On Monday June 7, 2021, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the United States Government could prevent foreign nationals who have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from applying for a Green Card if they entered illegally in the country.

This decision follows the case of a Salvadoran couple from New Jersey, who arrived illegally in the United States in 1997 and 1998 and who have four children, the youngest of whom, born in the United States, is an American citizen, who in 2014 requested to adjust their status to become legal permanent residents and be able to obtain a Green Card.

An application that had been rejected by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services who said they were not eligible because they had not entered the country legally and had never been officially admitted to the United States.

Currently, there are approximately 400,000 people with TPS status in the United States, from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen of which only 85,000 have managed to get their status adjusted.

A decision which will have serious consequences and which could affect approximately 320,000 people under TPS living in the United States.

SL/ HaitiLibre