![handle is hein.crs/govedqw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______
~.Research Service
Supreme Court: Unlawful Entrants with
Temporary Protected Status Cannot Adjust to
Lawful Permanent Resident Status
June 11, 2021
Certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens, as the term is used in the Immigration and Nationality Act [INA]) who
are physically present in the United States may adjust to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status if they
meet certain requirements. Among other things, an applicant for adjustment of status generally must have
been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States by immigration authorities. For some
time, courts disagreed over whether aliens who unlawfully entered the United States without inspection,
but later received Temporary Protected Status (TPS), have been inspected and admitted to qualify for
adjustment. In Sanchez v. Mayorkas, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, held that the grant of
TPS does not enable an unlawful entrant to pursue adjustment of status. This Legal Sidebar examines the
Supreme Court's decision and its implications for unlawful entrants who seek to pursue LPR status.
Legal Background
INA @ 245(a) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust the status of the beneficiary of an
approved immigrant visa petition (e.g., an immediate relative petition filed by a U.S. citizen spouse) to
that of an LPR. To qualify, an applicant generally must meet certain requirements, including having been
inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States. Apart from these requirements, INA @ 245(c)
bars certain classes of aliens from adjusting status, including those who engaged in unauthorized
employment in the United States, and those who failed to maintain continuously a lawful status since
entering the country. The @ 245(c) bar does not apply to some categories of applicants, including
immediate relatives (e.g., a spouse) of petitioning U.S. citizens, special immigrants (e.g., certain
abused or abandoned juveniles), aliens whose visa petitions were filed on or before April 30, 2001, and
some employment-based applicants present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission.
A separate provision, INA @ 244, authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (in consultation with the
State Department) to designate a country for TPS if persons from that country cannot safely return
because of specified conditions (e.g., an armed conflict or natural disaster). An alien from a country
designated for TPS may remain and work in the United States for the period in which the TPS designation
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10607
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govedqw0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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