In a shift that has rattled many immigrant families, enforcement actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have reportedly begun detaining individuals during scheduled green-card interviews at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices — even in cases where their only “violation” had been a visa overstay. According to reporting by The New York Times, some of those arrested at a USCIS field office in San Diego, California entered the United States lawfully, married U.S. citizens, and had no prior removal orders or criminal history.
For decades, immigration lawyers and applicants relied on a long-standing statutory rule: under INA § 245(a), a non-citizen who was “inspected and admitted or paroled” — meaning lawfully entered — may apply to adjust status to lawful permanent resident (a “green card”), even if their authorized stay has expired. When the applicant is a spouse of a U.S. citizen (an “immediate relative”), certain usual bars triggered by overstay or visa expiration do not apply. This legal pathway allowed thousands of immigrants to remain in the United States and obtain permanent residence — even after years of overstaying a visa. The adjustment-of-status interview was generally treated as a routine administrative step, not a moment of enforcement risk.
But now, with the arrests at USCIS interviews, that expectation appears to be crumbling. What was once widely regarded as a “safe zone” for adjustment is being converted — in some cases — into an enforcement trap. Immigration-law practitioners warn that this new enforcement practice undermines the statute’s intended “safe harbor” for immediate relatives.
The New Reality for Applicants
Today, a green-card interview — even for someone who entered lawfully, married a U.S. citizen, and is otherwise fully eligible under the law — may carry a real risk of detention. The arrests in San Diego, confirmed by multiple outlets including The New York Times, illustrate that ICE may treat a simple visa overstay as a ground for removal before USCIS has even had a chance to adjudicate the green-card application.
This change does not stem from new legislation. The INA remains the same, and § 245(a)’s adjustment pathway remains on the books. What appears to have changed is enforcement policy and inter-agency coordination: ICE is now more willing to act at “capture points,” including federal immigration benefit offices — places that previously functioned as routine sites for status adjudication.
For many families, this shift has profound consequences. The process of applying for a green card — once a hopeful step toward stability — could now result in detention, triggering removal proceedings, separations, or prolonged uncertainty.
The Legal Contradiction and the Stakes
Immigration law distinguishes between an applicant’s eligibility for a benefit (permanent residence) and the government’s authority to enforce removability for those who lack valid status. The statutory eligibility under § 245(a) does not itself prohibit enforcement under separate removal provisions. What the recent arrests reveal is a growing tendency to prioritize enforcement over benefit adjudication — effectively undermining the balance Congress created. For individuals who believed they had a safe path based on lawful entry and marriage to a citizen, the new reality means they must now weigh their legal eligibility against the risk of immediate detention.
Employment-Based Adjustment: Not Immune from the New Risk
Although much of the recent reporting has focused on family-based adjustments (spouse of a U.S. citizen), what has happened in San Diego might also potentially affect certain employment-based adjustment applicants who rely on INA § 245(k). Under § 245(k), individuals applying for certain employment-based green cards (e.g., EB-1, EB-2, EB-3) — including their spouses and minor children — may qualify for adjustment even if they committed minor immigration status violations (such as a visa overstay or lapse of status), provided those violations do not exceed 180 cumulative days after the most recent lawful admission.
In theory, that 245(k) “safety-valve” should protect such applicants from being disqualified solely because of a brief overstay or non-immigrant status lapse. But if enforcement agencies treat overstays — even in otherwise eligible cases — as grounds for detention during adjustment interviews, then employment-based applicants may now face similar risk as family-based applicants. In other words, the same enforcement-first approach that resulted in arrests of spouse-based overstayers could, under current practices, extend to employment-based overstayers who believed they were statutorily protected under § 245(k).
This potential spillover heightens uncertainty for many lawful-entry noncitizens who entered on valid visas and later experienced a brief lapse of status or minor violation — individuals who historically would have relied on § 245(k) to secure permanent residency through employment-based petitions.
What This Means for Potential Applicants Right Now
Those who plan to attend a green-card interview — whether based on marriage or employment — should no longer assume USCIS interviews are safe from enforcement action. Even in cases with statutory eligibility, including under § 245(k), the risk of detention appears to be real. Legal practitioners are now urging such applicants to obtain legal counsel, compile full records of lawful entry and admissibility, prepare robust documentary evidence (for example, petition approval, I-94/entry records, supporting visas), and be ready for contingencies such as detention or removal proceedings.
Until there is policy clarification or legislative action reaffirming that adjustment-of-status interviews are protected from ICE enforcement, the gap between statutory eligibility (whether under § 245(a) or § 245(k)) and enforcement practice may continue to generate uncertainty — and serious risk — for immigrant families and employment-based applicants alike.
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