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USCIS opens new vetting center in Atlanta
The new unit will centralize immigration screening and deepen security reviews of applications.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sat, 06, Dec 2025
- 01:21 EST
- 28
The agency framed the new center as a major expansion of its security role at a time when immigration policy remains politically charged and closely watched. / Image : X@USCIS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Dec. 5 announced a new vetting center in Atlanta that will take over enhanced screening of immigrants, including checks for terrorism, criminal activity, fraud, and other public-safety risks.
The agency said the USCIS Vetting Center will become fully operational in the coming months. The unit is designed to centralize vetting, speed up security reviews, and help the agency respond to what it called a shifting threat environment.
The agency framed the new center as a major expansion of its security role at a time when immigration policy remains politically charged and closely watched.
The Trump administration on Dec. 3 had announced increased vetting of applicants for H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, with an internal State Department memo saying that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech be considered for rejection.
USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow said the move reflects heightened concern after recent violent incidents involving foreign nationals. “USCIS’ role in the nation’s immigration system has never been more critical,” he said. He pointed to a recent attack on National Guard members as an example of why the center is needed.
ALSO READ: Trump administration orders enhanced vetting for applicants
Edlow said the agency’s process had shifted since the change in administration. “Under the Biden administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was pushed to expedite the immigration and naturalization processes with little regard for how that affected national security and the safety of our communities,” he said. He added that the current administration “changed that approach on day one.”
The center will draw on classified and unclassified intelligence sources and use advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to conduct deeper reviews of pending and approved applications. USCIS said these checks will rely on resources from the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Applications from countries labeled as high-risk by presidential designation will receive priority.
The announcement is part of a broader set of actions tied to Executive Order 14161, which focuses on protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other threats. Recent steps include allowing immigration officers to weigh negative country-specific factors when reviewing applications from 19 high-risk nations, pausing affirmative asylum decisions, expanding hiring for USCIS security personnel, proposing stricter screening before work authorizations are extended, and creating USCIS special agents with arrest and investigative authority.
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