Sanchez v. Secretary United States Department of Homeland Security, No. 19-1311 (3d Cir. 2020)
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The plaintiffs, husband and wife, are citizens of El Salvador. They entered the U.S. without inspection or admission in 1997 and again in 1998. Following a series of earthquakes in El Salvador in 2001, the plaintiffs applied for and received Temporary Protected Status (TPS), 8 U.S.C. 1254a. Over the next several years, the Attorney General periodically extended TPS eligibility for El Salvadoran nationals, which enabled the plaintiffs to remain in the U.S. In 2014, they applied to become lawful permanent residents under section 1255. USCIS denied their applications, explaining that the husband was “statutorily ineligible” for adjustment of status because he had not been admitted into the U.S. The wife’s application depended on the success of his application.
The district court granted the plaintiffs summary judgment, holding a grant of TPS met section 1255(a)’s requirement that an alien must be “inspected and admitted or paroled” to be eligible for adjustment of status. The Third Circuit reversed. Congress did not intend a grant of TPS to serve as an admission for those who entered the United States illegally.
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