USA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Helena M. Tetzeli, Edward Ramos and John Pratt, Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli and Pratt
ignation for Venezuelans, the administration is expected to appeal and the litigation is as yet in its early stages. Immigration options available to Biden parolees/TPS recipients The Trump administration’s termination of the protections afforded to individuals present in the United States pursuant to the Biden parole programmes has left affected individuals scram - bling to find pathways to remain in the United States lawfully. Likewise, many employers who have hired these individuals wish to assist their employees to remain and continue to be eligible to work. So what can be done to help? Under the INA, the most generous provisions for obtaining lawful permanent resident or green card status are for “immediate relatives” of US citizens, including their spouses, parents and children who are minors. Generally, so long as the non-citizen was inspected and “admitted or paroled” , they qualify, even if they have fallen out of lawful immigration status. This family-based immigration option, however, is likely to be unavailable to most Biden-era parole programme recipients and so these appli - cants must turn to employment-based options. Fortunately, there are several options available, even if the law is more complex and the road a little bumpier than the family-based pathway. People who entered on parole and have been granted TPS may qualify for adjustment of status in an employment-based immigration category, so long as there was no gap between the expiry of their parole and the grant of TPS. Under the current policy, individuals who have such a gap may be able to travel abroad on a TPS travel document, obtained in advance
before departing the United States. Upon their return they will be considered “admitted” into TPS status, allowing them to invoke an ameliora - tive provision of immigration law that solves the lawful status gap. There are fewer options for individuals who have parole, but no viable path to TPS status. Upon the expiry of their parole status, these individu - als may need to leave the United States and pursue any employment-based immigration options through “consular processing” abroad. If an individual is still eligible to apply for TPS, they should do so before the TPS registration period ends. Even though adjudication of the applications is currently frozen, litigation may end this policy of non-adjudications and the administration’s attempt to end Haitian and Venezuelan TPS, and a later grant of TPS status may be critical to allowing the non-citizen to continue to pur - sue immigration options while remaining in the United States. Employment-based categories That leaves the final question of what employ - ment-based options non-citizens and their employers may pursue. While a comprehensive review of these categories is beyond the scope of this article, we highlight a few considerations that may be especially relevant for individuals affected by the Trump administration’s adverse actions on Biden parole programme beneficiar - ies. For individuals who are currently eligible for employment-based adjustment of status, the most attractive categories are the EB-1 and EB-5 categories, because these are not subject to any visa backlogs for nationals from any of the Biden parole programme countries. The EB-1A
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