From CBS News: The Trump administration is signaling it will more heavily scrutinize applications filed by legal immigrants seeking American citizenship, in its latest effort to tighten access to U.S. immigration benefits.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency overseeing the country’s legal immigration system, instructed officers on Friday to consider additional factors when determining whether immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship have a “good moral character.”
Typically, legal immigrants with U.S. permanent residency, also known as a green card, can apply for naturalized American citizenship after a 3- or 5-year period, depending on their case. Demonstrating “a good moral character” has long been one of the requirements in U.S. immigration law for American citizenship, alongside passing English and civics tests.
For decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, the “good moral character” assessment has generally been satisfied if applicants don’t have any of the criminal offenses or disqualifying conduct outlined in U.S. immigration law. Those disqualifying factors range from violent crimes like murder and aggravated felonies to drug offenses and being a “habitual drunkard.”
However, the newly-issued memo states: “Evaluating GMC involves more than a cursory mechanical review focused on the absence of wrongdoing. It entails a holistic assessment of an alien’s behavior, adherence to societal norms, and positive contributions that affirmatively demonstrate good moral character.”
The memo further reads:
Naturalization is envisioned not simply as a procedural immigration benefit—
the greatest of all—but a significant legal transformation, an assimilation to a country that demands both allegiance and character. A step towards naturalization is determining whether an alien has met the requirement of demonstrating GMC. Section 316(a)(3) requires that an alien applying for naturalization “has been and still is a person of good moral character” during the statutory period.USCIS determines whether an alien has met the GMC requirement on a caseby-case basis. The standard of proof for all naturalization decisions, including GMC, is preponderance of the evidence. This means that aliens must show it is more likely than not that they have met all the requirements for naturalization.
Another excerpt makes it clear that anyone seeking to gain U.S. citizenship must be assimilating into U.S. culture and be an upstanding, responsible person. It reads:
USCIS will place greater emphasis on an alien’s positive attributes and contributions in GMC determinations. These positive factors include, but are not limited to:
• Sustained community involvement and contributions in the United States.
• Family caregiving, responsibility, and ties in the United States.
• Educational attainment.
• Stable and lawful employment history and achievements.
• Length of lawful residence in the United States.
• Compliance with tax obligations and financial responsibility in the United States.
More on @CBSNews: Trump administration to more heavily scrutinize “good moral character” requirement for U.S. citizenship https://t.co/aRsuQ5yoFf
— Camilo Montoya-Galvez (@camiloreports) August 16, 2025
USCIS also announced on Friday, “If you need help with foreign language translation for a field office appointment, you are responsible for arranging your own interpreter. Beginning Sept. 28, we will not provide one. You may use a professional interpreter or a friend or family member over the age of 18.”
If you need help with foreign language translation for a field office appointment, you are responsible for arranging your own interpreter.
Beginning Sept. 28, we will not provide one. You may use a professional interpreter or a friend or family member over the age of 18.
The… pic.twitter.com/pURkUc5PTX
— USCIS (@USCIS) August 15, 2025
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