The USCIS onFriday announced that all employment-based Adjustment ofStatus applicants (Form I-485) will now be subject to an in-person interview before theUSCIS approves the green card. Politico first reported the story.
This is a colossal waste ofeveryone’s time and money. It shows thisPresidential administration’s complete disregard for government efficiency whenthey have the option to pander to their base. The USCIS is using “extreme vetting” as therationale for this new in-person interview requirement. In reality of course, his administration isanti-immigrant and uses any excuse it can muster to inconvenience and harass contributing immigrants.
How stupid is this policy change? Employment-based I-485 applicants will havealready been in the United States for years before this useless interview. For instance, most Indian-born nationals average 10-15 years of US statusbefore they are eligible to receive the green card. Any damage that they wished upon the USwould surely have happened in the 10-15 years before that interview. Terrorists,as a class, are not the type of people who work at a gainful job for years,diligently file countless immigration papers, and have no criminal record, allof which is required before any such interview would happen.
The USCIS knows this, which is whythey long-ago waived the interview requirement for employment-basedimmigrants. Back then, USCIS recognized that in a governmentof scarce resources, its scarce resources could much better be used to findreal threats to US. This policy changereveals just how tone deaf the President is as to who actually contributes tothe richness of American life and who are the actual threats.