Trump administration immigration changes reach spouses of U.S. citizens, lawyers say

USCIS memo increases scrutiny of marriage-based green card applicants, attorneys say

Life has become “a lot more difficult” for Americans married to someone not born in the United States, said Ashley DeAzevedo, executive director of American Families United. The organization, which advocates for U.S. citizen spouses and immediate family members of immigrants, has seen its membership grow over the last year as rapid policy changes have affected immigrants throughout the legal system.

“We saw so many of our members make the decision to self-deport, to leave the country for fear of this indefinite detention,” DeAzevedo told NPR. “We saw some members who had their spouses detained — and that was something we had not experienced previously because there was always this prioritization of who was going to be detained.”

The administration has implemented policy changes since President Trump returned to office last year, including pausing immigrant visas for people from 75 countries, imposing greater scrutiny of applicants at green card interviews, and widening the scope of who is considered a target for deportation. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has instructed officers to conduct more interviews. A memo last month encouraged officers to consider whether an applicant had returned to their home country to apply for a green card, meaning those who stay in the U.S. may face longer and more intrusive vetting. Trump has also asked financial institutions to review the bank accounts of those in the U.S. without permanent legal status.

Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said spouses of U.S. citizens had long held a special place under the law. They are not subject to immigrant quotas, do not need to have maintained legal status in order to adjust their status, and have historically been treated as a privileged class.

“But this administration is treating them like all other immigrants,” Dalal-Dheini said.

In a statement to NPR, USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said the agency is simply complying with the law. Verifying the identities and personal histories of all people seeking immigration benefits — such as a green card or citizenship — requires a rigorous process, he said, “one that prioritizes the safety of the American people by more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens.” He added that marrying a U.S. citizen and beginning the petition process does not protect someone from deportation.

“A pending or approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, does not confer any immigration status,” Kahler said. “Those who entered without inspection or who remain in the United States beyond their permitted stay are illegal aliens who may be subject to immigration enforcement action.”

The latest data released by the Homeland Security Department, from 2024, shows that about 343,000 people received their green cards through a spouse — about a quarter of all green card approvals. For about a decade, the number has hovered between 200,000 and 340,000.

In the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year, 167,401 immediate family relative petitions were approved, and 8,612 fiancé petitions were approved. Average processing time for each petition was 13 months for family members and seven months for fiancés, the data show.

The changes have created particular difficulties for families from one of the more than 70 countries that face holds on travel and immigrant visas, according to advocates and affected families. One such case described by NPR involves “Es,” a green card holder married to a U.S. citizen who was born in a country subject to a travel ban. She has been in the United States for three decades, but her citizenship application filed last year has not yet been reviewed because of the pause. There is no exception to the travel ban for spouses of U.S. military members, and Es’s husband is in the Army.

The couple had planned to move to Germany in July but pushed back to October in hopes of completing her citizenship process. Es, speaking on condition of anonymity because her husband is active-duty military and her case is pending, said they are grappling with what to do with the house they own, whether they will have to travel separately, and what her lack of citizenship means for their two young U.S. citizen children.

“That’ll mess up his readiness [for military service],” Es said. “He’ll be thousands of miles away and he has to think about his job and will be worried about us and that is just not fair.”

A federal judge has ruled that the visa pause was unlawful, she said, but her case has still not moved. “This is not impacting people who have done anything wrong,” she said. “This is impacting everyone.”

Eric Welsh, an immigration attorney in California, said clients must now prepare for questions about when and how they applied for a green card, including providing evidence of “good moral character” — something previously not required for those seeking permanent residency or citizenship through marriage.

“What’s important to keep in mind is that spouses are vulnerable,” Welsh said. “There’s no absolute right to remain and there’s no absolute right to be afforded adjustment to status.”

The intensified scrutiny has had “an absolute chilling effect on many people in this country and their desire to put their spouse in that position,” DeAzevedo said. Some families have hesitated to move forward with their immigration cases at all.