Overview
- The draft guidance, reported from DHS documents, remains under internal review and has not been finalized.
- If implemented, it would apply to discretionary benefits such as certain green-card cases, asylum requests and humanitarian parole, while leaving naturalization applications unchanged.
- The change would most directly affect nationals of 12 countries under the full travel ban and could also implicate seven nations with partial restrictions.
- Administration officials cite inadequate screening, weak identity verification and unreliable documentation in the listed countries as the rationale for the shift.
- Immigration experts and former USCIS officials warn the approach could function as a de facto ban, increase denials and heighten legal vulnerability for long-term residents.