Major restrictions to adjustment of status announced today
First there were Trump’s travel bans. Then USCIS applied them to applications in the U.S. In the latest movement towards shutting down legal immigration in the U.S., DHS published a policy memo today that suggests that applications for permanent residence filed within the U.S. will only be granted in the exercise of discretion under extraordinary circumstances. The memo suggests that this is simply a “reminder” of existing policies, but make no mistake, this new memo reverses decades of policy, not to mention violating the immigration statute itself. The memo advises applicants to process their cases through the U.S. consulates instead. It is not a coincidence that immigrant visa processing for 75 countries has been banned indefinitely, that wait times at some of the remaining consulates span over a year to simply get an interview, and that consular decisions are generally unreviewable by the courts or any administrative appellate body. The memo also suggests that USCIS will be selecting certain “discrete populations” to be banned entirely from adjustment of status. For those in our community who continue to say that they support legal immigration, and that immigrants should simply get in line, what happens when all the available lines are blocked, including the last remaining ones enacted by Congress in the immigration laws?