How the White House quietly made a big change to immigration policy

Summary

Podcast Summary: Apple News Today – “How the White House quietly made a big change to immigration policy”

Date: May 28, 2026
Host: Gideon Resnick (in for Shumita Basu)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on a substantial but low-profile shift in U.S. immigration policy by the Trump administration, as reported by the Associated Press. The conversation delves into the ramifications of new rules that shift where green card applicants can file, with potential broad impacts on hundreds of thousands of would-be residents. Additional segments cover the Russian war in Ukraine, mounting casualties, and growing dissatisfaction in Moscow; as well as the increasing backlash against AI development in the United States and how public opinion may shape tech policy and upcoming elections.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. White House Quietly Alters Immigration Policy

Timestamps: 00:50–04:03

• Policy Change:
  The Trump administration announced that people applying for a green card must now do so from their home country, overturning decades of precedent (00:50). This move was made discreetly, without significant public attention.

  “Last week, the government announced it would force people applying for a green card to do so in their home country and not within the US. Reversing decades of precedent.”
  — Gideon Resnick, 00:50

• Scale & Impact:
  In 2024, over half of 1.4 million green cards were obtained from within the U.S. The new rule could leave many without a viable route to permanent residency (01:35).

  “It's raised a lot of concern because if potentially all of these people had to go back to apply in their home country, you're talking just a sheer number of people, hundreds of thousands of people do this process every year.”
  — Rebecca Santana, Associated Press, 01:23

• Catch-22 for Applicants:
  In some countries, U.S. policy already blocks green card processing. For those nationals, being required to leave could mean no route to residency at all.

  “You're telling people they might have to go abroad … but once they get there, they don't have that option.”
  — Rebecca Santana, 01:52

• Affected Groups:
  Policy targets temporary visa holders—students, specialized workers, spouses of Americans. Strict interpretation could separate families for months or years, depending on consular backlogs and local restrictions; much discretion remains with individual immigration officials (02:15).

• Administrative Discretion:
  Some applicants may get waivers if they can prove economic benefit or family hardship.

• Shift in Immigration Focus:
  The administration’s approach has broadened from cracking down on illegal to also curtailing legal immigration pathways.

  “What we've seen in recent months is a lot of efforts to address legal immigration and in a lot of ways make it more difficult for people who are either trying to come to the US or who are already here and would like to change their status.”
  — Rebecca Santana, 03:06

• White House Justification:
  The new rule is framed as closing “loopholes” that permit applicants to remain in the U.S. after rejection—though officials claim legitimate, law-abiding applicants and skilled professionals will not be affected.

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2. Moscow’s Growing Unease Over the War in Ukraine

Timestamps: 04:09–07:42

• Stalled Russian Progress:
  Russia has failed to advance meaningfully; since the start of the year, has seized only ~700 km² from Ukraine—a marked slowdown (05:07).

• Mounting Death Toll:
  Estimates suggest nearly 500,000 Russians have died, around 10 times Ukrainian losses (05:36).

• War Fatigue Grows:
  The conflict is now in its fifth year, lasting longer than Russia’s involvement in WWII; this milestone has sparked introspection among ordinary Russians (05:24).

  “Once you've sort of gone past that point, people started saying, well, hold on a second. How much have we actually achieved in this war?”
  — Guy Falkenbridge, Reuters Bureau Chief in Moscow, 05:24

• Drones Shift the War:
  Ukrainian drone strikes are now reaching the suburbs of Moscow, making the war feel more immediate to regular Russians (06:06).

  “The sheer number of drones that are now being launched in this war means that some are getting through, certainly to the suburbs of Moscow. There was one wasn’t too far away from my house the other day.”
  — Guy Falkenbridge, 06:06

• Russian Public Opinion:
  Recent polls show 60% of Russians favor peace talks, only 27% support continued fighting—significant skepticism despite suppression of antiwar sentiment (06:28).

• What’s Next?:
  While some hope for peace, others call for escalation (“we haven’t fought aggressively enough”). But, there’s a consensus that the status quo cannot continue much longer (07:02).

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3. AI Backlash: Growing American Fear and Anger

Timestamps: 07:42–10:48

• Public Discontent:
  Despite tech companies’ massive investments, Americans are increasingly skeptical—and sometimes angry—about AI’s impact, from privacy to job security.

