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Immigrants Lose Another Challenge to Green Card Policies

An appellate court rejected the latest challenge by Indian immigrants to US policies on green card wait times.

The three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that visa adjudication is a discretionary decision shielded from judicial review. The decision means the plaintiffs must continue on temporary employment visas until green cards become available.

Indian immigrants have brought multiple cases in multiple circuit courts arguing that changes to projected visa availability have unfairly added years to their wait for permanent residency.

Annual green card quotas for a given country mean these immigrants already face decade-long wait times. But even after they become eligible to apply, a change in projected availability of visas—known as retrogression—can put them back in the queue and add years to their wait times.

Plaintiffs in those cases have argued that applicants are entitled to a timely decision on their cases because Congress intended only that a visa be available at the time they file an application with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“The Adjudication Hold Policy reflects a decision by USCIS about how to exercise its discretion to adjust a noncitizen’s status to lawful permanent resident,” the panel found in an opinion by Circuit Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo, an Obama appointee. “Whether the Adjudication Hold Policy is the most sensible approach to managing pending green card applications and a visa backlog is not up to this Court.”

“Only the executive and legislative branches could provide the relief” the plaintiffs seek, Restrepo added.

The panel also included Circuit Judges Paul Matey, a Trump appointee, and Theodore McKnee, a Clinton appointee.

The Supreme Court last year declined to take up a similar challenge, leaving in place a Ninth Circuit decision in favor of the government.

Plaintiffs are represented by Brad Banias of Banias Law LLC.

Read More:  Bloomberglaw

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