Public sentiment towards the recent US immigration policy changes is predominantly negative, reflecting a deep division in opinions. A significant portion of commenters express frustration with increased restrictions, perceived injustice, and the negative social and economic impact on both immigrants and American society. While calls for stricter enforcement are present, many advocate for a more humane approach to immigration, highlighting the complexities and challenges faced by immigrants in legal pathways. Overall, there is a strong sense of urgency for reforms that respect immigrant contributions and rights.

US Government

USCIS

American Citizens

Interviews are now mandatory for all marriage cases. 

K1 finance visa processing times have increased exponentially as they fired everyone who worked on them. They went from average of 7-8 months in January, to 18 months. People applying now won’t be approved til early 2027. 

Not much else has changed. I came over on a k1 visa, married in march and interview for our Green card this week :)

milliehg1991

I can only speak from my experience.   
My spouse entered January 10th via K-1.   We married at the end of February.    Filed all the paper AOS, EAD and got the green card in the middle of June.   It felt really fast.   I was almost upset because i thought it would take longer and all the lawyer fees added up quickly.

DogInside5753

Immigration policies have not materially changed but some things like interviews for AOS or ROC are now mandatory when previously they might have been waived for some people. Therefore this makes the process take longer and there have been some reductions in Consular staff or on what their focus is, same at USCIS with some reduction in overall staff numbers and changes in flexibility of hours, etc. 

Naturalization was faster than I expected and faster than the USCIS’s own estimates for the Field Offices my family did our applications through.

Kiwiatx

&gt; Is it harder to apply if the fiance is already in USA vs out of state?

Generally it's easier unless the immigrant entered illegally.

&gt; Are any of those green cards being denied for any reason?

Yes.

&gt; Or worse are they getting detained at their adjustment of status hearings or anything like this?

It's happened to some people with existing removal orders.

renegaderunningdog

Gosh I hope so, most of the GC marriages I encountered were so fraudulent it was comical

Different-Student859

From what people tell me it's about the same. 


Its kinda obvious when he is 46 usc and she is 22 that it's not a relationship. 


They know when you both are bsing. Don't do that. 

420osrs

I’m not sure. I applied for everything in December and just got my green card last week. Other than the mandatory interview, I’d say it was pretty quick

mashbluka

If your fiance is NOT in the US right now and comes on a K1 ...you will be fine so long as you file for AOS prior to the end of the 90 days. I plan to file probably within the first 30-45 days. 

If your fiance is already here in the US on some sort of other type of visa ....student, tourist etc....i would make damn sure they are not in the US without status at any time. My understanding... overstaying a tourist visa because you got married and filed AOS is not the same as having a K1 and filing for AOS. 

I filed for my K1 and K2s in Jan....our expected approval is Jan '26 right now. (Per trackmyvisanow....I pay for the premium account)

I don't think USCIS lost a lot of people to firings ...but I had heard they were being reassigned to help ICE on certain cases. But I can't tell you where I heard that or how reliable that is.

ExPatMike0728

As someone who works in immigration, if you have a legal entry in the US, you are absolutely guaranteed a GC within under 2 years ( a lot less but giving wiggle room). 

I have always seen ( in the last 2+ years working in this field) every petitioner and beneficiary WILL have an interview. ( have not seen one case exempt or didn’t do the interview) EVEN under Biden. 

We have had ONE case where a client went to their AOS interview with a military spouse who is overseas, detained. 

Safe to say under this administration, NOTHING is going how it’s supposed to &amp; delays are expected.

Less_Bandicoot_4825

A pending I-485 no longer shields out of status beneficiaries from removal, at least in the case the beneficiary was out of status when I-485 was filed.

Then there is https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-b-chapter-3

&gt; In addition, a pending application or petition does not automatically afford protection against removal if the alien’s status expires after submission of the application. The alien may have no actual lawful status in the United States and may be subject to removal proceedings unless and until the extension of stay (EOS) application, change of status (COS) application, adjustment application, or petition is approved. 

Afaik, DHS is not invoking this policy. But I expect it will, with K visa holders being exempt.

Mission-Carry-887

Well my marriage is real and they asked us to come in for a second interview which is really bad they said there’s not enough evidence our relationship is real when we gave them a bunch of proof . The first time we went they interrogated us they wanted in depth answers and the girl doing the interview was rude.

