Vice President, JD Vance, is in the news today for his statement, “”a green card holder doesn’t have an indefinite right to be in the United States.” He added that, ““if the secretary of state and the president decide this person shouldn’t be in America, and they have no legal right to stay here, it’s as simple as that.”

The VP has come out and said that the President can “decide this person shouldn’t be in America” and deport them without having any sort of legal grounds for doing so. “They have no legal right to stay here. It is as simple as that” according to Vance. The New Indian Express and Business Standard reported on this today just hours after the statements were made and many other media outlets have since covered the story.

Of course, this is not accurate. Legal permanent residents have permanent legal status in the US as the name implies. A legal permanent resident cannot have their permanent residency taken away unless an Immigration Judge makes that determination. An Immigration Judge can strip an LPR of their status if they obtained that status through fraud or if they are “a deportable alien” as described at 8 USC §1227.

Section 1227 of Title 8 of the US Code lays out the grounds as (I am summarizing–see full statute here):

(1) the LPR was not eligible for permanent residency at the time it was granted to them or the Government learns of a prior violation of US immigration law;

(2) they have since been convicted of certain serious crimes;

(3) they illegally voted in an election or made a false claim to US citizenship;

(4) they became a “public charge” by becoming financially dependent on the Government; or

(5) they are a “drug abuser” or “drug addict” (learn more about the drug abuser or addict grounds of inadmissibility under INA 212(a)(1)(A)(iv)).

The Trump administration has been vocal about the intent to attempt to deport legal permanent residents who participate in political activism that is critical of Israel. This sort of activity would undoubtedly be Constitutionally protected free speech under the First Amendment, but they do not care. Marco Rubio’s State Department has been targeting middle eastern students that are participating in political demonstrations in connection to Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the ongoing genocide being carried out there. Beyond arrests they have also been revoking visas.

Trump’s administration has added text to Government websites threatening immigrants with arrest and telling them to “self-deport” because “you will be found.” Another reported on by Business Today reads, “GO HOME…or go to jail.” One truly ominous headline on the USCIS website seems to make an underhanded threat telling undocumented immigrants in the US that “self deporting now is the safest option” which seems to imply that they will not be safe if they remain in the US.