Supreme Court Decision on CSPA Makes Life Harder for Immigrant Families
The U.S. Supreme Court has just made life harder for immigrants and their families by issuing a landmark ruling essentially stating that children who have gone the legal route, and are waiting in line with their parents for permanent residency, have to go to the back of the line once they turn 21 years old, or “age-out” as it is commonly referred to.
In 2002, U.S. Congress passed the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), which allowed children waiting for visas to keep their place in line, and to convert their applications into adult visas. In the June 9th decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the “automatic conversion” clause of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) does not provide benefits to most immigrant families. The court has essentially upheld Board of Immigrant Appeals (BIA) narrow interpretation of CSPA, ruling that instead of maintaining their initial priority date under the family-based preference, they now have to start over and wait even longer for permanent status.
The ruling is a result of a lawsuit filed by Ms. Rosalina Cuellar de Osorio. Government backlogs often cause immigrants to wait for an extended period of time, and during this time, many children reach age 21, which means that those who have now crossed into “adulthood”, are no longer considered “children,” and have to now apply for legal status as an adult. This is exactly what happened to the son of Rosalina Cuellar de Osorio, which has made it harder for immigrant families to stay together. In 1998, she applied for a visa to migrate from El Salvador to the U.S., with her then thirteen year old son. However, by the time her visa was approved in 2005, de Osorio’s son was 21, and was now forced to apply on his own as an adult.
It is unfair to break up families just because the U.S. has such a long wait time, but this is exactly what the Supreme Court has condoned in this heartbreaking ruling. It is important to note this case was about legal immigrants, following the rules, who are essentially punished because the system is slow to process their initial petitions. As a result, many immigrant families will continue to be separated because this ruling states that parents can now legally migrate, but they have to leave their children behind who have since turned 21 during the waiting process.
This is not what Congress intended when they passed the Child Status Protection Act in 2002, and we can only hope that the senators and representatives take congressional action, as this is a major setback for immigrant families.