FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 29, 2026
CONTACT: Rachel Dupree, [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to a CBS exclusive, the administration has ordered enhanced FBI background checks for people seeking various immigration benefits. The report states that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is pausing cases or asking for resubmission until more extensive background checks are completed. This week’s announcement comes after USCIS Director Joseph Edlow issued public remarks that the agency would reopen previously approved green card applications. The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) stands firmly with the lawmakers pursuing oversight over the agency and rebukes the ongoing attacks on legal immigration by the Trump Administration.
According to reports from members of NPNA—a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 72 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations—the administration’s attacks on legal immigration processes did not start here. NPNA members report widespread denials, delays, and disruptions that now plague the naturalization process. This comes amid an enforcement surge targeting long-settled and thoroughly vetted refugee communities, slashing the annual refugee admissions cap by 600 percent, a 75-country migration ban largely targeting Black, brown, and Muslim nations, and a new effort to revoke U.S. citizenship from nearly 400 people.
These attacks on legal immigration will not only worsen the existing backlog and leave countless people trapped in a life-altering legal limbo, but they will also restrict civic participation—especially for those in the final stages of naturalization ahead of midterm elections.
Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “The Trump Administration is actively using USCIS to dismantle legal immigration pathways. As a leading voice on naturalization, we view the Justice Department’s targeting of 384 foreign-born Americans for denaturalization—and the administration’s new effort to reopen cases of previously vetted, pending applications—as a very serious threat to our rights and liberties. All of these attacks on legal pathways, and more, form an unmistakable pattern.
“With little to no transparency, our members and the communities we serve have had to navigate chaotic changes in their status overnight, with no end in sight. But, let’s be clear: these efforts will not go unchallenged. It is past time for lawmakers to enact oversight of those who are using bureaucracy to enact a vision of white nationalism. Our communities will continue to apply for citizenship, and at every turn, our members will be standing by to hold USCIS accountable for adjudicating and processing the growing backlog of pending applications.
“To members of Congress enacting oversight of this administration’s USCIS, thank you for your work. We urge you to continue holding the administration’s lawless immigration agencies accountable, and call on your colleagues to join in this critical, democratic task.”
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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 70 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 40 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.