Dear Editor,
A recent US Supreme Court ruling will have an impact on children of Guyanese and other immigrants who have been waiting for their green cards and have aged out (attained the age of 21) changing their eligibility status for a green card. The US Supreme Court narrowly ruled 5 to 4 denying unmarried children (over 21 years old) the status of minors (under 21) for green card eligibility purposes. The top court ruled that immigrant children who waited for years with their parents to obtain visas will have to go to the back of the line, joining others in waiting as adults for a green card, when they attain the age of 21.
The justices sided with the Obama administration stating that immigration laws offer relief only to a tiny percentage (of special cases) of children who age out of the system. Because approving families for green cards can take years, thousands of immigrant children age out of the system each year. Congress tried to fix the problem in 2002 when it passed the Child Status Protection Act. The law allows aged-out children to retain their child status longer or qualify for a valid adult category and keep their initial priority date.
But appeals courts have split over whether the law applies to all children or only those in specific categories. The Supreme Court said in an important ruling in a case before it that the overwhelming majority of adult children no longer qualify for the immigration status granted to minors.
The case involved a Salvadoran immigrant who was in line for a visa along with her 13-year-old son. But after years of waiting, her son turned 21 and government officials said he no longer qualified as an eligible child. He was placed at the back of the line, resulting in a wait of several additional years.
Many Guyanese illegal immigrant children in the US and tens of thousands of others fall into this category.
The Salvadoran immigrant won her case before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing her 21-year-old son to obtain his green card with his family. But the Obama administration appealed to the Supreme Court which reversed the lower court decision making the ruling final. The aged-out immigrants will not be deported but they have to wait their turn as older kids. Obama has deported more immigrants than any other president in the history of the nation. But he also allows illegal immigrant children to remain and work in the US while waiting for a green card if they completed high school and/or are enrolled in college and don’t have a criminal record.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
