Oppose USCIS Changes to Green Card Application Process

Since 1952, immigrants have been able to apply for permanent U.S. residency through “adjustment of status,” a legal process that allows individuals being sponsored for a green card by an American employer or family member to remain in the U.S. during application processing. While the law behind this process has not changed. But on May 21, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memo attempting to reinterpret the legal process for green card applications. The memo described adjustment of status as “extraordinary discretionary relief” despite decades of established practice and Congress’s repeated preservation of adjustment of status as a lawful path to permanent residency.

USCIS initially suggested the policy would require many green card applicants to leave the country and apply from their home countries. After backlash from applicants, immigration attorneys, and business groups, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) partially walked back that message, saying the policy would be applied on a case-by-case basis.

However, the policy’s chaotic rollout is already causing confusion. DHS has not clearly explained whether the memo applies to pending applications, who will face the most scrutiny, or what standards officers should use when deciding whether applicants can remain in the United States. This uncertainty threatens law-abiding immigrants as well as their families and employers.

Congress must demand transparency and oversight to ensure that longstanding immigration law is not rewritten through policy memos that deliberately create fear, uncertainty, and disruption.