Trump administration orders expanded FBI checks for immigration applicants

Immigration applicants already stuck in backlogs are being pulled into a wider security screen as the Trump administration orders U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to send pending asylum, green card and naturalization cases back through enhanced FBI checks. The new guidance also reaches some family-based sponsorship petitions filed for relatives or fiancées of U.S. citizens and green card holders, and officers were told not to approve pending cases that have not gone through the expanded screening.

The policy adds pressure to a system that already moves slowly for many families and asylum seekers. USCIS told officers to resubmit fingerprint-based screenings when FBI information in those cases was received before April 27, 2026, a move that could further delay decisions on cases already waiting in line. USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said the agency had already “implemented new security checks to strengthen the vetting and screening of applicants through expanded access to federal criminal databases,” and said any delay should be brief.

The change follows a February executive order from President Donald Trump directing the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to give USCIS access to criminal history records “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” In a March 30 alert, USCIS tied its strengthened screening effort to Executive Order 14161 and two presidential proclamations that restricted entry from 39 countries lacking adequate screening and vetting information. The agency also said its internal review found earlier vetting was “wholly inadequate” and that some applicants for naturalization and lawful permanent residence had been approved without sufficient vetting.

This is not the first step in the administration’s push to tighten legal immigration screening. On August 22, 2025, USCIS resumed personal and neighborhood investigations for naturalization applicants under INA 335(a), a long-dormant practice the agency had generally waived for decades. Those checks were described as covering the vicinity of residence and employment and at least the five years before filing. USCIS also noted that from 1802 to 1981, naturalization petitioners were required to present two witnesses to testify to their qualifications.

The new FBI checks move the administration’s immigration agenda further beyond border enforcement and into the adjudication of lawful status itself. For families waiting on green cards, for asylum seekers seeking protection and for immigrants pursuing citizenship, the immediate effect is more scrutiny, more uncertainty and longer waits while USCIS rebuilds its vetting system.