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Critics are slamming the Trump administration for implementing a new rule that foreigners who apply for green cards must do so from abroad.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday announced that foreigners currently in the U.S. who want to establish permanent legal residency must first return to their countries of origin to apply for a green card.

This announcement broke with decades of U.S. immigration policy, which made it possible for immigrants in the U.S. to obtain green cards without having to leave the country.

Doug Rand, a former senior advisor at USCIS under President Joe Biden, said in an interview with The Associated Press that “the goal of this policy is very explicit,” which is to block a path to citizenship “for as many people as possible.”

Sarah Pierce, a former USCIS policy analyst, told The New York Times that the rule change could have particularly dire consequences to foreigners who are married to U.S. citizens and will now have to apply for permanent residency from overseas.

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