The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday published a policy alert about banning members of the communist party or any other totalitarian party from getting an immigrant visa.
“In general, unless otherwise exempt, any intending immigrant who is a member or affiliate of the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate), domestic or foreign, is inadmissible to the United States,” USCIS said in a policy alert (pdf).
People with membership or affiliation with the communist party or other totalitarian parties are inconsistent and incompatible with the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America, which includes pledging to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States,” the agency said in a statement.
The policy alert didn’t announce any new immigration policy but shows the Trump administration may take tougher action to enforce related policies.
USCIS explained in its Policy Manual that the policy is based on a series of laws passed by Congress between World War I and the 1950s.
The laws give an exemption for aliens whose membership or affiliation “is or was involuntary, or is or was solely when under sixteen years of age, by operation of law, or for purposes of obtaining employment, food rations, or other essentials of living and where necessary for such purposes.”
Aliens who had terminated their membership or affiliation at least five years before the date of the application and those who actively oppose the doctrine, program, principles, and ideology can also be applicable to the exception.
As the biggest communist party in the world, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members are expected to be affected most by the new policy.
Official data published by the Chinese regime shows there are over 90 million CCP members in China.
However, after the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a book exposes the evil of the CCP, was published in Chinese in November 2004, a massive movement was launched to quit the CCP.
According to data published by the Global Tuidang Center, over 364 million Chinese have quit the CCP and it’s two related organizations, the Communist Youth League of China and Young Pioneers of China.
Rong Yi, director of the Global Tuidang Center, told the Chinese version of The Epoch Times that the certificate issued by the center works as proof for former CCP members that quit the CCP and denounced the CCP’s ideology.
The certificates are widely accepted by the U.S. immigration agency, she said.
Disclosure: Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published by the Chinese version of The Epoch Times. The Chinese version of The Epoch Times also sponsored the quitting CCP movement.
Correction: An early version of the article inaccurately stated the USCIS published a new rule banning entry of communist party members, The Epoch Times regrets the error.
From The Epoch Times