The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Monday held that illegal aliens who were subsequently given Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are not eligible for green cards to permanently remain in the U.S.
Justice Elena Kagan, appointed to the court by former President Obama, wrote in a 9-0 decision that a “TPS recipient who entered the United States unlawfully is not eligible … for [lawful permanent resident] status merely by dint of his TPS.”
Jose Santos Sanchez, an illegal alien from El Salvador, came to the U.S. illegally in 1997. In 2001, Sanchez was provided TPS, a nonimmigrant status that allows him to remain in the U.S. for as long as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extends TPS for El Salvador.
In 2014, Sanchez applied for lawful permanent resident status, commonly known as a green card, to permanently resettle in the U.S. After the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency denied Sanchez’s green card application on the grounds that he first entered the U.S. illegally, Sanchez challenged the decision in a federal district court and won.
Then, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the decision, finding that because Sanchez first entered the U.S. illegally, he was not eligible for a green card under federal immigration law. – READ MORE
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