And, we should strike the word “alien” from the US Code says Senior Judge Damon J. Keith.
I thought this story might just contain a little nugget of information on ‘Temporary Protected Status‘—another backdoor amnesty program for aliens who got into the US illegally and then because of a storm (decades ago!) or an earthquake or a civil war, the US declared anyone already here from that country could stay “temporarily,” but there is nothing temporary about this program. The Salvadorans will tell you about that!
Most recently, the Obama Administration granted “temporary” refugee status to any Syrians already in the US.
To my knowledge, no one group has ever gone home! And, I’m not sure, but I think those with TPS will all get to stay and become Legal Permanent Residents under S.744 (the Gang’s bill) if it should become law.
Now comes what I thought was a run-of-the-mill press release from an immigration law firm, but with an intriguing twist near the end. (Emphasis is mine).
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders who entered the United States illegally may now be eligible to ad adjust their status to “Lawful Permanent Resident” (LPR), according to a recent groundbreaking decision by a United States Court of Appeals. The decision serves as a stunning departure from previous Unites States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy requiring TPS holders to first leave the United States before applying for LPR status, a process complicated by potential ten year bars from re-entry and additional obstacles facing those immigrants with previously unlawful presence in the country. Attorney Ryan Korsunsky of Wites & Kapetan believes that the Court’s decision is a step in the right direction. “USCIS policy on adjusting TPS status should account for the uniqueness of an individual’s situation, and not treat all immigrants alike based solely on how they entered the country, which in many cases was over a decade ago.”
TPS holders come to the United States from foreign countries experiencing unsafe or extraordinary conditions, including armed conflict and environmental disasters. Currently USCIS designates immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Syria as eligible to apply for TPS if they meet additional statutory requirements. During a designated temporary period TPS holders are not removable from the Unites States, can be employed by obtaining an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and may be granted authority to travel. Most importantly, as it relates to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USCIS regulation states a TPS holder “cannot be detained by DHS on the basis of his or her immigration status.”
The case, which came from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, is called Flores, et al. v. USCIS, and involves Saady Suazo, a Honduran national granted TPS in 1999 [temporary?—ed] after entering the United States without inspection (EWI) in 1998 [illegally—ed]. Suazo married a U.S. citizen in 2010, with whom he is raising a minor child, and applied to adjust his immigration status on the basis of his marriage. Suazo’s application was denied by USCIS in accordance with the policy preventing those who entered the country illegally from adjusting their status to LPR. The Court of Appeals reversed the decision, giving Suazo the requisite eligibility to apply for an adjustment to LPR status. The Court found that the TPS statute allowed for Suazo to be considered in lawful nonimmigrant status for the purpose of adjusting his status. The Court also referred to the U.S.’s current immigration system a “archaic and convoluted” and described the process Suazo would have faced under previous USCIS policy as “a waste of energy, time, government resources, and will have a negative effect on his family-United States citizens.”
The Obama Administration will likely not defend the present law by taking the Court of Appeals decision to the US Supreme Court.
Here is what I found most interesting. Senior Judge Damon J. Keith declared the word “alien” offensive and said that it should be stricken from the US Code:
Judge Damon J. Keith, the author of the Court’s opinion, also denounced the term “alien” as offensive and demeaning, urging Congress to eliminate it entirely from the United States Code.
By the way, the definition of “alien” is simply someone born in another country who has not acquired citizenship. So what word would the Judge find to describe such a person? They are always, always! seeking to change the language.
Who is Judge Damon J. Keith? Here he is being feted on his 90th birthday last year. I don’t have the time to search much but he played a role in several decisions including ones involving the Communist Party in the US and I especially found this reference in the wikipedia page for Bernardine Dorhn interesting.
On October 14, 1970, Bernardine Rae Dohrn was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigations list of the “10 Most Wanted” fugitives. She used several aliases, including Bernardine Rae Ohrnstein, H.T. Smith, and Marion Del Gado. The FBI removed Dohrn from its “10 Most Wanted” list in December 1973, after District Judge Damon J. Keith dismissed the case against the Weathermen.
Photo is from The Damon Keith Collection, here.
Our complete archive on Temporary Protected Status may be found by clicking here.
Related? See James Simpson—GOP immigration plan devised by Communist Party—at World Net Daily.