Laurenrh01

[deleted]

The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written.

Climate Change is going to displace a lot of the global south. I believe that we will be seeing mass migration into the US as a result of climate change. Obviously with this Trump administration we are enacting fascistic policy that treats immigration as a nail that needs to be hammered. I fear we are walking towards an inevitable dark path once we see a true exodus into our country once the climate becomes uninhabitable. What should we be doing now to prepare? 

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskALiberal) if you have any questions or concerns.*

AutoModerator

&gt;What should we be doing now to prepare?

I think the sooner we confront that Asylum as it currently stands does not work, the better. Asylum is great when its only a few people requesting it but when entire nation worth of people start coming then you have problems.

No-Ear7988

I fear that Xenophobia is going to get much worse as more people flee unlivable conditions. Especially if they come from ethnicities that are off white in skin color. The human race doesn't want to deal with issues until it's actually happening. When it actually happens, they look for the simplest surface level solution to fix the problem without actually fixing anything. So, it will be of course to deny entry and with possible violence or human rights violations to the people trying to find somewhere to live.

The best solution would probably be to fix our broken immigration system. Make it easier for people to come live here and become citizens. Beef up our immigration law system so people aren't waiting in limbo forever. Republicans don't want to fix it, because it will give them nothing to scare the shit out of there voters with.

WeenisPeiner

1. Let any type of housing get built everywhere.


2. Reform our immigration system so backlogs are virtually non-existent.


3. Let anybody who wishes to come in, unless having committed a heinous crime under our standards, into the country if they wish to.


Our country has had far high immigration rates before, than it currently has. Our country didn't collapse or was strained because of it. We can very easily have much greater population growth and be perfectly fine. [Higher immigration levels will actually lead to a massive boost on our economic growth](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/explainer-immigrants-and-us-economy), as it has always done.

Aven_Osten

Maybe in the future, Western countries would be forced to scrap the concept of national-based citizenship, just to accomodate climate change refugees from the equatorial regions. In other words, reforming immigration policies would require copying Gulf Arab immigration policies where climate change refugees themselves may not become *de jure* naturalized citizens at all.

Joseph20102011

We are preparing.  Trump wants Greenland and Canada to be part of the US.  This is his plan to handle Global Warming.  Militarize the southern border, likely with automated gun towers and move all the ~~white~~ right people to the more northern climates.

PopuluxePete

If the decision is needing to pick between "leaving swaths of people to die" versus "temporarily mildly inconvenience ourselves", I'm going with Option B, every time.

This answer is of course ignoring the beneficial aspects of incoming immigration, which are manifold.

cossiander

Prioritize refugees from countries which adhered to environmental targets. If we hit capacity, the rest are shit out of luck.

Be sure to announce this future policy ASAP.

azazelcrowley

&gt; What should we be doing now to prepare?

Liberalizing the immigration system—and making it easier to build infrastructure and housing. 

Due_Satisfaction2167

The reality is there will be other countries in the Southern Hemispheres that will be just fine. We should be investing in developing countries at least. Accepting mass migration is unpopular as a policy; I'm fine with immigration through a controlled and vetted process, but mass migration is a no.

azurite--

I think there should be a big nationwide debate about it that includes discussion of the role of cheap labor in our economy and then a vote. I’m sick of it being nothing but a political football, and the left failing to communicate a plan

cnewell420

Long term political trends are usually very difficult to predict, but an increase in anti-immigrant sentiment (and that's putting it kindly) in response to mass migration - for whatever reason, climate or otherwise - is super easy to see coming from miles away.  /u/Aven_Osten described [my personal preference](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskALiberal/comments/1m5mq6x/how_should_immigration_be_handled_in_the_future/n4d2p71/), but it's not what I expect to have happen.

CTR555

How can you be so certain there is going to be mass migration due to climate change?

steven___49

Without immigration and with current fertility trends, the US will eventually see economic decline. Not good. 

