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Politics & Government

The Green

Trump's latest immigration policy could further disrupt Delawareans' lives

By Jay Shah

Published June 12, 2026 at 11:09 AM EDT

A pile of white, opened envelopes with the address for Department of Homeland Security's United States Citizenship and Immigration Services address in the top left corner of each envelope and a green paper folded in half with a "united states of america" top header, a "Notice of action" sub-header underneath, a table that says "I485- Application to register permanent residence or adjust status" in the top right corner underneath the header and subheader, and a "welcome to the united states of america" title underneath that table at the edge of the folded crease. — Most immigrants applying to adjust their status from within the country have usually been residing in the USA as students or workers. Many also become eligible for green cards through marriage to a U.S. citizen or a sponsorship through a relative who is a U.S. citizen.

The Trump administration has prioritized an overhaul of longstanding immigration laws such as the removal of temporary protection status.

The latest attempt was a memo released in May 2026, placing restrictions on “adjustment of status” applications, more commonly known as green card applications. This meant people applying for lawful permanent residence in the USA would be required to leave the country for their application unless they were in “extraordinary circumstances.”

The memo seemed vague and confusing. So, this week we sat down with Rick Hogan, an immigration attorney and founding partner at Hogan and Vandenberg in Wilmington, to help us understand what this memo meant for new applicants going forward.

We also chatted with ACLU of Delaware Executive Director Mike Brickner about the overall impact this change could have.

Green Card Process

Listen to the full conversation DPM's Jay Shah had with Rick Hogan and Mike Brickner about the Trump administration's latest immigration process change.

A green card or a lawful permanent resident card is issued to eligible immigrants through various legal pathways and the process most commonly occurs from within the country.

The data mentioned by Brickner was from this New York Times article reporting that in 2024, around 820,000 green card applicants were approved through the "adjustment of status process."

Hogan said this new policy would not affect people who have already been approved for a green card or those applying for their N-400, which is naturalization or citizenship - the next step after a person receives their green card.

The full memo printed on May 21, 2026 and released to the public on May 22, can be found here.

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The Green Immigration immigrants Green Card

Jay Shah

As a passionate public radio nerd, Jay Shah is here to equip all Delawareans with credible and reliable information. Before DPM, she was a Great Lakes environmental reporter and spent four years at NPR member station WKSU. Now as DPM's producer, she creates stories for The Green and collaborates with the reporters on various projects.

See stories by Jay Shah

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