Latino and immigrant organization CASA on June 7 urged Congress to pass the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, following the Supreme Court’s opinion involving Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

As noted in the court’s June 7 opinion, petitioner Jose Santos Sanchez, a citizen of El Salvador, challenges the denial of his application to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) of the United States. The court noted that Sanchez entered the United States unlawfully in 1997, and that he received TPS in 2001.

According to the court, the TPS program allows foreign nationals of a country designated by the U.S. government as having unusually bad or dangerous conditions to live and work in the United States while the conditions last.

Sanchez in 2014 applied under Section 1255 of the immigration laws to obtain LPR status, the court said, noting that Section 1255 provides a way for a “nonimmigrant” — that is, a foreign national lawfully present in the United States on a temporary basis — to obtain an “[a]djustment of status” to LPR.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined that Sanchez is ineligible for LPR status because he entered the United States unlawfully, the court said, adding that Sanchez successfully challenged that decision before the District Court, which reasoned that Sanchez’s TPS required treating him as if he had been lawfully admitted to the country for purposes of his LPR application.

The court noted that the Third Circuit reversed, finding that Sanchez’s unlawful entry into the country precluded his eligibility for LPR status under Section 1255, notwithstanding his TPS.

Noting that Section 1255 provides that eligibility for LPR status generally requires an “admission” into the United States, the court said that Sanchez did not enter lawfully, and that his TPS does not eliminate the effect of that unlawful entry.

Lawful status and admission are distinct concepts in immigration law, and establishing the former does not establish the latter, the court said.

Sanchez, the court said, argues that the statute’s directive that a TPS recipient “shall be considered … as a nonimmigrant” for purposes of Section 1255 means that he must also be considered as admitted. However, the court said, the immigration laws do not state that admission is a prerequisite of nonimmigrant status, and, therefore, there is no reason to interpret the TPS provision’s conferral of nonimmigrant status as including a conferral of admission.

There are immigration categories in which individuals have nonimmigrant status without admission, the court said, adding that when Congress confers nonimmigrant status for purposes of Section 1255, but says nothing about admission, the court has no basis for ruling an unlawful entrant eligible to become an LPR.

As noted in the court opinion, Associate Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion for a unanimous court.

In the June 7 statement, CASA Executive Director Gustavo Torres said, in part: “Though limited in scope, the Supreme Court decision in Sanchez v. Mayorkas rules against immigrants and will prevent thousands of TPS recipients from getting green cards in the United States. Ultimately, this ruling demonstrates once again the urgent need for legislative reform for immigrant communities in the United States. The immigration laws are broken and all TPS holders, many of whom have lived in the [United States] for decades and have been working as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, deserve a path to citizenship.”

Torres said that CASA calls on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately re-designate or designate El Salvador, Cameroon, Guinea, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Mauritania, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, The Bahamas, and Yemen for TPS.

Torres also noted that CASA urges Congress to pass H.R.6, the American Dream and Promise Act, adding that the legislation “would in fact correct this unfair decision and it is therefore urgent for the Senate to pass” H.R.6.

According to the summary of the bill posted on Congress’ website, H.R.6, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), provides certain individuals with a path to receive permanent resident status and contains other immigration-related provisions.

DHS or the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is to provide conditional permanent resident status for 10 years to a qualifying individual who entered the United States as a minor and is deportable or inadmissible, has deferred enforced departure (DED) status or TPS, or is the child of certain classes of nonimmigrants, the summary noted.

The bill imposes various qualifying requirements, such as the individual being continuously physically present in the United States since Jan. 1, 2021, passing a background check, and being enrolled in or having completed certain educational programs, the summary said.

DHS is to remove the conditions placed on permanent resident status granted under the bill if the individual applies and meets such requirements as completing certain programs at an educational institution, serving in the military, or being employed, the summary noted.

DHS and DOJ are to cancel the removal of certain individuals who had TPS, were eligible for TPS, or were eligible for DED status on certain dates, the summary said, adding that such an individual is to receive permanent resident status upon meeting certain requirements and applying for such status within three years of the bill’s enactment.

Among other things, the summary noted that DHS may not use information from applications filed under the bill or for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status for immigration enforcement purposes.

According to Congress’ website, the bill was “passed/agreed to in” the U.S. House of Representatives on March 18, and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 22, with hearings held on June 15.

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