In this video, we're going to talk about two major announcements for the past week
that will essentially make it more difficult for people to immigrate to the United States and get
green cards. The first one is proposed changes to the Affidavit of Support.
And the second one, are major restrictions on people that are a member of the Communist Party.
So, watch this video and I'll tell you more.
Hello, everybody. In this video, we're going to talk about two major proposals that came in the
past week to essentially make it more difficult for people to immigrate to the United States. As
you know, in the past few months, the government has been issuing different policies, memorandums,
and executive orders. They're making it very difficult for people already to immigrate and
enter the United States. These few proposals that we'll be talking about in this video, are going
to make it specifically harder for people as they immigrate and try to get the green cards.
The first one we're going to talk about is the proposed changes to the Affidavit of Support,
that important document that is required for every immigrant that is intending to immigrate
and obtain a green card. And the second is the proposed policy rules for people that are
members of the Communist Party. And essentially, those are very extreme rules that are coming in.
And I would like to discuss that as well. So, before we do that, if you’re here for the first
time, make sure you subscribe to our channel. Click that bell to be notified so you don't miss
any of our videos or our live streams that we do every single week. Also, give us a big like
so YouTube is going to be able to show this video to more people just like you. My name is Jacob
Sapochnik. And I'm an immigration attorney located in San Diego, California, and I help immigrants
in all 50 states. I'm happy to make this video just for you. So, Homeland Security has announced
a proposal to keep sponsors accountable for failing to meet the requirements of the Affidavit
of Support. The proposed rule would require potential sponsors to provide in addition
to actually signing the Affidavit of Support, they will have to provide their credit score,
credit application, they have to provide tax returns for the past three years in addition to
the actual Affidavit of Support. In addition to the credit reports and credit scores in the tax
returns, the sponsors will need to provide their actual bank accounts. And this is something that
was never required before. Big, big changes are coming, and the whole purpose is to deter sponsors
from actually willing to sign the Affidavit of Support. And as a result, it's going to make
it more difficult for immigrants to actually get their green cards. Essentially, the way I see it,
USCIS is going to make it harder for immigrants to be able to get their green cards, and also for
sponsors to qualify as co-sponsors because as you know, if somebody does not meet the
income requirements, the easiest thing would be just to be a co-sponsor. But now, with this new
proposed rules, it’s going to make it very difficult for people to become co-sponsors,
or even be willing to do so because of all these harsh requirements. Under these proposed rules,
if the USCIS will determine that the petitioner who is filing a petition on behalf of an immigrant
has actually taken public benefits in the 36 months before filing a petition or
has not reimbursed the government for aid that another immigrant has taken that that petitioner
sponsored, then that petitioner will be deemed not qualified and will be required to get a co-sponsor
even if their petitioner’s income is okay at the moment to be a sponsor under the
current Poverty Guidelines. That's going to be very, very difficult for many, many people
to qualify. So once again, just to repeat it, if a petitioner who's filing an immigrant petition for
an immigrant has taken public benefits in the 36 months prior to filing a petition, that petitioner
may not qualify on its own terms and is going to need a co-sponsor, under this new proposed
rules. So, which immigrants could be affected by the new Trump administration proposal?
Essentially, it's going to apply to all relatives of US citizens, and legal permanent residents who
are intending to apply for a green card or in the process of getting their Adjustment of Status.
Those immigrants are the following: immediate relatives of US citizens such as parents, spouses,
and unmarried children under the age of 21; relatives who qualify for immigration to the US
under one of the family-based preferences, first preference, unmarried adult sons and daughters of
US citizens, second preference, spouses of permanent residents and unmarried sons and
daughters of permanent residents, third preference married sons and daughters of US citizen,
fourth preference, brothers and sisters have adult US citizens. As you know, the Affidavit of Support
is required for most family petitions and some employment-based petitions as well. So, it's
going to be a really, really important and pretty hard standard to meet if passed in the next coming
months. Finally, this role proposed a possibility for civil actions to be taken against sponsors who
violate the rules, it’s going to make it much easier for the government to take legal action.
For example, eliminating the subpoena requirements before USCIS can request information from some
benefit granting agency. They're going to limit the type and number of household members that can
actually file the I-64 Form, Affidavit of Support. Currently, we don't have that kind of limitation.
Once again, it's going to make it more difficult for people to qualify. So as you can see, these
are pretty, pretty harsh requirements for evidence of support. And it's already a complicated form.
It's already a complicated process as it is. So, with these proposed rules, it’s going to
make it definitely much more difficult for people to qualify. And unfortunately, some
immigrants are not going to be able to actually get their green cards. And this is all part of an
effort to limit immigration, as far as we see it. These proposals should be approved after a period
of comments, probably 60 days, and then we'll know more. But again, these things are coming.
And that's why I'm making this video so you'll be prepared, be informed, and we know what to do.
Now, let's talk about the other restriction that just was announced this week. And this is limiting
people that were members of the Communist Party from immigrating and ever getting green cards.
A very, very harsh restriction. So, USCIS released guidelines that are going to make it virtually
impossible for members of the Communist Party or similar parties to ever get green cards into
the United States, something that we've never seen before. This is pretty groundbreaking.
And what that rule states are the following: In general, unless otherwise exempt, any intending
immigrant who is a member or affiliate of the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party,
domestic and foreign is inadmissible to the United States. Prior to that, we had options, [inaudible]
waivers for members of the Communist Party. And right now, it looks like it's going to be a flat
out ban on people like that. And essentially, it's clearly intended in China, as we know. So as you
can see, two major rules that are coming, one really important [inaudible] support. It’s going
to impact thousands and thousands of immigrants. And essentially, it's going to make it very,
very difficult for people to immigrate unless they meet those requirements. As you can see,
a lot of disclosure to make it very difficult to convince people to become co-sponsors,
which is going to make it impossible for people who don't qualify to meet their requirements.
As you can see, there’s another rule to limit completely members of the communist party that
is playing to block Chinese immigration to the United States. So, these are the current updates
on those two major provisions. Let me know what you think in the comments. Once again, if you're
here for the first time, make sure you subscribe to our channel. Click that bell to be notified.
And let me know what you think. Also, as you know, we started our private membership group,
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a private membership where you can get the news faster, have an awesome community to support you.
And we’re excited to launch that membership. So, the link is right there in the comments.
And also, if you want a consultation with me, that’s the link right there. Many of you wanted
to talk to me one on one, get information about your case, I'm excited to do that for you. So,
right there on the link. So once again, thanks for watching, and I'll see you in our next video.