• Notable Quote (Public Reactions):

  “People feel like it's being shoved down their throats in some instances. They're worried about job losses … about kids being safe online …”
  — Amrith Ramkumar, Wall Street Journal, 09:44

• Protests & Grassroots Movements:
  College graduates boo commencement speakers who tout AI (07:42). Communities nationwide are blocking new AI data centers, citing noise, environmental risks, and utility price hikes.

  • Proposed centers blocked/delayed: At least 20 in early 2026.

  "People over profit." — Protest chant (08:44)

• Poll Results:

  • 27% of people in a Quinnipiac poll trust AI “hardly ever” (09:19).
  • Only 18% of young Americans (14–29) feel hopeful about AI, per Gallup (09:19).

  • 70% in a major survey say AI is moving too fast (09:19).

• Surge in Organized Opposition:

  • Facebook groups opposing data centers have quadrupled in members this year (from ~90k to 360k).

• Bipartisan Skepticism:
  Both Republican and Democratic communities oppose AI expansion, though for differing reasons (10:10).

  “A lot of Republican communities are pushing back against data centers, and they might do so for different reasons than a lot of Democrats … But the point is they are pushing back, and they are very skeptical of the technology.”
  — Amrith Ramkumar, 10:12

• Contradiction of Adoption vs. Trust:
  Though trust is plummeting, self-reported use of AI tech has grown over the past year (10:26).

• Tech Industry Response:
  Tech companies are scrambling to repair their image before the November elections—paying more for electricity, supporting safety legislation, pouring millions into political campaigns (10:48).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tightening Legal Immigration:
  “What we've seen in recent months is a lot of efforts to address legal immigration and in a lot of ways make it more difficult.”
  — Rebecca Santana, 03:06

• On Russian War Weariness:
  “Once you've sort of gone past that point, people started saying, well, hold on a second. How much have we actually achieved in this war?”
  — Guy Falkenbridge, 05:24

• On AI Backlash:
  “They feel like it's being shoved down their throats... and these polls have really painted a picture of a lot of those fears coalescing to create this powerful political movement.”
  — Amrith Ramkumar, 09:44

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------------------|------------| | Immigration policy change | 00:50–04:03| | Russia–Ukraine war update and Moscow unease | 04:09–07:42| | AI backlash and public skepticism | 07:42–10:48|

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Tone & Language

The discussion balances concise, factual reporting (characteristic of Apple News) with on-the-ground journalistic insights, giving voice to both officials and regular people affected by the news. The episode is urgent yet measured, spotlighting policy shifts and social sentiment alike.

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Additional Quick Headlines (not deeply discussed)

• DOJ probe into E. Jean Carroll (11:14)
• U.S. plan for Ebola quarantine in Kenya (11:52)
• Debate over email job rejections in U.S. soccer (12:43)

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Summary prepared for listeners seeking thorough context and critical takeaways from the May 28, 2026 episode.

Transcript

[Gideon Resnick]

Good morning. The Trump administration quietly makes a major change to U.S. immigration policy. The Associated Press tells us how it could work. Putin is struggling to make gains in Ukraine. One of the last Western journalists in Russia explains the growing unease in Moscow as casualties mount.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

The numbers are truly astounding. It really is the most deadly war in Europe since World War II and

[Gideon Resnick]

the backlash spanning ages and politics.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

Recent public polling shows that Americans are increasingly angry and upset about AI. And these polls have really painted a picture of a lot of those fears coalescing to create this powerful political movement.

[Gideon Resnick]

It's Thursday, May 28th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

Today,

[Gideon Resnick]

The Trump administration's latest change to immigration policy was released without much executive fanfare. But it could end up being one of the more dramatic moves to curb the number of people settling in the US if it's interpreted in an expansive way. Last week, the government announced it would force people applying for a green card to do so in their home country and not within the US Reversing decades of precedent. Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that officials have wasted no time on the new rules and have already begun asking certain applicants why they're still in the United States.

[Rebecca Santana]

It's raised a lot of concern because if potentially all of these people had to go back to apply in their home country, you're talking just a sheer number of people, hundreds of thousands of people do this process every year.

[Gideon Resnick]

Rebecca Santana covers immigration for the Associated Press. In 2024, more than half of the 1.4 million people who obtained green cards did so from within the U.S. but under these new rules, Santana notes that many of those could now be left with no viable route to permanent residency.

[Rebecca Santana]

There are a lot of countries that the Trump administration where they have restricted the ability of people to apply for immigration visas in their country of origin. So some of the people we've talked to have said, hey, this is a little bit of a catch 22. You're telling people they might have to go abroad or they're going to have to go abroad back home in order to apply for this visa. But once they get there, they don't have that option.

