The Aftermath of De Osorio v. Mayorkas

We seem to have a running bet on whether De Osorio v. Mayorkas is getting appealed to the Supreme Court. Neither the Government nor the Respondents sought cert. in the other CSPA cases from the Second and Fifth Circuits so that is somewhat helpful. And yet, I want to be cautious.

I have a gazillion questions from readers. I can’t give legal advice yet, but here is some information I can provide:

1. People in removal proceedings under the jurisdiction of the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, should at worst, be able to get their removal proceedings terminated. They may also be able to get an Immigration Judge to grant continuances, and at best, schedule an individual hearing for adjustment of status.
2. People not in removal proceedings can file now but they may need to wait until (and if) USCIS issues new regulations, before they can benefit from this change.
3. People, who think they may be eligible, and live under the jurisdiction of the Fifth and Ninth Circuit, can take the risk to apply for adjustment of status. In the least, they should be able to get work authorization, if an I-765 is filed concurrently. But there is no guarantee that USCIS would actually grant the green-card.
4. If anyone gets their cases approved in the Fifth and Ninth Circuit through USCIS, please let us know!

If anyone wants a sample brief of what we’ve filed on my behalf with the Immigration Court in San Francisco, please let me know.

Update: I just got word of this case that the USCIS has approved under Khalid v. Holder in the Fifth Circuit. There is no reason why USCIS cannot do so under De Osorio v. Mayorkas for everyone in the Ninth Circuit. They are an agency and they are supposed to adjudicate the law as it stands (and honestly, I don’t see why they care about who is getting a visa). Everyone who resides in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii and Montana can retain their priority dates and apply it to a subsequent petition. Cheers.

As always, please get competent legal representation to explore all your options as this blog post should not be used in substitution for legal advice. Success in some cases does not guarantee success in other cases.