(The Lion) — The Trump administration announced new guidance to significantly expand vetting procedures for immigration benefits, such as green cards, to those with “anti-American ideologies.”

The policy, unveiled Tuesday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, directs immigration authorities to give “significant negative” weight in instances where an alien has endorsed, supported, or espoused views of terrorist organizations including “those who support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic ideologies.”

The new policy noted that if authorities determine an immigrant has engaged in “such activities,” USCIS will enforce all relevant laws to “deny the benefit request.”

“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,” USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement. “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is committed to implementing policies and procedures that root out anti-Americanism and supporting the enforcement of rigorous screening and vetting measures to the fullest extent possible.”

He added that immigration benefits, “including to live and work in the United States,” are a “privilege, not a right.”

The USCIS policy alert did not explicitly define anti-Americanism, but it pointed to a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act for “definitions of anti-American ideologies and activities.” The law, passed in 1952, prohibits an immigrant from becoming a citizen if he or she is a member of various communist and “totalitarian” parties.

The USCIS guidance is the latest in the Trump administration’s broader tightening of immigration regulations. The State Department has yanked more than 6,000 student visas this year, which the department attributed on X to students abusing their status and breaking the law.

“Every single student visa revoked under the Trump Administration has happened because the individual has either broken the law or expressed support for terrorism while in the United States,” the department noted.

The State Department told the Associated Press Thursday that it is reviewing more than 55 million visa holders for violations, which could include overstays, public safety threats, and engaging in terrorism. The department said all U.S. visa holders will be subject to “continuous vetting.”