By George Fishman on July 1, 2024
The Biden/Mayorkas Parole in Place Scheme
President Biden’s and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’ parole in place (PIP) scheme is designed to launder the immigration status of over half a million illegal aliens who “[h]ave been continuously present in the United States for at least 10 years as of June 17, 2024” and “[h]ave a legally valid marriage to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024”. The scheme will enable them “to apply for lawful permanent residence without having to leave the United States”.
My colleague Andrew Arthur thoroughly analyzed the scheme when it was just a rumor. Suffice it to say that once impeached Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas uses “his discretion [to] parole into the United States [though in this case they are already here — hence “in place”] temporarily under such conditions as he may prescribe only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit any alien applying for admission to the United States”, their U.S. citizen spouses can then petition for them for (a numerically unlimited number of) green cards, and the erstwhile illegal alien spouses can then adjust status to permanent residence while in the U.S.
Without parole, the illegal alien spouses would not have been able to adjust status (unless they were “visa overstayers” who had actually been admitted to the U.S.), but would have had to apply for green cards overseas. However, if they were to do so and had been “unlawfully present in the United States for a period of more than 180 days” when 18 or older, they would have been inadmissible to the U.S. for three years from the date of their departure (if their unlawful presence had been for less than one year) or for 10 years (if it had been for one year or more). Secretary Mayorkas can waive this ground of inadmissibility for an alien “who is the spouse or son or daughter of a U.S. citizen or of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if it is established to [his] satisfaction … that the refusal of admission to such immigrant alien would result in extreme hardship to the citizen or lawfully resident spouse or parent of such alien”, and an alien can even apply for such a waiver before leaving the U.S. under an Obama administration innovation. But, as Arthur has noted, “Alien spouses who don’t go through the [waiver] process generally skip it because they’re concerned they won’t be allowed back in and/or because they don’t want to spend the handful of months outside the United States consular processing requires.”
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