Pinoy responsible for new adjustment memo? (original) (raw)

On May 21, 2026, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum, sending shockwaves within the US and around the world, as it implies that people in the US should ordinarily leave and apply for their green cards at the embassy versus filing for adjustment of status in the US.

The title of that memo says it all: “Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace, and an Extraordinary Relief that Permits Applicants to Dispense with the Ordinary Consular Visa Process.”

Surprisingly, it may have been a Filipino back in 1974 whose case is the supposed legal foundation supporting the USCIS policy. But that Filipino’s situation would actually favor adjustment of status, and USCIS’s reliance on that case is misplaced.

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)’s case of Matter of Blas is cited throughout the USCIS’s memo. That 1974 case dealt with a Filipino who abandoned his wife and children in the Philippines and lied at the embassy to secure a tourist visa, all in order to come to the US to divorce his wife and marry for a green card. When he applied for adjustment of status, both the immigration judge and the BIA viewed him as a homewrecking scoundrel, undeserving of a green card. That is entirely different from so many people already in the US who truly are deserving of adjustment.

Let’s examine Mr. Blas’ behavior, which irritated the BIA: he was married and had four minor children in the Philippines. He applied for a visitor visa “with the intention to divorce his wife… to remarry in the United States… and to stay here.” When he applied for the visitor visa, he lied, stating that his purpose was to take a “pleasure trip” for about 35 days. He did not reveal his true plans. He also had US citizen adoptive parents, but on his visitor visa application, he claimed neither of his parents was in the US.

In short, Mr. Blas came to the US through fraud, and the BIA was upset with people like him coming to the US in a similar fashion: “abandoning their families and causing tribulations to their dependents.” This behavior did not warrant a favorable exercise of discretion, as immigration laws “are supposed to favor the reuniting of families. It would be unreasonable to ascribe to Congress an intention to promote the breakup of aliens’ marriages abroad.”

Instead, immigration judges (as well as immigration officers) “are not required to disregard the abandonment of an alien’s spouse and children in every case in which the alien has, in this country, divorced the spouse and has remarried here. Remarriage in this country does not excuse all else.”

Accordingly, the BIA decided that adjustment of status should not automatically be granted. Instead, adjustment could be denied for somebody who presents a “non-meritorious case” through a “course of deception.”

But what USCIS left out in its memo (in relying on Matter of Blas) is that the case also said that adjustment can be granted in meritorious cases and that “in the absence of adverse factors, adjustment of status will ordinarily be granted, still as a matter of discretion.” As the BIA stated, “Adjustment of status pursuant to section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act may be granted where the alien has established that favorable exercise of discretion is warranted.”

Therefore, the USCIS has completely misinterpreted, or selectively edited, the very case it relies on. The BIA clearly held that adjustment of status is still available in meritorious cases, which is when the favorable factors outweigh the unfavorable ones.

In sum, the BIA case cited by USCIS in its adjustment memo clearly states that people continue to be eligible for adjustment of status with meritorious cases. It was just that this Filipino abandoned his wife and children, while he selfishly pursued a green card for himself “through a course of deception.” But if a person can establish his or her favorable factors outweigh the negative ones, they should still be eligible for adjustment of status as a matter of discretion.

That is why I suggest before leaving the US to apply for your green card abroad (and possibly triggering the 10-year bar), you first consult with an attorney who could present a meritorious case on your behalf, warranting a favorable exercise of discretion and approval of your adjustment application.