Key_Elderberry_4447

Humanely

We might as well endorse the most rigid immigration system possible, given the inevitable influx of climate refugees. But we should never compromise any person’s humanity. Ever.

torytho

Your "climate change" is nothing but a means to control people and take from them. 

prowler28

In Sweden we already have all that and a 2 year wait time

Background-Luck-8205

its been said before

u dont come back to usa

 u find new friends new life outside of the country

Motivated_By_Money

Thank you for bringing this up in this subreddit. I was waiting for passport bros to care

ParceInTheKnow123

If you’re trying to bring her back, you’re already making a mistake.

Leading-Bid9928

doxer_no_doxin

That’s great. Now instead of bringing them to the states where you lose a lot of leverage not only as a man, but as a potential father, you can go to wherever your partner lives and not deal with it. Poggers.

Tossmiensalada

Boring_Designer8066

They should make it even tougher. Like triple interview during the process with a psychologist to vet out the bad ones. 4 year process since it will vet people out if they don't want to wait. Give them only a temporary visa for 5 years and of they divorce within 5 years or commit a crime they get their visa revoked and get deported. It shouldn't be easy for them. If they hate their partner they can just go back to where they came from. This will prevent alot of fraud and gold diggers. Simple as that

Tricky_Boot5606

Maybe it’s a good thing you people can’t sex tour across the globe hmm

maracusdesu

The simple answer to your question is no, no and no. There is a process to entering and remaining in a country, any country, legally. If you have a Green Card and break the rules, there should be consequences- a fine, a penalty or even deportation. Green Card holders have an option to minimize the risk of deportation, it’s called naturalization; honestly in my opinion, we shouldn’t be renewing 10 year Green Cards - citizenship or departure. If you enter illegally or overstay your visa, 5 year ban, 2nd time should be permanent. Every state and local government should be reporting every undocumented contact to Immigration, I can see exceptions to crime victims, but otherwise everyone.

pirate40plus

I think I would start with the observation that Trump is not only going after illegal immigration. He has revoked green cards and student visas. He has banned Harvard students, and I don't mean only the lawbreaking ones, he has banned all international students from Harvard, legal or illegal. He only goes after certain criminals, leaving other convicted criminals alone, most notably himself. It's very transparent to anyone with a modicum of common sense that the current environment is far from "honest". The rhetoric against illegal immigration, while perhaps partly true, is not the whole story, not by a long shot. Unfortunately this situation makes it very difficult to discuss your title question at face value, since an honest discussion requires honest participation, which we don't have from the Trump camp.

djao

Biden let in 20 million illegal immigrants in 4 years that we know of. The number is probably higher than that. We didn't create enough jobs, add enough teachers and doctors, and create enough housing to support those numbers. No where close. On top of that, there are many cartel members and gang members that crossed during that time. No one was vetted properly. There is no policy that Trump could've enacted to deal with this and there isn't going to be a perfect way to properly address who to deport. That's the reality of the pendulum swinging back the other way.

Edenwiththeivey33

The best way to address illegal immigration is to fix legal immigration. The current system is a disaster, talking decades to get into the country. This leaves many would be no options other than illegal immigration. 

The easiest thing to fix would be the creation of a guest worker program.

Equivalent_Ad_8413

So if I go to another country, enter and stay illegally, work without proper paperwork and permits, potentially participate in SSN or identity fraud - I should then be treated fairly and humane? 

Sorry no. Good luck doing that anywhere else in the developed world. It’s a PRIVILEGE to live and work in any other country besides your own - NOT a right. The U.S. government has every right to crack down on decades of lawlessness.

If we bend the rules and ignore these crimes, then might as well dissolve all visas, work permits, residency status, citizenship, SSN, drivers licenses, etc. Get rid of the rules for everyone and let’s just live in total anarchy.

OkBison8735

No, a country can and should “control” and “protect” their borders. A more nuance answer is that in a democracy, protecting the border is undertaken to promote the common good (stop terrorists, stop drugs, stop bad people or things that hurt American society). The current administration’s approach is not focused on stopping potential terrorist threats or even promoting the common good inside the country. On the contrary, everyday people in the US are now being terrorized, kidnapped, and abused by government officials. Essentially, immigrants are being scapegoated to promote and defend the interest of the few elite criminals running the country not the common good of society. 


No, immigration law provides for many ways to enter the country temporarily and other pathways to adjust status including forgiving illegal entry. Therefore, people who have a pathway for immigration relief should be able to but now it’s proving even more difficult than ever because it seems like the law does not matter.  


