Immigrants Taken Into Custody at Green Card Interviews as ICE Expands Arrest Tactics: Report

U.S. immigration authorities are increasingly arresting undocumented immigrants during green card interviews, a shift that lawyers say has turned what was once a routine step toward legal status into a point of detention for some families, according to an Axios report.

Immigration attorneys told the outlet that in recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have taken individuals into custody at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices immediately after interviews tied to marriage-based green card applications. In several cases, the petitions were approved the same day the arrests occurred.

In San Diego, immigration lawyer Jan Bejar told Axios that one client, who had married a U.S. citizen and entered the country lawfully as a child but later overstayed a visa, was arrested by ICE at the conclusion of his interview. "Your case is perfectly fine. There is nothing wrong with it," an officer told the applicant, Bejar said. USCIS approved the petition that same day.

A similar case occurred in Cleveland, where attorney Courtney Koski said her client—who had lived in the U.S. for 25 years and was also applying through marriage—was arrested during an interview in late November despite having her petition approved. She remains in ICE custody due to a prior removal order linked to a missed court hearing by her parents years earlier.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association has tracked several dozen such arrests nationally, though ICE and USCIS have not released official figures. Michael Knowles, a retired asylum officer and union leader representing USCIS employees, said arrests may be legally permissible but argued that law enforcement should exercise discretion "about where, when, how and why they're going to arrest somebody."

According to sources cited by Axios, some USCIS offices have received written guidance instructing staff to notify ICE when an interview with a person of interest is nearing completion. Cases are reportedly pre-screened by ICE and a USCIS investigative unit.

In a statement, USCIS spokesperson Matthew J. Tragesser said, "Overstaying a visa is an immigration law violation that can result in deportation," adding that enforcement actions may occur when individuals are identified as removable under the law.

The arrests come amid a broader Trump administration effort to tighten green card issuance. In late November, the administration announced a review of green cards issued to individuals from 19 countries deemed to present security or overstay concerns, and earlier suspended certain refugee and Afghan immigration processing pending additional vetting, as BBC recently reported.

Immigration advocates say the arrest tactic risks discouraging eligible applicants from pursuing legal status. "People are afraid to file for adjustment, people are afraid to go to their interviews," Bejar said, warning that the policy could push more immigrants into the shadows.