[Gideon Resnick]

The policy would target those with temporary status visas, some of which leave the door open for more long term pathways. Think students, specialized workers, or someone who married an American. If the new rule is applied strictly, it could lead to big complications. Spouses, for example, could be forced apart for months or even years. But that is still a bit of an unknown. The announcement lacked much detail and leaves a lot of discretion to individual immigration officials. The government says officials can waive the restrictions, that is, if the applicant can demonstrate they're an exceptional case, that there would be an economic benefit or that leaving would create a burden on families. Santana said that the announcement could ultimately deter a lot of people from applying altogether, and she told us that this marks a shift in emphasis from the White House as it looks to deliver on its promise to limit migration into the country.

[Rebecca Santana]

The administration, especially during that first year, there was a lot of crackdown on illegal immigration, and people, I think, are very aware of ice, what they've been doing, what border control has been doing across the country, and how they've been trying to arrest and deport people in the country illegally. But what we've seen in recent months is a lot of efforts to address legal immigration and in a lot of ways make it more difficult for people who are either trying to come to the US or who are already here and would like to change their status so they can stay longer.

[Gideon Resnick]

The administration says the change is designed to close what it describes as loopholes, arguing that applying from within the US Gives some people the time and space to remain in the country illegally even after their application is rejected. A DHS spokesperson told USA TODAY that the changes would not impact qualified applicants and skilled professionals who have followed the law.

[Rebecca Santana]

Foreign.

[Gideon Resnick]

Is Russia losing momentum in its war with Ukraine or preparing to ramp up its assaults? The picture has turned against Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks. Russia has failed to meaningfully push forward its front lines, and its military is struggling to come up with a counter strategy to Ukraine's advanced drone warfare. Last weekend, Putin looked to demonstrate Russia's capabilities, piling pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a bombardment on his doorstep. Russia struck Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, in one of the biggest overnight aerial assaults since the war began. Now it's warning foreign nationals to leave the city and threatened a fresh wave of attacks. But inside Russia, there is growing pressure that something has to change in this conflict soon.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

The big picture for this year is that the Russian advance has really slowed.

[Gideon Resnick]

That's Guy Falkenbridge, Reuters bureau chief in Moscow, one of the very few Western journalists still operating there.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

They've taken about 700 square kilometers of land from Ukraine this year, so that's a real slowdown. That's not a great result for Russia.

[Gideon Resnick]

The war is now in its fifth year. That means Russia has been fighting longer than they did in the Second World War, which Falkenbridge says caused Some people to ask questions.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

I think that was a really important point that we got to earlier this year, that once you've sort of gone past that point, people started saying, well, hold on a second. How much have we actually achieved in this war?

[Gideon Resnick]

Yesterday, the UK's intelligence services said they estimated that nearly 500,000 Russians had been killed in the war. That's around 10 times the number that Ukraine say they've lost. It highlights the sheer numerical advantage that Russia has. But Ukraine's recent use of drones, which can hit precision targets at lower cost, has prevented Russia from overwhelming them. It even caused Putin to scale back his annual military parade over fears of strikes. Falkenbridge says the drones are putting the conflict closer to more people's homes.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

Moscow and St. Petersburg have been very well insulated from the war, but the sheer number of drones that are now being launched in this war means that some are getting through, certainly to the suburbs of Moscow. There was one wasn't too far away from my house the other day. And so I think there is a greater realization that there is a war on in Moscow.

[Gideon Resnick]

Recent polling suggests that more than 60% of the Russian population now favors peace talks, and only 27% want to carry on fighting, a striking figure in a country that suppresses internal opposition to the war. Meanwhile, the US has diverted its priorities to the Middle East. Ukraine has so far resisted pressure from U.S. negotiators to give up swaths of land as the price of peace, and they've instead continued to fight as those peace talks stall. Their resistance may have surprised some, assuming Ukraine was heading for defeat. But Falkenbridge told us that it's far from certain it will bring Putin back to the negotiating table.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

There's obviously a feeling within the system that we maybe haven't fought this war the right way. Now, I think some people take the wrong conclusion of that. They say, oh, well, that means that the war's going to end tomorrow. I'm not convinced that's the right interpretation. There's another interpretation, of course, is that we haven't been fighting this war aggressively enough, so we need to become more aggressive. Now it's war room peace. At the end of the day, you either stop the war or you fight it more aggressively. But I think the feeling maybe is that it can't just go on as it has been for the last four years.

