America’s Supreme Court Refuses Permanent Residency For Immigrants On Humanitarian Grounds

The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously refused to let immigrants who have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally, siding with President Joe Biden’s administration.

The justices, acting in an appeal by a married couple from El Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status, upheld a lower court ruling that barred their applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card, because of their unlawful entry.

The case could affect 400,000 immigrants, many of whom have lived in the United States for years.

Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, had opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow Democrats.

A federal law called the Immigration and Nationality Act generally requires that people seeking to become permanent residents have been ‘inspected and admitted’ into the United States. At issue in the case was whether a grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which gives the recipient ‘lawful status,’ satisfies those requirements.

Writing for the court, liberal Justice Elena Kagan said that ‘because a grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission, it does not eliminate the disqualifying effect of an unlawful entry.’