Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
Abstract
This Article examines the structural barriers that prevent many undocumented immigrants—particularly immediate relatives of U.S. citizens—from adjusting their immigration status under current U.S. immigration law. It focuses on the interaction between the Immigration and Nationality Act’s adjustment-of-status requirement that applicants be “inspected and admitted or paroled” and the unlawful presence provisions enacted by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Together, these rules create a dilemma for many noncitizens who entered the United States without inspection but later become eligible for lawful permanent residence through family petitions: leaving the United States to pursue consular processing triggers the three- or ten-year bars to reentry.
The Article argues that this statutory framework effectively traps millions of long-term undocumented immigrants—many with deep family and economic ties to the United States—without a viable pathway to legal status. After analyzing existing statutory exceptions, hardship waivers, and provisional waiver programs, the author concludes that these mechanisms are too limited and unpredictable to meaningfully resolve the problem. The Article then examines the historical and statutory development of parole authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act, including the concept of “parole in place,” which allows certain noncitizens already present in the United States to be treated as “paroled” for purposes of adjustment of status.
Ultimately, the Article proposes expanding the use of parole in place for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who entered without inspection but otherwise satisfy eligibility requirements for lawful permanent residence. By allowing these individuals to adjust status without triggering the unlawful presence bars, such a policy would promote family unity, reduce the population of long-term undocumented residents, and align immigration enforcement with humanitarian and public-interest considerations.
Recommended Citation
Maximiliano Gluzman, Parole in Place as a Solution for the Immigration Status of Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens, 96 St. John's L. Rev. 921 (2022)
