My wife has her green card and will go for citizenship in two years. Should I be nervous if she wants to go home to

[AZLD4Candidate]

China to visit family that she won't be allowed back in even with a Green Card?

It's just a small step from "illegal" immigrants to "all" immigrants.

[usedtobedemgurl]

1. I would be nervous.

Nothing is off limits with these people. Just try to have a contingency plan in place.

[Lovie777]

2. Yes......

[FarPoint]

3. I think you are already nervous....

Depends when she wants to go to China for a visit.....next year? We have to wait and see..... nobody knows.

[AZLD4Candidate]

17. Mid May to Late June.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Don't go home until naturalization.

[Bettie]

7. They are threatening to deport

even naturalized citizens, so...

[dutch777]

5. Anything could happen....just administratively a border crossing can take 2 minutes...or two years

And that is without changing any laws, just slowing the routine checking to a crawl. And they won't have to detain or arrest anyone, just say "this will take a while" and never come back to stamp the passport. When the inevitable complaint comes "sorry, we have no idea how long this will take, you are not being detained, you can get back on a plane and go back where you came from". Oh sure, there will be a hue and cry from some quarters and maybe Congressional investigations but when you drop usual and customary as a guideline there is a wide range of ways to play games that can get good folks caught in a bad place.

[TwilightZone]

6. Not sure that DU is the right time/place for this question at present.

Because you're going to get mostly hyperbolic, worst-case-scenario answers with the election still so fresh.

Since she already has her green card, I think there's no need to be unduly nervous. Yes, I suppose it's possible that Trump will try to expand to all immigrants, but just because he says he wants to do something or we think he might want to do something, it doesn't mean it'll ever happen or that he'll be able to.

There's really no basis for expanding the policies to documented immigrants, and he's going to quickly find out that even dealing with undocumented immigrants en masse is going to be a logistical nightmare if not an impossibility.

"It's just a small step from "illegal" immigrants to "all" immigrants."

No, it's a massive step. It's more than just changing one word.

[MineralMan]

8. And that's just one reason that DU isn't the place to ask.

I don't believe I've ever seen anyone here who is an expert on immigration policy or rules.

[Zeitghost]

21. This is good advice

People in the throws of grief aren't the best people to get advice from.

I'd be more worried about her ability to leave China to come back.

[hlthe2b]

9. I think all bets are off, sadly. Yes, I'd be nervous and if an immigration lawyer told you that she'd definitely be ok

I'd guess they have not been keeping up or were just deluded as to the "knowables" and "unknowables" right now.

I would think that unless you had the means to fight it legally--should she be detained or denied entry--that I would not take the chance.

And yes, I read the two comments upstream telling you not to listen to anything on DU. While I agree that no one here is likely to be an immigration lawyer, I think you realize that even THEY can not be certain right now or you would not be asking. I DO agree with the premise that those documented immigrants will likely take a while to get to (if ever). That said, there ARE going to be MISTAKES MADE and correcting those mistakes for someone who should not have been swept up or disallowed entry are unlikely to be immediate or without undue difficulty.

At a minimum, you might want to let this shake out over the next couple of years. There will be an entire team of ACLU and other lawyers fighting the early efforts and so some of those early court decisions will likely bring both clarity (and hopefully) some boundaries for TSF.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. I believe China has been known to detain

their citizens who live elsewhere and may even have other valid citizenship. I recently read a memoir by one such woman. So my personal advice is that she should absolutely not go there, unless she's okay with staying.

I honestly think the fear of all immigrants, legal or otherwise, being deported are vastly overblown.

[Emile]

11. Trump is copying Hoover. Hoover deported legal immigrants.

[Rebl2]

12. Yes

In my opinion. Why don’t you ask an immigration lawyer and see what they say.

[Retrograde]

13. Given all you went through to get the green card

so you could be together, I wouldn't risk it. However, I'm not up on immigration and citizenship laws, so I'd seek out an expert opinion

[AZLD4Candidate]

18. We are. She doesn't need to do a reentry permit because it will be less than a year out (six weeks) and her Green Card

officially the I551, will allow her back in no problems. She can only be denied re-entry on three conditions:

1: She earned her green card through fraud (we went through that shit for four years to get the damn thing)
2: She's committed a criminal act in the US (my wife is paranoid about everything, including if I go one MPH over the speed limit on the interstate)
3: She's out of the country for more than a year (Dept of State will assume abandonment)

But with Agent Orange back in and the rampant xenophobia we will face under his bullshit, this could change on a dime.

[jxla]

14. She needs to apply for a Re-entry permit

I'm not an Immigration expert, but I worked long enough at USCIS and legacy INS in non-adjudicative records support positions to know a little about the forms.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/B5en.pdf

How do I get a reentry permit?
To obtain a reentry permit, file Form I-131, Application for Travel
Document. You should file this application well in advance of your
planned trip. Filing instructions and forms are available on our Web
site at www.uscis.gov.
The instructions on the form will give you more details. For
additional questions, check our Web site or call Customer Service
at 1-800-375-5283.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-131.pdf
Part 1 Application Type Reentry Permit Mark box 1 I am a lawful permanent resident or conditional permanent resident of the United States .... Skip to the bottom of page 4. Part 2 Information About You Complete questions 1 thru 11. Skip to Parts 3,4 and 5. Skip to Part 10. Sign and date at bottom of page 11. Parts 11 and 12 may be necessary if she uses an interpreter or preparer.

Part 13 Additional Information is a continuation sheet in case she needs more space for any of her answers.

[AZLD4Candidate]

15. That's only if you leave the country for more than six months I believe. She'd be visiting for six weeks.

[jxla]

20. There's no minimum time and it's valid for multiple re-entries

Someone who has recently become a permanent resident and plans to travel (even if for less than 180 days) may want to apply for a reentry permit.
Lawful permanent residents who recently got their green card left the U.S. for less than 180 days are sometimes subject to more intense inspection upon re-entry to the U.S.

[Prairie Gates]

16. Oh Lord

I feared this saga would restart.

[Emile]

19. Anyone who immigrated here during the Biden administration

should be worried.