The Attorney General may “parole” noncitizens seeking admission (including noncitizens who entered without inspection)[370] into the United States.  Done for purposes of “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit,” this parole is temporary, and may be granted under any conditions the Attorney General decides to impose.[371]  The Attorney General has discretion whether to grant or deny parole.[372]

 

Often parole is granted as a form of “deferred adjudication,” allowing the noncitizen to obtain documents to present to a DHS officer, or to come before an immigration judge.[373]  While the noncitizen is allowed to enter the United States, parole is not an admission to the United States, and the noncitizen may still be later found inadmissible.  Parolee status is, however, lawful status until it expires or is revoked or terminated.[374]

 

Whether a parolee may adjust status to that of a lawful permanent resident is at issue in the courts, since the INA and the regulations seem to disagree. However, because a noncitizen convicted of an aggravated felony is not barred from adjustment of status unless the conviction otherwise triggers inadmissibility, it is possible that an undocumented noncitizen (or someone otherwise paroled into the United States) convicted of an aggravated felony could apply for adjustment of status.  See § 2.2, supra.

 

[370] See INA § 235(a)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(1).  See also Memo, Virtue, G.C. for Field (HQCOU 120/17-P) (Aug. 21, 1998), reprinted in 76 Interpreter Releases 1050, 1067-70 (July 12, 1999).

[371] INA § 212(d)(5), 8 U.S.C. § 1184(d)(5); 8 C.F.R. § § 212.5, 1212.5 (listing persons eligible for parole).

[372] Ibid.  See also Rodriguez-Fernandez v. Wilkinson, 654 F.2d 1382 (10th Cir. 1981).

[373] 8 C.F.R. § § 235.2, 1235.2.

[374] 8 C.F.R. § § 245.1(d)(1)(v), 1215(d)(1)(v).

BIA

RELIEF " PAROLE " PAROLING LPR INTO THE UNITED STATES FOR PROSECUTION
Matter of Valenzuela-Felix, 26 I&N Dec. 53 (BIA 2012) (the time at which the DHS must determine whether a LPR is an applicant for admission because he or she falls under INA 101(a)(13)(C)(v), 8 U.S.C. 1101 (a)(13)(C)(v), is generally at the earliest opportunity, before the initiation of removal proceedings; the DHS may delay this determination when paroling a noncitizen to face prosecution until after the prosecution has been resolved). http://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol26/3773.pdf

RELIEF - ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS - PAROLE
Matter of Castillo-Padilla, 25 I&N Dec. 257 (BIA Jun. 18, 2010) (conditional parole under INA 236(a)(2)(B) is a distinct and different procedure from parole under INA 212(d)(5)(A), and does not count as "parole" under INA 245(a) for purposes of adjustment of status).

Second Circuit

RELIEF " ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS " RELEASE ON CONDITIONAL PAROLE PENDING REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS IS NOT PAROLED INTO UNITED STATES SO AS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT
Cruz-Miguel v. Holder, ___ F.3d ___, 2011 WL 1565847 (2d Cir. Apr. 27, 2011)(an alien released on conditional parole pending resolution of ongoing removal proceedings is not thereby paroled into the United States so as to be eligible for adjustment of status).

Ninth Circuit

PAROLE - ADVANCED PAROLE
Hassan v. Chertoff, 543 F.3d 564 (9th Cir. Sept. 11, 2008) (noncitizen traveled outside United States on advance parole while adjustment application was pending; DHS denied application while noncitizen was outside the U.S.; noncitizen placed in expedited removal upon attempted return to U.S.; court lacks jurisdiction to review DHS denial of adjustment application and revocation of advance parole).

RELIEF - ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS
Ortega-Cervantes v. Gonzales, 501 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir. Sept. 4, 2007) (noncitizens who are apprehended within the United States after illegal re-entry, who are detained by the DHS, and who are thereafter "conditional[ly] parole[d]," under INA 236(a)(2)(B); 8 U.S.C. 1226(a)(2)(B) are not "paroled into the United States" for purposes of being eligible for adjustment of status pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1255(a)).

Note: The court distinguishes between two types of "parole" - humanitarian parole covered by INA 212(d)(5) and "conditional parole" on release from DHS detention, under INA 236(a). The court notes that INA 236(a)(2)(B) "focuses primarily on aliens who are present in the United States but were not lawfully admitted or who were lawfully admitted but have become subject to removal." A clearer way to express this might be that INA 236(a) relates to immigration detention, and thus 236(a)(2)(B) relates to release from detention on parole, just as a felon would be released from prison on parole.

While "parole" as described under INA 212(d)(5) may be spelled the same, and pronounced the same, it describes a different concept - i.e. being allowed to physically enter the United States without being officially "admitted." Thus persons who are granted "deferred inspection" fall within INA 212(d)(5). See 8 C.F.R. 235.2(c).

Other

RELIEF - PAROLE - HUMANITARIAN PAROLE
Humanitarian parole is granted in cases of medical emergencies and the like. These are rarely granted, are generally good for up to a year, and are examined case-by-case by the Secretary of Homeland Security.