05/22/2026
In another - and extremely drastic - attempt to end LEGAL immigration, the Trump Administration today announced that they were effectively eliminating the process of adjustment of status for those who lawfully came to the U.S. with visas or were paroled into the U.S. by border patrol and are, for example, married to U.S. citizens or have adult U.S. citizen children who are petitioning for them. Instead, the Trump Administration wants every immigrant to leave the U.S. and apply for permanent residency at a U.S. embassy or consulate in their home country even though this is not always possible and it has already banned all such immigrants from 75 countries from doing so.
While our hope is that litigation will stop this new policy that is contrary to many prior legal decisions and laws and has never been USCIS policy in the past, it is important to weigh the risks of applying for adjustment of status at this time because, if denied, you could be placed in removal proceedings and face possible deportation.
However, adjustment of status may still be granted by USCIS in “extraordinary” circumstances. While every case is different and there is no clear definition of what makes a case “extraordinary,” if you still wish to apply for adjustment of status in addition to the already required documentation, you should also submit a significant amount of evidence of positive discretionary factors such as letters of recommendation and good moral character and any evidence of hardship to the petitioner or other U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident immediate family members. Additionally, as of now this policy does not apply to those in removal or deportation proceedings who should still be able to apply for adjustment of status before an immigration judge.
Blackford Law is here to assist and will not be deterred or intimidated by any ill-conceived policies that violate our immigration laws and decades of legal precedent.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a new policy memo reiterating the fact that, consistent with long-standing immigration law and immigration court decisions, aliens seeking adjustment of status must do so through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the....