The Trump administration says it's reinstating "neighborhood checks" to vet immigrants applying to become U.S. citizens. It would involve on-the-ground investigations, including interviews with neighbors and coworkers. This is not a new policy but has not been used by the government since 1991.

Washington

The Trump administration is bringing back neighborhood checks as part of the vetting process for immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship. These checks, which have not been used since 1991, involve officials conducting in-person interviews with applicants' neighbors, co-workers, and bosses to assess their moral character and adherence to U.S. values. 

The administration argues that the policy will help prevent fraud and stop unsuitable candidates from becoming citizens, supplementing existing background checks. Critics, including immigration advocates, say the move may discourage legal immigrants from applying for citizenship and is part of a broader effort to tighten legal immigration rules.

Trump to reinstate 'neighborhood checks' for citizen applications

And now the latest on the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration. It says it is reinstating neighborhood checks to vet immigrants applying to become U.S. citizens. Those checks would involve on-the-ground investigations, including interviews with neighbors and co-workers to determine if applicants satisfy the requirements for American citizenship. Now, this is not a new policy, but it hasn't been used by the government since 1991. And here with more is CBS News immigration reporter Camilo Montoya Galvez. Camilo, good morning to you. When they talk about officials asking about your neighbors and your co-workers about your status and what kind of character you are, what kind of questions will they be asking? What are they looking for here? Good morning, guys. Just to level set, to qualify for U.S. citizenship in the first place, you have to demonstrate that you have been living here as a legal permanent resident for three or five years. Depending on your case, you cannot have a serious criminal record, but you also must show that you have good moral character, that you adhere to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, and that you are, quote, well disposed to the good order and happiness of the U.S. That is the language in U.S. immigration law. And these are the requirements that will inform the questions to the neighbors, bosses, and co-workers of people who are applying for U.S. citizenship. So for example, the questions about moral character could be shaped by whatever your neighbors and co-workers say about you and your conduct here in the U.S. Still, it is very important that this investigation will not apply to every single citizenship case. This is still something that can be waived by U.S. citizenship and immigration services. And the Trump administration is urging citizenship applicants to proactively submit letters from your co-workers, your neighbors, your bosses, to reduce the chances of these investigations happening in the first place. Now, you mentioned this in the intro. This was used back in the early 90s. So what was the administration's reason for stopping it then, and what's the justification that the Trump administration is using for bringing it back? Well, I posed that question to Doris Meissner, who was the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the INS, which is now defunct. And she said that during the Clinton administration, this was largely discontinued in the 90s because it was labor intensive, it required a lot of resources and manpower, and it often did not yield the useful information that officials were seeking from neighbors and co-workers of people applying for U.S. citizenship. The Trump administration is saying that this is a necessary step to curtail fraud and to prevent bad actors from becoming U.S. citizens alongside the existing infrastructure and guardrails, which include FBI background checks. But at the same time, there are naysayers to this. What are immigration advocates saying, and what are their concerns? Well, critics of the administration, including pro-immigrant advocates, say that this is yet another effort by the administration to scare immigrants, in this case, legal immigrants, and to dissuade them from applying for immigration benefits, in this case, rather, to become a U.S. citizen. And we should really underscore that this is part of a larger campaign by the administration to make restrictive changes to the legal immigration system. We often hear a lot about their crackdown on illegal immigration, but it is also simultaneously making some serious changes to the legal immigration system. Yeah. It's quite interesting. My father-in-law actually used to do these investigations in person. And on the flip side, he said, sometimes people give you a different answer in person than they do in their writing. So it's easier to suss things out. But Camilo, thank you, as always. Of course.

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