in Minnesota gained lawful permanent resident status in 2023, according to the latest Department of Homeland Security statistics. Most were immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen through marriage.

Last week's announcement generated harsh blowback from World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization that provides legal services to immigrants in the U.S.

"This policy, impacting individuals who meet the legal requirements for a green card, will force apart husbands from wives and children from their parents," said World Relief President Myal Greene in a news release. "There's simply no compelling reason for this cruel, anti-family policy change."

About 1.4 million people across the country obtained lawful permanent residency in fiscal year 2024, according to Department of Homeland Security data.

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