this case comes before the court on an order of the eastern district of louisiana in which the district granted summary judgment to plaintiff mr guerrero and palin's contend that that grant was in error and as a result the government requests that this court vacate that order and grant judgment to the government because temporary protected status in this case does not overcome a crew member bar to adjustment of status so allow me to run you through some of the framework that is applicable to the immigration nationality act in this case congress has specifically legislated in a way that restricts crew members from being able to adjust their status and by just when i refer to changing getting a green card lawful permanent residency title eight section twelve fifty five c one specifically states that aliens that seek to adjust their status that are that have been admitted this crew members or are crew members may not adjust their status under the immigration nationality act and  congress has provided two pathways and purposefully or provided only two pathways given the ease by which crewmembers can enter the united states that is to say congress has specifically made the pathway of crewmembers to getting a green card restrictive and those are those two pathways are one if the alien is a self petitioner under the violence against women act if that is the case then the entirety of section twelve fifty five  apply to that person the second pathway is if that individual filed a visa petition prior to the sunset date of the life act which would have been able thirtieth two thousand and one none of those exceptions apply to mr guerrero correct and while this particular is a particular regulation that the government did not raise because this wasn't an issue below but for the courts information regardless of whether the person  are a time limit i mean do you become a crew person forever and you never could you never end up at your other ship whatever the case may be at the time limit you have sixty days ninety days to go from one ship indefinitely whether or not they overstay that period or and join the crew or not and that is that is what the regulations say the regulations specifically being two forty five point one b two of title  regulations which basically says and uses the past tense it says that an individual that was admitted to the united states as a crew member or was transiting through the united states in order to join a crew that person will be member and that person is barred from adjustment of status but we get to the question of temporary protected status because that's the crux of the matter here who what why do we get to it greedier on a certainly we  we don't need to get to it because the sash torrie language is clear at two forty five twelve fifty five c one which governs adjustment eligibility but if we need to get to it we look at the i suppose the relevant provision is at section twelve fifty four little a f or which says that during a period an alien is granted temporary protected status that alien is considered as being in and maintaining a lawful status as a non immigrant now the purpose of temporary protected status is to prevent an alien from being removed from the united states so he can't be removed because he does have that status but that doesn't alter the fact that he's an  temporary protected status statute is to allow a person who enters the united states that for example in mr guerrero's case overstays a period of lawful admission whether it's a crew member or not it prevents the execution of a removal order against that person and allows that person to remain lawfully the question here is that mr grunow in the district court read into the statute at par the requirement that an individual is it into the united states but you will see in the statute nowhere is the term in fact only in only one spot in the entire t p s statute is the term admitted or admission used and that is with respect to an ili coming to the united states seeking admission in order to apply to t p s and that does not apply here this might not be relevant but right now is one hundred us there's a is a is a country where people will not be deported because the conditions and under at some point could could that be taken away and then what would be his situation if if honduras is no longer considered a dangerous has extended temporary protected status to honduras for i think it's six months however it is within the discretion of the secretary of homeland security to remove that designation or continue that designation outside that period temp orally that parent the person will no longer be considered a lawfully present in the united states as though they are an immigrant and so under that scheme  to leave and return in another status that is not a crew member say a tourist or a student or any number of those types of status that and given that he is married to a united states citizen given that he is married to a united states citizen he would have to waive any unlawful presence that he has accrued which would only actually be a very short period the period after which he overstayed his crewmember and and then the period that he that he got his temporary protected status which i think was about eight or nine months so he would have to seek a waiver and he could do that through his united states citizen spouse but there aren't any courts that have really addressed the interplay specifically between twelve thirty four and fifty five c but circuits have gotten tangled up with fifty five at correct yet well yes there are and how that relates to t p s if we were real in your favor would be  precedent in this case in in gomes milenge which talks about status and admission being two separate concepts and if status and admission are two separate concepts t p s itself cannot be a new admission that erases and overcomes a prior mission it would also be potentially in conflict with the sixty ninth circuit's cases because if the court is to rule that t p s does not over com crew member status that is because that would be because t p s is not properly a new admission which is again the government's position that would be consistent only with currently the eleventh circuit decision in toronto and not it would be specifically in the context of adjustment of status which is the very relief that mr guerrero is seeking why do we have to touch those two cases if they are interpreted twelve fifty five well your honor the other day interpret the interplay flora's and remember as they interpret the interplay of twelve fifty five seem to me with with twelve fifty four a f for which is the lawful status provision of temporary protect status the court could limit its ruling and say that for purposes of this case a person that is admitted to the united states or enters the united states as a crew member that to temporary protected status does not yes it is because that approach analytically doesn't address t p s at all it does not it does not it's a but it's an analogous scenario because what you have in that case is a person that is invited to the united states as a fiance now when a person is admitted to the united states as a v l say the empty choices they can marry the person that petition for them to enter and be admitted to the united states or they must leave within ninety days in that particular case the alien entered the united states did