The Trump Administration Turns Its Sights On Legal Immigrants

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since his reelection, President Trump has been fixated on illegal immigration in the US, but now the President is taking on immigrants who are here legally. A new policy memo would require some people seeking green cards to leave the country while they wait abroad for their applications to be processed. The memo, which is vague on how this process would work, is already raising concerns for green card holders. We talk with immigration reporters and an immigration attorney about what this change means and who it impacts most. Guests: Hamed Aleaziz, reporter covering the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy, The New York Times Michelle Hackman, reporter covering U.S. immigration policy, The Wall Street Journal Alexis S. Axelrad, president-elect, American Immigration Lawyers Association; partner, Barst & Mukamal LLP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:31.3	in your best interest. From KQED. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. The Trump administration Friday appeared to be trying to walk back an earlier announcement that most green card applicants would need to apply for permanent residency abroad rather than in the U.S.
0:50.7	The shift in long-standing practice sparked chaos and confusion among applicants, foreign workers,
0:55.8	people married to U.S. citizens, as they faced their prospect of having to leave for months
1:00.0	or even years, with no guarantee their green card applications would be approved or they'd be
1:04.5	able to return. And the partial backpedaling Friday appears to have done little to allay their fears.
1:10.8	This hour, we try to get some clarity on where things stand from an immigration lawyer and
1:15.6	journalists who've been covering this latest effort to reduce U.S. immigration through legal channels.
1:22.2	Joining me is Hamid Ali Aziz. He covers the Department of Homeland Security and U.S.
1:27.1	immigration policy for the New York Times. Hamid, thanks so much for being with us. Hamad Ali Aziz. He covers the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration Policy for
1:28.1	the New York Times. Hamid, thanks so much for being with us. Thanks for having me. Also with us is
1:33.9	Michelle Hackman, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, where she also covers U.S. immigration policy.
1:38.6	Michelle, glad to have you, too. Thank you. So, Michelle, take us back to when the administration first made this announcement
1:45.9	about the green card process on May 22nd. What did they say in that memo? Yes. So importantly,
1:53.7	they put out a memo. It was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend when they love to drop big
2:00.0	pieces of news.
	...

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