Trump Administration Continues Dystopian Shift of USCIS to Enforcement Agency with Armed Agents

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) expresses its deep concern at the Trump Administration’s announcement that a benefits agency, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), will be training armed agents, reportedly “to look for fraud in immigration applications—and arrest the immigrants in question or the lawyers who helped prepare their petitions.”

“The Trump Administration has transformed USCIS into an enforcement agency, weaponizing the immigration system against American families, asylum seekers, and businesses. What’s worse, this rule states they now plan to arm potentially hundreds of agents at USCIS,” said Jeff Joseph, AILA President. He continued: “Congress established USCIS after 9/11 to process legal immigration applications. Enforcement actions were left to other agencies to ensure that immigrants felt safe submitting their personal information and appearing for interviews. The administration’s continued attacks on those who are following the rules and going through legal channels will only serve to push people further into the shadows. Their aim of driving people out of the country shows a shocking disregard for the value and contributions that immigrants make to America.”

Benjamin Johnson, AILA Executive Director added, “This alarming development is another example of the administration’s singular focus of creating a hostile environment for all immigrants and their attorneys, who they unfairly malign as ‘vexatious.’ Immigration attorneys ensure fair adjudications and legal representation to individuals navigating complex immigration policies. Threatening to arrest immigrants and possibly their attorneys, shows a deepening disdain for immigrants and the rule of law. Instead of solutions for the American people, they are closing America’s doors to the world.”