U.S. immigration officials are detaining illegal aliens in green card interviews, turning what is typically a final step toward legal status into a point of arrest for some applicants, Axios reported Tuesday.
Immigration attorneys told the outlet that in recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained people at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices immediately after marriage-based green card interviews, sometimes on the same day the underlying petition was approved.
San Diego immigration attorney Jan Joseph Bejar said one client, who had entered the U.S. legally as a child, later overstayed a visa, and applied for permanent residency through marriage to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE after his interview.
Bejar said a USCIS officer told the client, "Your case is perfectly fine. There is nothing wrong with it," and the agency approved the petition that day.
In another case highlighted by Axios, an applicant in Cleveland who has lived in the U.S. for 25 years and was seeking a green card through marriage was detained by ICE during her interview even though her petition was approved.
She remained in ICE custody because of a prior removal order tied to her parents' missing a court hearing years earlier, according to the report.
USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser defended the approach in a statement: "The Trump administration has been abundantly clear: aliens must respect our laws or face the consequences. Overstaying a visa is an immigration law violation that can result in deportation."
Immigration advocates and attorneys warn the arrests could deter otherwise eligible applicants from pursuing legal status.
"People are afraid to file for adjustment, people are afraid to go to their interviews," Bejar said, arguing that the tactic may push more immigrants to avoid the formal system.
Axios reported the detentions reflect a shift from past practice, when many applicants, particularly spouses of U.S. citizens, generally viewed the interviews as relatively safe.
Attorneys noted that immigration law has long contained provisions allowing "immediate relatives" of U.S. citizens, including spouses, to adjust status despite certain visa overstays, one reason the arrests have alarmed advocates.
Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, told NBC News last week that "there was a carve-out that was intended for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, including spouses."
"This was or is the legal path for them to adjust their status. This is going about doing things 'the right way,'" she added.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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