Gallego kicks off effort to repeal Trump green card policy

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is taking a first step to kill a Trump administration directive to make immigrants go abroad to apply for a green card, pushing to have the policy classified as a rule in order to use an unusual congressional power to quash it.

In a letter obtained by The Hill, Gallego asked the acting comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to determine whether the new policy should qualify as a rule, a distinction that would allow it to be repealed by Congress under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) last month announced prospective immigrants would need to return to their home country to “adjust their status” by applying for green cards — something long-time residents are currently permitted to do within the U.S. 

“In a departure from longstanding precedent, the new guidance appears designed to create a new presumption against granting adjustment of status to noncitizens by incorrectly framing such relief as ‘extraordinary.’ In essence, it aims to require these applicants to seek legal permanent residency through consular processing rather than through the routine adjustment of status pathway—contrary to congressional intent,” Gallego wrote.

“The new guidance........

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