Lawsuit challenges USCIS green card rules in Boston court
Immigrant families, unions and university educators sued in Boston's federal court to block two USCIS policies they say penalise eligible immigrants for seeking green cards from inside the United States.
Immigrant families, educators and advocacy groups sued on 5 October over two US immigration policies they say could force eligible green card applicants to leave the country, splitting them from families and jobs. The case, American Association of University Professors et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al., was filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston. (IANS)
The suit targets two May and August 2026 US Citizenship and Immigration Services policies changing adjustment of status — the process letting eligible immigrants already in the US seek permanent residence without applying at a consulate. Under the challenged May policy, officers must treat seeking residence inside the US as a negative factor, overcome only by “unusual or even outstanding” considerations. (AILA)
The August policy lets officers deny applications without seeking further evidence, including pending cases. Plaintiffs are the AAUP and its Harvard and Boston University chapters, the Service Employees International Union and two affiliates, Americans for Immigrant Justice and six individual applicants; counsel are Democracy Forward, the American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Colombo & Hurd. (IANS)
Immigration Council attorney Leslie Dellon called the policies “a major shift with very real consequences” — family separation, job disruption and long waits abroad. Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman said: “The executive branch cannot rewrite that system and then treat people’s lawful actions as a reason to deny them said permanent residency.” The case remains pending, with no ruling yet on their lawfulness. (AILA)
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