The law should be rooted in justice and fundamental rights. A functioning democracy would allow for people to have their day in court to prove their case rather than being indiscriminately deported.

soyunsersin

1, CBP have been controlling the border for years. The idea 6 months ago they waved in illegal immigrants is naive.

2, Let a judge decide if they have a valid claim.

3, Depends on judges decision.

tetlee

(1) yes it's wrong and illegal

(2) no, that's stupid

(3) no, ICE should be abolished and they should all be prosecuted for crimes against humanity (I'm not kidding)

AuDHDiego

What's funny is last year when Biden was pushing his horder bill, which included $60 Billion for Ukraine, included deportations, closing the border, pretty much everything that has been being done. The dems lived they bill, they wanted the border closed, even though 6 months prior they sisd the border was fine. The dems wanted criminal aliens deported, even though they were saying prior that it was racist to deport people. They shouted that walls are bad, but once the border bill was pushed, they were all for the wall.

This is just the same bullshit, had Biden or kamala been doing this, and there would not be protests.

It's just more hypocrisy from the democrats.

Agree Trump is not doing it right what should be done is give the illegals a chance to register for permanent residency.  This way they can work legally and pay taxes.  Plus working with employers that have benefits.  If there is a vetting problem for that person trying to register like he/She is a murderer in their home country then deport them.  

After 6 months the people who fail to put in an application, should be deported immediately.  

The main issue is in my opinion.  that you have people using benefits here that are not legally here. Service for US Citizens and Permanent residents that went thru the application process who waited their turn that cannot get them.  You know the ones that have paid taxes and here legally.  

The strain is too much on the taxpayers. My taxes are high enough,

SuspiciousActuary671

This is pretty extreme. Yet it sounds surprisingly tame compared to what is Trump and Miller are actually doing.

unfashionableinny

A lot of this only gets done if the filibuster ultimately falls in the senate. Which is possible i suppose. But well see

Haunting-Garbage-976

Mounted horse patrols will be an enormously inhumane waste of time, money, water, hay, grain, vet care, human labor, &amp; equine lives. Horses are not well suited for difficult crowd control &amp; other work in super hot, sunny desert conditions.

There’s so much other shit going on hurting lots of people. Cruelty to animals shouldn’t get a pass however. It should be added to the list of crimes when the people trying to pull this off are put on trial at Nuremberg 2.0.

WissahickonKid

&gt; Eliminate or significantly reduce the number of visas issued to foreign students from "enemy nations".


That's apparently planned imminently, and not only the issuance, but Rubio wants to revoke already issued visas apparently...

fullintentionalahole

I see all are implemented or about to be implemented in the BBB (Big Beautiful Bill aka Big Bully Bill). Am I wrong? Show me anything from the list which looks new

Empty_Use5253

He just wants America white only when it never was nowhere in history states the united states  is an all white country

Ok_Pressure6945

Does anyone have a comparable list of immigration enforcement from any other sovereign countries? I’m curious to compare how Nazi and dystopian our laws are to others.

Exanguish

Also getting rid of Particular Social Group membership as a basis for asylum

harlemjd

Oh no who will clean my house, said the gringa.

Key_Wasabi_1799

Dapper_Tonight5679

most of this stuff requires congressional legislation--unlikely given the current makeup of Congress

Beautiful_Regular_95

Your here illegally, you broke the law and this is to stop the left from securing more power..see US constitution Article 1 section 2, enumeration paragraph and you will understand why the left want more illegals in the country

rangers999999

No-Computer5007

Fwiw, the FEMA/New York clawback had nothing to do with the threat to withhold FEMA funds from states over immigration enforcement. Those funds were congressionally allocated money for migrant housing as part of a CBP/ICE program, managed by FEMA because FEMA is well equipped to manage large grants to local jurisdictions. 


But MAGA made up a story about FEMA giving money to migrants instead of hurricane victims, so they had to make a show of clawing those funds back because details and facts don't matter 🙄 

MiddlePalpitation814

This is surprisingly way more reasonable than I thought it would be

Difficult_Lead_618

The USCIS announced new policy changes that tighten the evaluation criteria for immigrant benefits, impacting numerous visa applicants.

US Immigration Policy Changes

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want