not marry the original petition in fiance married someone else and then was subject to extreme cruelty by that second by that spouse in the way this court held t p s does not trump his admission as a crew member it's further consistent with section twelve fifty four eighty five which talks about being able to hold two statuses concurrently and these arguments were made to judge baird yes the case deals with lawful temporary residence and a step separate regulation it does talk about status and admission being two separate concepts the only way mr girl can get to where he needs to be is if status is if that mission is read into a s you must be continuously present since the date of designation of such a country you must continuously reside in the united states since the date of that doesn't nation very important you must be admissible as an immigrant and then register during the appropriate period admissible as an immigrant is important because crew members are never admissible as an immigrant right because twelve fifty five c one says they can never become immigrant people who intend on permanently residing in the united states so your but by starting this way you're saying your argument depends on that sentence in the background section of oriana which is an interpret into a fifty five c correct your honor and the reason is because at the moment the u s c i s granted mr guerrero temporary protected status they deemed him isn't admissible as an immigrant they cured the defect of the injury as a clear eyed view when you look at the language a trophy sure doesn't say diem or cure or extinguish or race doesn't use any of those verbs and if his point is that when congress wants to write a carve out they can write it as they did for a while what's the language in twelve fifty four that you extinguished his status as an alien crewmember it's the moment which the t p s is granted your honor no what's the language in twelve fifty four what is the exact language you're relying on the language and here are a situation he was and it's stated it pointed out that the terminations of the dozen nation of t p s would return the alien to the same immigration status previously held provided such status has not been expired or been terminated my client's crewman visa was already expired at the point in which he applied for t p s that entry as a crewman doesn't make him an eligible to be deemed admissable as an immigrant because we don't want them to jump ship as it stated in i believe kentucky line there is a policy guidance for using a stick per se to prevent crew members from not joining their crew however when you look at the t p s statue and underlined name which is humanitarian color sustain these persons these foreign nationals cannot return safely to their home country point of entry that status we've said in the loo decision is immutable why isn't that the end of the story because you're on a government council brought up in one of their brief sort of a dual status  congress indicated in twelve fifty four a f d that they shall be that t p s holder shall be in lawful nonimmigrant status they didn't specify what type of lawful nonimmigrant status that person would be in it just says for purposes of the entire framework of twelve fifty five they shall be deemed as unlawful nonimmigrant status for purposes of a just would be absurd to think that congress would have granted a lawful nonimmigrant status to a t p s holder that by its very nature would be ineligible for adjustment such as a crime  be removed but that doesn't that's a third lean mean that he can become a resident alien just so you can't be removed but his status can't change either so so there's nothing in there it says he can emigrate it just says he can't be removed if if there was nothing in there saying that he couldn't immigrate why would the g p s start to state that for purposes of adjustment these t p s recipients shall be considered  nonimmigrant status and if they were if it's to be as holders were not able to immigrate why would one of the requirements in eligibility for t p s state that they have to be admissible as an immigrant if that were the case your honor then my client should never have been granted t p s in the first place and in fact no crew members could ever be granted t p s well it doesn't make sense to me you're granting them to b s so you don't send him back to a home where whatever has happened terrible has happened he is protected from that the exact humanitarian purpose of d p s is still in place for him unless the current administration removes it so he's getting the benefits of t p s the way i see it but he's not well you say that but they can't remove him but you're like needing one of the benefits that congress put into the t p s statute which is adjustment of status ok depends where i don't see where congress said that what i see congress saying is people can adjust unless you jump ship or you jump the plane and we've got this very specific explicit plain language bar those people can't and then i don't see twelve fifty four saying nope we're  we're we're rescinding that for t p s people categorically and i mean why why isn't his point pretty telling that when they wanted to write that they did as for vala they also didn't write that for anybody who entered without inspection but those people are also not admissible as an immigrant and then there are deemed admissible as an immigrant upon the grant of t p s it what's your best case for that i mean a lot of study that well your honor for example flor in the sixth circuit mentions mentions that the grant of t p s status overcomes the bar to adjustment for purposes two for persons who enter without inspection so twelve fifty five  does have the profit or language which carves out an exception for vava self petition which right because they are protected class t p s recipients are also a vulnerable class they are foreign nationals from the country of to which they can not return safely so when congress can consular process which means he's going to have to leave the united states yes he does have an unlawful presence in admissibility bar because it was over six months before between the time his criminal use expired until he was granted that's a three year bar so what the government is proposing is that mr guerrero and this is also what the government is going to mean that congress intended for persons who are from these countries where they cannot safely return if they entered in any other status other than student or work or work or then they must go back to the country from which congress has specifically protected them from in mr girl's case is going to have to wait for three years yes there is a waiver available but only if he can prove that his wife suffers from extreme hardship and in my experience in practice in immigration law for ten years it's very difficult to prove extreme hardship if the us citizen does not have some type of health problem or mental problem i believe that congress intended and specifically stated that for all t p s recipients it does not say into all fifty four a anywhere that s recipients are eligible for adjustment of status except for these people it's pacifically references the entirety of twelve fifty five not just twelve fifty five c two is the government would want you to look but doesn't it say that th c one but also on twelve fifty five c you have