[Gideon Resnick]

AI is booming with tech companies spending billions on its future. But the only thing that seems to be growing even faster is American skepticism and in some cases, anger over how it could impact their lives. College graduates have been booing commencement speakers who talk about AI.

[Rebecca Santana]

The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.

[Gideon Resnick]

In the first major theological statement of his papacy, issued on Monday, Pope Leo called on world governments and tech leaders to slow down. Artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed. The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences, and indicating paths forward for humanity. And across the country, from Maine to Arizona, dozens of communities have been mobilizing to stop plans to build data centers that would power AI.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

People over profit.

[Rebecca Santana]

People over profit.

[Gideon Resnick]

People, people overprofit. A record number of these proposed data centers, at least 20 have been blocked or delayed in the first three months of 2026. People are concerned about the noise, the environmental impact, and possible spikes to their utility bills. Some polling experts and historians told Journal reporter Amrith Ramkumar that they've never seen public opinion sour so quickly.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

This is a trend to watch going into November because the recent polls show that the backlash is really growing and people's feelings are getting much stronger.

[Gideon Resnick]

27% of people in a Quinnipiac poll released in late March said they can hardly ever trust AI. A Gallup survey released in April found only 18% of young people between the ages of 14 and 29 say that they feel hopeful about the future of AI. And in a survey of over 1500Americans released by YouGov and the Economist this month, over 70% of people said AI is advancing too quickly.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

They feel like it's being shoved down their throats in some instances. They're worried about job losses. They're worried about kids being being safe online and talking to chatbots. Something like 360,000Americans are now in Facebook groups opposing local data centers. And at the end of last year, that number was roughly 90,000. So that's quadrupling in just a few months. And these polls have really painted a picture of a lot of those fears coalescing to create this powerful political movement,

[Gideon Resnick]

a movement that appears to be bipartisan.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

A lot of Republican communities are pushing back against data centers, and they might do so for different reasons than a lot of Democrats who don't like the environmental impact, for example. But the point is they are pushing back, and they are very skeptical of the technology.

[Gideon Resnick]

But this doesn't mean that people aren't using AI. In fact, in that Quinnipiac poll I mentioned earlier, more Americans said they've tried AI over the last year compared to this time last year. So we're seeing a contradiction between adoption and trust. Still, Ramkumar says tech companies are in a kind of crisis mode right now, racing to turn the tide of public opinion ahead of elections in November.

[Amrith Ramkumar]

In recent weeks, they've promised to pay more for their power on data centers. We've seen companies like OpenAI Endors Kids safety legislation, and they're putting in hundreds of millions of dollars to this year's elections across the board to support and oppose various candidates. So this is now a big problem for the tech industry and is expected to play a big role in the midterm elections.

[Gideon Resnick]

And to a few other stories we're following, the Justice Department has launched an investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the woman who accused President Trump of sexual assault. That's according to the New York Times and cnn. Quoting sources close to the investigation, CNN reports that the DOJ is exploring whether the former magazine writer committed perjury in testimony tied to her two civil lawsuits against Trump. Carol, now 82, alleged that Trump defamed her and that he sexually abused her in a New York department store in the mid-90s. She won a $5 million civil judgment. The New York Times reports that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has recused himself from the probe because of his representation of Trump in that case with Carroll. The United States plans to send Americans who have been exposed to Ebola to a quarantine facility in Kenya, according to multiple outlets. Health officials said the plan marks a departure from what has typically happened in the past, where Americans are flown back to the US to quarantine. An administration official told NBC News that this facility was intended to get Americans access to care faster and to avoid longer flights back to the states. Infectious disease experts have said that quick medical care is critical, especially as this particular strain does not have an approved vaccine. Finally, if you missed out on a job, would you prefer a message or a phone call? If you'd rather that personal touch, you might be upset with how the US national soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino broke the news to players who didn't make the World cup with an email. A spirited debate has now broken out among fans, former players and Pochettino himself over his choice. Poch, as he's affectionately called, said that he'd been let go from lots of clubs in the past and he personally never wanted a phone call.

[Guy Falkenbridge]

I understand the player. They didn't make the roster. They don't want to hear me to say, oh, apologize. Oh what I care? Do you know why I care? Because during two weeks I didn't sleep.

[Gideon Resnick]

Those selected will now gather for their final preparations before kicking off in two weeks time. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening to the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next. The New Yorker dives deep into the world of Christian filmmaking and how projects are finding success by bucking Hollywood's fragile sink or swim economic model. If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.