The Issue 

On August 19, 2025, USCIS updated its Policy Manual, which adjudicators rely upon to review benefit requests, to include more detailed guidance on the factors that officers may consider in determining that an exercise of discretion is warranted. The new Policy Manual guidance specifically instructs USCIS adjudicators to consider a foreign national’s has endorsement, promotion or support of the views of anti-American or terrorist organizations to be an overwhelmingly negative discretionary factor. 

A Deeper Dive 

For many immigration benefit requests, such as adjustment of status or extension of stay, the applicant must demonstrate that a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted. Typically, this involves weighing positive and negative factors and considering the totality of the circumstances in each case. This discretionary analysis is separate from the adjudication process and occurs after the adjudicator has determined that all threshold eligibility requirements have been met.  

The types of applications for which an exercise of discretion is part of the adjudication process include: 

• Adjustment of Status Applications 

• Applications for Extensions of Stay and Changes of Status 

• Certain Employment Authorization Applications 

• National Interest Waiver immigrant petitions 

• Certain EB-5 Investor petitions 

The August 2025 USCIS Policy Manual update provides guidance for officers on the significant negative discretionary weight USCIS assigns to applications submitted by individuals who have endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic ideologies. 

In cases where an individual has engaged in such activities, USCIS has signaled that it will deny the benefit request as a matter of discretion. 

What This Means for Employers 

This additional security and background screening of applications will likely result in employers seeing longer adjudication timelines for petitions (e.g., H-1B, L-1, PERM-based green cards). In addition, applications involving individuals from certain regions or with certain backgrounds may be flagged more frequently, delaying onboarding or continued work authorization. 

Also, HR and Global Mobility professionals will be required to conduct additional due diligence reviews of an applicant’s employment, travel, memberships and affiliations prior to filing a benefit request to determine if the applicant may be ineligible for a based on the discretionary analysis. 

For employers, the revised policy means greater uncertainty, increased due diligence requirements and enhanced likelihood of delays or the inability to hire key global talent. If you would like to discuss how your company may proactively prepare USCIS benefit requests for this enhanced screening for Anti-American activities, please contact your Meltzer Hellrung professional.