U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Permanent Residency for Some Immigrants

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to let immigrants who
have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian
grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the
country illegally, siding with President Joe Biden’s
administration.

The justices, acting in an appeal by a married couple from El
Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status,
unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that barred their
applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card,
because of their unlawful entry.

The case could affect thousands of immigrants, many of whom have
lived in the United States for years.

Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican
predecessor Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, had
opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds
with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow
Democrats.

A federal law called the Immigration and Nationality Act
generally requires that people seeking to become permanent
residents have been “inspected and admitted” into the United
States. At issue in the case was whether a grant of Temporary
Protected Status (TPS), which gives the recipient “lawful status,”
satisfies those requirements.

Writing for the court, liberal Justice Elena Kagan said that
“because a grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission,
it does not eliminate the disqualifying effect of an unlawful
entry.”

Foreign nationals can be granted Temporary Protected Status if a
humanitarian crisis in their home country, such as a natural
disaster or armed conflict, would make their return unsafe. There
are about 400,000 people in the United States with protected
status, which prevents deportation and lets them work legally.

The case involves Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez, who live in
New Jersey and have four children.

The couple twice entered the United States illegally: in 1997
and 1998. After a series of earthquakes in 2001, the United States
designated El Salvador as covered under the Temporary Protected
Status program. The couple received protection under the program
that same year.

U.S. officials rejected their 2014 applications for green cards
because they had not been lawfully admitted. They sued in federal
court, saying that those with lawful status, including Temporary
Protected Status recipients, are deemed to have been lawfully
admitted, and may apply for permanent residency. Last year, the
Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against
the couple.

Besides El Salvador, 11 other countries currently have such
designations: Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia,
Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Myanmar was the
latest addition to the list, placed there by Biden’s administration
in the wake of a Feb. 1 military coup there.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case on a day when U.S. Vice
President Kamala Harris visits Guatemala as part of the Biden
administration’s efforts to lower migration to the United States
from that country as well as El Salvador and Honduras.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to let immigrants who
have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian
grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the
country illegally, siding with President Joe Biden’s
administration.

The justices, acting in an appeal by a married couple from El
Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status,
unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that barred their
applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card,
because of their unlawful entry.

The case could affect thousands of immigrants, many of whom have
lived in the United States for years.

Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican
predecessor Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, had
opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds
with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow
Democrats.

A federal law called the Immigration and Nationality Act
generally requires that people seeking to become permanent
residents have been “inspected and admitted” into the United
States. At issue in the case was whether a grant of Temporary
Protected Status (TPS), which gives the recipient “lawful status,”
satisfies those requirements.

Writing for the court, liberal Justice Elena Kagan said that
“because a grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission,
it does not eliminate the disqualifying effect of an unlawful
entry.”

Foreign nationals can be granted Temporary Protected Status if a
humanitarian crisis in their home country, such as a natural
disaster or armed conflict, would make their return unsafe. There
are about 400,000 people in the United States with protected
status, which prevents deportation and lets them work legally.

The case involves Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez, who live in
New Jersey and have four children.

The couple twice entered the United States illegally: in 1997
and 1998. After a series of earthquakes in 2001, the United States
designated El Salvador as covered under the Temporary Protected
Status program. The couple received protection under the program
that same year.

U.S. officials rejected their 2014 applications for green cards
because they had not been lawfully admitted. They sued in federal
court, saying that those with lawful status, including Temporary
Protected Status recipients, are deemed to have been lawfully
admitted, and may apply for permanent residency. Last year, the
Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against
the couple.

Besides El Salvador, 11 other countries currently have such
designations: Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia,
Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Myanmar was the
latest addition to the list, placed there by Biden’s administration
in the wake of a Feb. 1 military coup there.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case on a day when U.S. Vice
President Kamala Harris visits Guatemala as part of the Biden
administration’s efforts to lower migration to the United States
from that country as well as El Salvador and Honduras.