Immigrants with Temporary Status can’t apply for Permanent US Residents

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On Monday, US Supreme Court ruled that thousands of people living in the United States for humanitarian reasons are ineligible to apply to become permanent residents. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that federal immigration law prevents illegally entered people with Temporary Protected Status from seeking Green Cards and remain in the country permanently. The order applies to people who come from countries devastated by war or natural disasters. However, it protects them from deportation and allows them to work legally. Point to be noted that there are at least 400,000 people from 12 countries with TPS status. Kagan wrote, “The TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but it does not admit them. So the conferral of TPS does not make an unlawful entrant eligible for a green card”.

Moreover, the House of Representatives has already passed legislation that would allow TPS recipients to become permanent US residents. President Joe Biden has said that he supports the change in the law. But, his administration argued that current immigration law doesn’t permit people who entered the country illegally to apply for permanent residency. The immigrant groups argued that many people who came to the US for humanitarian reasons have lived in the country for many years, given birth to American citizens, and put down roots in the United States. A lawyer with the National Immigrant Justice Center, Lisa Koop said, “All of these families that are established in the United States and have lived in our communities for decades faced a very real threat”.

The United States gave Salvadoran migrants legal protection in 2001 to remain in the US after a series of earthquakes in their home country. It is noteworthy that people from 11 other countries are similarly protected. These countries include Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Kagan also said that Monday’s decision does not affect immigrants with TPS who initially entered the US legally and then overstayed their visas. Because those people were legally admitted to the country and later were given humanitarian protections, they can seek to become permanent residents. The court also rejected to hear a challenge on Monday, to the requirement that only men register for the draft when they turn 18.