U.S. SC rules against temporary immigrants seeking green cards

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that immigrants who entered the country unlawfully and were later allowed to stay in temporary status for humanitarian reasons are not eligible to apply for green cards and become permanent residents, reported Xinhua.

Thousands of immigrants, including many who have lived in the country for years, could be affected, according to media reports.

Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the court, said the unanimous decision was "a straightforward application" of U.S. law, which generally requires an immigrant to have been lawfully admitted to the United States to be eligible for a green card.

Nothing in the conferral of TPS changes that result, Kagan wrote. TPS stands for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which can be granted to illegal immigrants due to humanitarian crises in their home country.

About 400,000 people currently live in the United States under TPS from a dozen countries including El Salvador, Haiti, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, said media reports.