Illegal Immigrants Leave and Return Legally: Sounds Good, But Won’t Work!

{3:12 minutes to read} Donald Trump said during his campaign and has repeated as President that he wants people who are illegally in the United States to leave, get in line behind others wishing to come to the US, and return legally. Although it sounds great, the reality is that under current law, it is virtually impossible for many people to do this.

The reason is that, since 1996, the law provides that people who have been illegally in the United States and acquiring “unlawful presence” for a year or more, and who need to leave the United States in order to become legal, are not permitted to return for up to 10 years. Before that, people could leave the United States, get their green cards in their home countries after a few weeks and re-enter legally, resuming their lives. Since the 1996 law, it's virtually impossible for many millions of people to “get legal” without leaving the US for at least 10 years.

There are some exceptions to that rule, the most notable of which allows an individual to apply for a waiver or a pardon of that 10-year bar if that person has a “qualifying relative,” defined as spouse or parent who is a US citizen or permanent resident. The immigrant must show that the qualifying relative will suffer exceptional hardship if the 10-year bar is not lifted. The number of people who can apply for a waiver or pardon of the 10-year bar is limited, which leaves many, many millions of people simply unable to obtain permanent residency without leaving the United States for 10 years. Even if you are a mom with multiple US citizen children, it is impossible for you to get a green card unless you have a spouse or parent who can be one of these qualifying relatives.

If Donald Trump wants to follow through on his pledge, then the logical thing to do is to remove the 10-year bar, so that people can leave the United States and then re-enter legally without spending 10 years outside the United States. Removing this 10-year bar would be a quick, effective way to amend the law and bring about the kinds of requirements that Donald Trump says he wants.

In the weeks and months ahead, we're going to be talking about families caught in this 10-year penalty, who have family members and/or employers who desperately need them to get legal, but who simply can not get legal because of this law.

Mitchell C. Zwaik

Zwaik, Gilbert & Associates, P.C.
5014 Express Drive South
Ronkonkoma, NY  11779
www.zwaik.com