Thousands of immigrants who entered the US illegally but have been permitted to stay for humanitarian reasons won’t be able to become permanent residents until the law is changed, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The unanimous ruling came after a married couple from El Salvador filed suit in federal court when they were blocked from applying for green cards in 2014.
The couple, who currently live in New Jersey and have four children, had entered the country illegally in the 1990s but were given Temporary Protected Status, a designation for people who come from locales ravaged by war or disaster that would be unsafe to return to, and were allowed to stay.
But when they applied to become permanent residents, they were denied because federal immigration law requires immigrants to have entered the country legally in order to be eligible.
Activists and citizens with temporary protected status (TPS) rally near Capitol Hill. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Demonstrators outside the DNC before a march to the RNC to call on the Senate to pass the American Dream and Promise Act. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesThe couple filed suit in federal court, arguing that those with lawful status, including TPS recipients, are considered to have been lawfully admitted and therefore may apply for permanent residency, but the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the couple Monday.
“A grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission,” liberal Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the ruling.
“It does not eliminate the disqualifying effect of an unlawful entry.”
The Supreme Court ruled that thousands of residents may not be able to obtain permanent status as US citizens. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, FileSome 400,000 people from 12 countries have TPS status in the US and the ruling will impact their ability to become permanent residents until Congress changes the law.
Kagan wrote while the TPS program gives foreign nationals “nonimmigrant status … it does not admit them” and the conferral of TPS doesn’t make an unlawful entrant eligible for a green card.
She noted legislation that would do just that has already passed in the House of Representatives but faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Democrats who would support the legislation hold a tenuous majority and are frequently blocked by filibusters.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote “a grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission” in the ruling. Photo by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty ImagesKagan said the decision doesn’t impact immigrants with TPS status who originally entered the country legally but overstayed their visas. Because they were legally admitted when they first entered, they’d still be eligible for a green card.
With Post wires
