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www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 20 COVER STORY June 12, 2026 Act failures. USCIS provided no rational connection between two crimes commit- ted by Afghan nationals cited in support of the memo and freezing adjudications for 39 countries plus all asylum applications. It also ignored serious reliance interests of people who had built lives, careers, and families in reasonable expectation that their applications would be processed, and its stated national security rationale was pretextual. USCIS provided no evidence regarding the national security threats from these countries, which Cato has extensively researched. After meeting with President Trump, then–DHS Secretary Kristi Noem described immigrants as “killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies” and said “WE DON’TWANT THEM. NOT ONE.” Noem posted, and Trump shared, these com- ments literally the day before and the day of the policies’ implementation. The judge also noted the internal inconsistency of exempting athletes for theWorld Cup and Olympics and medical physicians from the hold while claiming national security necessity for everyone else. Unfortunately, this decision did not consider and leaves in place all the restrictions on visa issuances for applicants out- side the United States. Still, half of all legal immigrants (as measured by 2024 flows) are blocked by the State Department’s 75-country visa processing freeze and the presidential proclamation blocking entry for nationals of 39 countries. It also did not consider the recent effort to require legal immigrants inside the United States to leave (and po- tentially be subject to these policies). Moreover, it’s highly likely that the government will appeal the order. Until then, the challengers have achieved a major win over the most anti-legal immi- gration administration in a century. David J. Bier is a research fellow with focus on immigra- tion at Cato Institute. Judge Finds DHS Violated the Law By Freezing Legal Immigration I n the days following a Trump administration an- nouncement declaring most green card applicants would have to return to their countries of origin, America’s business leaders – including from the tech and artificial intelligence industries – privately warned theWhite House and other Trump officials that the policy would harm their workforces. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (US- CIS) guidelines announced on May 22 instruct foreign visitors to apply for a permanent status in their home countries “except in extraordinary circumstances.” But the guidelines offered few details about who would be targeted, potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of people. In the ensuing days, multiple private discussions over the phone and email took place among prominent busi- nesses, industry groups and CEOs with theWhite House and the departments of Homeland Security, Labor and State, according to three people familiar with the discus- sions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to relay private conversations. The quiet but extensive lobbying effort has not been previously reported. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was among industry groups that pressed administration officials for further guidance and warned of the harms to their workforce last week, according to one of the people. The tech industry expressed concerns to theWhite House, according to one of the other people. Then, late last week, the administration veered sharply in its messaging. USCIS officials privately reassured busi- ness leaders in a meeting that most work visas would not be impacted, according to one of the people. The agency also clarified to reporters that most immigrants seek- ing permanent residency would not have to leave the country, although officials have yet to issue any formal guidance saying so. “Business reached out in a straightforward way to the administration to share their concerns about the green card policy,” said Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy group that represents Fortune 500 companies. “We are glad to know that the administration is listening to those concerns and willing to work with the American business community.” The softened stance on green cards highlights ongo- ing tension President Trump has amplified between the business community that relies on immigrant labor and immigration hawks within Trump’s base. Last summer, the administration announced a pause on immigration raids in the hospitality and agriculture sectors following an outcry from employers about losing workers to raids. Also last summer, the administration ended up clarifying that a new $100,000 fee on H1B visas would only affect new visas, after an uproar from the business community. And Trump said he was “very much opposed” to a mas- sive raid on a Hyundai facility in Georgia last fall, follow- ing outrage from business groups and investors. The recent lobbying effort builds upon a broader one that has been underway for months. Business leaders have been raising concerns about restrictive immigra- tion policy in conversations with Trump confidantes who they perceive as more friendly with the business com- munity, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and members of the Kushner family, according to two of the people who spoke to The Post. Business leaders have also been in direct communication with theWhite House, specifically the Domestic Policy Council, through private channels to voice opposition to immigration policies that restrict access to workers. After reports last week that the green card policy had taken effect, some green card applicants have been told this week that the tougher policy is ‘paused’ until im- migration officials get more guidance on how to apply it, immigration lawyers told The Post. Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that the organization had heard anec- dotally that some recent green card applicants are not required to return to their home country. “This is welcome news, and we encourage the admin- istration to provide greater clarity,” Bradley said. AWhite House official told The Post that the policy memo restates long-standing law and will not have a major impact on skilled professionals and qualified appli- cants who abide by the law. The administration officials said immigration officers would be able to decide on an individual basis if some- one should leave the United States to apply for a green card. Some immigrants won’t have to leave to apply for green cards, but some will have to apply from outside the U.S., they added. The Department of Homeland Security responded to The Post with the same information. Chris Thomas, an immigration lawyer in Denver who represents employers nationwide, said there has been “enormous backlash over this clearly flawed memoran- dum.” “Company executives and business associations es- sentially saw this memorandum as the last straw, the moment that would compel them to outsource work to employees in other countries.” The issue reached the halls of Congress. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (R), an ally of the business community, filed an amendment to essentially reverse the green card policy for legal immigrants to a budget bill Republicans were debating Thursday night that funds federal immi- gration enforcement agencies. It is unclear whether the measure will receive a vote. Meanwhile, business leaders said they were only partially appeased by the softened stance, because the administration has not yet issued official guidance detail- ing who would be impacted. Lawyers representing major employers said they are in a wait-and-see mode. Jeremy Beck, co-president of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates for fewer immigrants, said he was not surprised by the business backlash and described employer-sponsored green cards as “inherently exploit- ative,” because they force immigrant workers to stick with a single employer for years. “The guidance does threaten to disrupt the captive labor benefit that employers enjoy in programs like the H-1B visa program,” Beck said. “I think what this guid- ance is doing … is merely exposing some of these long- standing problems with the nonimmigrant system.” Some critics said the unofficial backtracking and continued lack of guidance about how the policy will be implemented allows the administration to simultane- ously spread fear through immigrant communities, win points with its nativist base and appease business groups all at once. “They get to have it both ways. They can tell their base, ‘we haven’t ruled out anything out” and tell the business community, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” said Doug Rand, a senior USCIS official during the Biden presidency. - TheWashington Post By Lauren Kaori Gurley, Ian Duncan Inside Trump’s Suddenly Softened New Green Card Policy PHOTO:CATO.ORG PHOTO:DREAMSTIME - Continued From Page 18