The Supreme Court this Monday ruled that illegals who were given Temporary Protected Status (TPS) can not obtain a green cards to permanently stay in the country.
Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, wrote about the 9-0 decision that a “TPS recipient who illegally entered the United States is not eligible … for permanent resident merely due to his TPS.”
Jose Sanchez, an El Salvador citizen who entered the country illegally back in 1997 was given TPS status in 2001, meaning he could stay in the country until DHS stops the TPS for El Salvador citizens.
Back in 2014, Sanchez attempted to get permanent resident status. After Citizenship and Immigration Services refused Sanchez’s application due to him entering the country illegally, Sanchez fought the ruling in a federal court and won.
Then, a U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the ruling, saying that since Sanchez first entered the country illegally, he was not green card eligible under immigration laws.
The Supreme Court ruled that federal laws “applied according to plain terms, preventing Sanchez from becoming a permanent resident.”
“The question is if the conferral of TPS allows him to get permanent residence even with his illegal entry,” Kagan said about the Court’s opinion. “We say that it does not.”
Kagan continued on to say that even though Congress “might have gone further by saying TPS recipients not only have nonimmigrant status but also lawful admission,” it was not in the Court’s authority to make that interpretation.
This case ruling is the third 9-0 SCOTUS ruling on immigration in the past two weeks. The Court also said, in their opinion by Justice Sotomayor, against a formerly-deported illegal alien who tried to avoid deportation after re-entering the country.
And last week, the Court reversed a Ninth Circuit appeals court ruling that helped give immigration relief to illegals wanting asylum to stay in the country.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