bars for persons who enter without inspection you have bars for persons who work without prior authorization so what the district court held in this case was that if the government's interpretation is to be followed to all fifty four a f d has very very little application because twelve fifty four c two is a barge adjustment purpose for persons who cannot maintain lawful status but there is an exception in there already for immediate relatives and for special emigrants would you say i mean a billion for always incomplete in this record would you say you and opposing counsel somebody who has remained in the united states passed the authorization to board the vessel your honor but what's important to look at is that congress specifically included in the  that but why would congress want to or crewman from adjustment of status or change of status when they've been granted temporary protective status it doesn't say anywhere in the t p s statute that aren't eligible the only point at which we could state that the t p s statute was not intended to be granted just trying to make sure every single time a plane lands and in this country there is no incentive system for them to step off in d and then try to change their status absolutely we have thousands of aliens coming in and out in this category so it makes sense that they would say you folks can see to become lawful permanent residence i don't deny that however when someone is a national for a country that has been designated for temporary protected status that's something very specific very limited or in my view that he gets that protection he's always got that at least let me ask a different hypothetical what if he'd married in the first twenty nine days what if he'd gotten married again put t p s aside would you say that then he would be able you would be  change that s or with the alien crewmember trump that now you are i don't think it has anything to do with whether or not he overstayed or whether he was a current crewman status right now let's say current status last of so if he had married a us citizen g government wants you to believe that t p s does not trump any other status but it actually does because upon the moment that guerrero was granted temporary protected status he obtained  separate and finite protection which is true it could indicate any time the government could do doesn't eight hundred is just like they did for nicaragua hopefully not because of the current situation there is actually  granting t p s they deemed him admissible as an immigrant were garlits of manner of entering we could be talking about persons who entered without inspection as in mr oriana we could be talking about persons who entered as a crewman as my there a difference between there is absolutely a difference and the statute states admissible as an immigrant so if you follow if you follow that to stop the argument then the government cannot now come back and say oh but you're not admissible as an immigrant because you introduce a crime and t p s culver's that t p s supersedes that and just like this court stated if t p s ends he refers back to his prior status that is immutable we can't change the fact that he entered as a crewman we can see that however upon the grant of t p s he became admissible as an immigrant and he also became deemed shall be deemed as unlawful nonimmigrant status for purposes of adjustment any other reading of the law would be in direct contravention to congress's intent that these persons deserve protection they should not be removed or they shall not be removed to their country because it's not safe for them to return so why would congress specifically state that one of the benefits of temporary protected status is adjustment of status or change of status when they're saying ok but these certain people it doesn't apply to them it it ramirez points out is that there is a rigorous background check there's things that have to be proven the continuous presence the continuous residency good moral character you can't have more than one misdemeanor you cannot have been convicted of a felony so the applicants are going through a rigorous process to ensure that they are they're basically being inspected my client was admitted i don't cost to overc movie the prostitute language of twelve thirty five however i do believe that twelve fifty four a f d overrides all concerns that may be a bar to adjustment with respect to on any prior injury regardless  the fact that he was present in the united states on the date of the designation of honduras for t p s they were the fact that he was called up in the united states on the date of designation for temporary protected status we continuously resided in the united to crew members who were in the united states on the date of does of nation of the country for temporary protected status within that country is designated home so it's a happenstance of some of the country cannot be removed but just like crew members cannot adjust status once they're granted t p s they are deemed in a lawful nonimmigrant status sufficient for adjustment of status purposes ok ok thank you just like what source is he he he cannot readjust he's here he cannot be removed but if he does want to readjust then we're tell him you have to go back to your country that we've declared is too dangerous and you don't have to go back to but if you want to stay here permanently you have to go back yes your honor the way the t v s statute is written is that it at section twelve fifty four a f one it says person granted t p s is not residing in the united states minutely under the color of law in order to reside permanently they need to get a permanent residence what twelve fifty four a f or does is it removes some impediments to eligibility written into the adjustment statute at twelve thirty five c now with respect to what is option is yes he would have to go back and he is eligible for a waiver for the unlawful presence that he accrued between over staying in school and getting a temporary protective status however that is that is that is the way congress has written a statute and it's rational given the fact that a person would want to enjoy a superior status that is lawful permanent residency versus the one benefit there's really two but one benefit of temporary protected status which is to not be deported the other benefit being allocating employment authorization  which both of which mr greer has done and you need to be admissible which which is not an issue in this case admissibility is a different thing than eligibility admissibility is governed by the inadmissibility grounds at section eleven eighty two of title eight united states code if an alien falls into one of those classes of inadmissible illions they can't adjust status unless there's a waiver of will available if mr girl the adjustment statute and while yes the t p s statute at bar here references the entirety of section two hundred fifty five it is the adjustment statute that governs adjustment eligibility and what must be considered is section twenty five c one which is the fact that mr grant was admitted to the united states as if that status endures even even with obtaining temporary protected status this case a new status so the fact that the status is stacked on each other doesn't and doesn't eliminate the previous mission as a crew member and therefore doesn't eliminate that the bar to