'If an alien breaks law...': Trump admin's big warning to Green card holders, says it's a 'privilege, not a right'

In a continued crackdown on immigration, the Trump administration in the United States has now warned green card holders that it is a "privilege" and "not a right" and can be revoked.

In a recent post on X, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said, "Green cards and visas will be revoked if an alien breaks the law." The message comes as part of a wider crackdown under a policy known as ‘Catch-And-Revoke.’

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The X post further highlighted that green card holders must respect the laws and values of America. It warned that if gren card holders 'advocate for violence, endorse or support terrorist activity,' their cards will be revoked and they will not be eligible to stay in the United States. "Coming to America and receiving a visa or green card is a privilege. Our laws and values must be respected. If you advocate for violence, endorse or support terrorist activity, or encourage others to do so, you are no longer eligible to stay in the US," the post stated.

"This vigilance is essential to making America safe again. Break the laws and you will lose your green card or visa privilege," USCIS post on X added.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed the policy, saying: “Whenever the government catches non-US citizens breaking our laws, we will take action to revoke their status. The era of abusing our nation’s generosity is over.”

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Social media activities may lead to rejection of visas

Earlier in March, the USCIS had announced that it is scanning visa applicants' social media handles under a new proposal. This included scanning of posts on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok or any other social profiles.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, in a statement, said that it will now take "aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests."

According to USCIS, posts supporting "antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies, antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis" — will be treated as grounds for denying visas.

As per reports, applicants may be asked to list their social media handles on nine immigration forms, though not passwords.

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Visas of hundreds of international students in the United States, including many from India, have been revoked. Students received emails from the US State Department instructing them to self-deport as their visas have been revoked. While these emails cited petty crimes such as shoplifting, drunk driving, etc as reasons for deportation, many reports suggest that students were deported due to their alleged involvement in campus activism.

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