Opinion ID: 791779
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Arriving Aliens and Adjustment of Status

Text: 79 The regulation under which the government wants to exclude Zheng provides as follows: 80 (c) Ineligible aliens. The following categories of aliens are ineligible to apply for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident alien under section 245 of the Act: 81 ... 82 (8) Any arriving alien who is in removal proceedings pursuant to section 235(b)(1) or section 240 of the Act [8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1) or § 1229a].... 83 8 C.F.R. § 1245.1. While the statute renders parolees eligible, as a general rule, for adjustment of status, the regulation appears to have the opposite effect. The regulation is phrased in terms of arriving aliens, as defined by 8 C.F.R. § 1.1(q), but this term seems to be essentially synonymous with applicants for admission as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(1). See supra Part V.D.1. In particular, although the term arriving alien might sound like it refers only to those aliens physically in the process of arriving in the United States, it also extends to those who arrive and are paroled into the United States. See 8 C.F.R. § 1.1(q); Succar, 394 F.3d at 17; Part IV.B, supra. Thus arriving aliens appears to encompass most or all of those aliens who are paroled into the United States, as well as many of those aliens who are detained by DHS. Indeed, in its supplemental briefing, the government states that [a] parolee is an `arriving alien' who has been permitted temporary entry into the United States, as opposed to a non-parolee `arriving alien' who has been detained for removal proceedings. 84 Similarly, the regulation limits its scope to arriving aliens who are in removal proceedings, but as we have seen this is no real limitation. At least the majority of aliens paroled into the United States are in removal proceedings, yet, as explained above, Congress's clear intent is that virtually all parolees should be in such proceedings. See supra Part V.D.1. We are thus faced with a regulation that renders most aliens paroled into the United States ineligible to apply for adjustment of status. 85 The government points out that, under its regulations, some parolees may be eligible for adjustment of status. Specifically, the government notes that an arriving alien may renew an adjustment application that was denied by a district director, if the alien had filed the denied application pursuant to an earlier admission into the United States and then renewed the application after returning to the United States under the terms of an advance parole granted in order to pursue the adjustment application. See 8 C.F.R. § 1245.2(a)(1)(i) & (ii). This is, however, a very narrow exception. 16 Moreover, it does not comport with Congress's stated intent that parolees should be eligible to apply for adjustment of status. The parolees allowed to adjust status under § 1245.2(a)(1) are only those who are renewing applications that they made as admitted aliens; the regulation makes no provision for aliens making a first-time application while in removal proceedings. Thus, under the government's reading, paroled aliens may not really apply to adjust status; they may only renew applications that they made when they were not paroled but admitted. 86 In short, while there may be paroled aliens who are eligible to apply for adjustment of status under the regulations promulgated by the Attorney General, the government has not pointed to any significant category of paroled aliens who would in fact be eligible to make such an application. For all practical purposes, then, it appears that § 1245.1(c)(8) renders paroled aliens ineligible to apply for adjustment of status.