FILIPINO RESPONSIBLE FOR NEW ADJUSTMENT MEMO?

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:03]Welcome to US Immigration TV. Did you know that it may have been a Filipino who was responsible for this new adjustment of status memo?

[00:00:15]Well, let's back up a little bit. On May 21, 2026, the USCIS issued a policy memorandum sending shock waves within the US and around the world as it implies that people in the US should ordinarily leave and apply for their green card at the embassy versus filing for adjustment of status. So that memo is entitled, "Adjustment of status is a matter of discretion and administrative grace and an extraordinary relief that permits applicants to dispense with the ordinary consular visa process." Now, surprisingly, as I said, it may have been a Filipino back in 1974 whose case is supposed to be the legal foundation or basis supporting this new USCIS policy. But after reading the case itself, that Filipino situation would actually favor adjustment of status. And I believe that the USCIS's reliance on that case is misplaced or wrong. Now the Board of Immigration Appeals or BIA case of matter of blas is cited throughout the USCIS memo. Now that 1974 case, let's talk about the facts. It dealt with a scoundrel. It was a Filipino who abandoned his wife and children in the Philippines. He then goes to the US embassy and lies in order to secure a tourist visa. All in order to come to the US, divorce the wife and then marry someone else for a green card. So when he applied for adjustment of status, both the immigration judge and the the BIA viewed him really as a home wrecking scoundrel and he was undeserving of a green card. And I think that that is entirely different from so many other people who are in the US and are truly deserving of adjustment of status. So now let's take a step back and examine Mr. Blaz's behavior which really irritated the BIA.

[00:02:35]According to that 1974 case, he was married and he had four minor children in the Philippines. He then applied for a visitor visa and I quote with the intention to divorce his wife to remarry in the US and to stay here.

[00:02:54]So when he applied for the visitor visa at the embassy, he lied, stating that his purpose in coming to the US was to take a pleasure trip for like about 35 days. He did not reveal his true plans.

[00:03:07]He also had US citizen adoptive parents in the US, but on his visitor visa application, he claimed that neither of his parents were in the US. In short, Mr. Blah came to the US through fraud.

[00:03:25]And the BIA was very upset with people like him coming to the US in a similar fashion, as they said, abandoning their families and causing tribulations to their dependents.

[00:03:40]And the BIA felt that that type of behavior, breaking up your family, leaving your wife, abandoning them, did not warrant a favorable exercise of discretion. As immigration laws, as the case said, are supposed to favor the reuniting of families. It would be unreasonable to ascribe to Congress an intention to promote the breakup of aliens marriages abroad. Instead, immigration judges as well as immigration officers, and I quote, are not required to disregard the abandonment of an alien's spouse and children in every case in which the alien has in this country, divorced the spouse, and has remarried here.

[00:04:30]Remarriage in this country does not excuse all else. So therefore the BIA decided that in this particular case adjustment of status should not automatically be granted. Instead adjustment could be denied for somebody who presents a what they would call a non-mirritorious case through a course of deception.

[00:04:57]But what the USCIS left out in its recent memo by relying on matter of blaws is that the case also said that adjustment of status can be granted in meritorious cases. Not that it's completely banned or it has to be extraordinary. It has to be a meritorious case and that in the absence of adverse factors adjustment of status will ordinarily be granted still as a matter of discretion.

[00:05:29]So, as the BIA stated in that case, adjustment of status pursuant to section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act may be granted where the alien has established that the favorable exercise of discretion is warranted. Therefore, I believe in their memo, the USCIS has completely misinterpreted or selectively edited the very case it relied on. The BIA in matter of blaws clearly held that adjustment of status is still available in meritorious cases, which is when the favorable factors outweigh the unfavorable ones. So in conclusion, that BIA case, the Filipino case where he left his wife and kids that was cited by the USCIS in its adjustment memo clearly states that people continue to be eligible for adjustment of status if they have a meritorious case. It was just that that particular Filipino abandoned his wife and kids, leaving them behind while he selfishly pursued a green card for himself for what the BIA said was through a course of deception.

[00:06:48]But if a person can establish that they are a good person, they didn't do any kind of scoundrel or devious behavior, that they show that his or her favorable factors outweigh the negative ones, they should still be eligible to apply for adjustment of status as a matter of discretion.

[00:07:10]That's why I suggest that before you make that big decision to leave the US to apply for a green card at the embassy and you could possibly trigger the 10-year bar and you could still possibly be denied by the console for some other reason, you should first consult with an attorney who could package and present a meritorious case on your behalf demonstrating that you warrant a favorable exercise of discretion and approval of your adjustment of status application.

[00:07:41]As you see, uh I am very much opposed to that memo in in the situation where it is, I think, misinterpreting what the standards are and really putting their thumb on the scales of justice. They are making it harder than what the policy actually is.

[00:08:00]Demonstrating a favorable exercise of discretion, this is where a lawyer can help you, is simply demonstrating that your positive factors outweigh the negative ones by a preponderance of the evidence. Meaning like 51%.

[00:08:13]So it's like this positive negative. It just has to be like that. So where are they getting extraordinary rare blah blah? No, it if you demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence. Uh again, if you have an adjustment case, if you are thinking about filing for adjustment, I would definitely uh recommend you consult with an attorney.

[00:08:32]I will continue posting videos on this memo as well as other immigration topics which I hope you will find informative.

[00:08:39]Uh if you like this video, please click like, share, and subscribe. I'm Michael Gerinkle and thank you for watching US Immigration TV.