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Children of Visa H-1B holders can now age their protected legal status while their parents ask for green cards, under a change in Trump administration policy announced on Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it reversed a Biden administration policy which prevented young adults from losing its legal status if the parent’s request was still pending when their children reached the age of 21.
Why it matters
About 200,000 children and young adults could be affected by the change, which occurs in the middle of a burst of modifications to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to put the policies in accordance with the directives of President Donald Trump to tighten immigration controls.
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What to know
The change in USCIS policy affects those who fall under the law on the protection of the child’s state (CSPA), which the administration of former President Joe Biden authorized in February 2023 to apply for certain children as soon as their parents became eligible to request a green card.
This meant that even if they “aged” when waiting for a green card, they would not lose legal status.
Friday, the Trump administration brought these extensions, saying that ACSP protections would only apply again when a visa will be available via the State Department. USCIS said it would create a more consistent approach for those who require an adjustment of the status and immigrant visas.
With long waiting times for the adjustment of status requests, in particular for H-1B and other holders of temporary visas, this could now mean that when a dependent child will have 21 years, they lose their legal status and should have to leave the United States, even if they have lived in the country during most or all of their lives.
Doug Rand, a DHS official during the Biden administration, said that many of these children would be American to their hearts, but would now be forced to the back of the line for a green card.
What people say
USCIS, in a press release: “On February 14, 2023, the policy led to an incoherent treatment of foreigners who requested an adjustment of the status in the United States compared to foreigners outside the United States who asked for an immigrant visa with the State Department.”
Doug Rand, former DHS manager, in a shared press release with Nowsweek:: “In 2023, the team of which I was part of the USCIS made a change in judicious policy to make this situation a little less horrible for some young people.
“We have chosen yes. Today, the Trump administration chooses no.”
What is the next step
The new guidelines will apply to the requests filed after August 15, those already undergoing uninatted.
