Friday memo<\/a> from USCIS said officers must now weigh not just any disqualifying behavior but whether those seeking to naturalize are in good standing in their community.<\/p>\n\u201cGoing forward, USCIS officers must account for an alien\u2019s positive attributes and not simply the absence of misconduct,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n
U.S. law has long prevented those convicted of murder and other serious violent crimes from gaining U.S. citizenship, and applicants were already required to be considered as having good moral character.<\/p>\n
But the new memo also encourages officers to consider rejecting applicants with other convictions, including drug use or two or more convictions for driving under the influence. Officers are also encouraged to weigh conduct that may not be illegal but frowned upon, such as \u201creckless or habitual traffic infractions\u201d or soliciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepeated criminal conduct such as multiple DUI convictions undermines moral character unless rebutted by affirmative evidence of reform,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn assessing conditional bars officers have authority \u2014 and now explicit directive \u2014 to weigh all relevant evidence, both adverse and favorable, before granting or denying naturalization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officers are also urged to consider evidence of reform, including compliance with court orders, payment of lapses in taxes of child support payments, or \u201ccommunity testimony\u201d from those who can assure their good character.<\/p>\n
The memo also encourages the officers to look at other \u201cpositive factors,\u201d such as \u201csustained community involvement,\u201d caregiving or raising a family, education and career achievements, and paying taxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cGMC findings must go beyond the absence of disqualifying acts, it must reflect a genuine positive assessment of who the alien is and how they have lived in their community,\u201d the memo states, using an abbreviation for good moral character.<\/p>\n
Those seeking to naturalize already face multiple steps to do so, including years of lawful presence in the U.S., compliance with U.S. laws, and passing a test on U.S. civics often conducted in English.<\/p>\n
\u201cU.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship \u2014 it should only be offered to the world\u2019s best of the best,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew J. Tragesser said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Trump administration is ordering officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to take a more “holistic” approach when determining whether to award U.S. citizenship to immigrants, saying they<\/p>\n
Continue reading <\/use> <\/svg>Trump administration heightens 'good moral character' standards for potential US citizens<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1743,"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions\/1743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.logicalware.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}