Page 41 - The Indian EYE 081426

IMMIGRATION AUGUST 14, 2026 | The Indian Eye 41

to employment and family life, and stay face a serious risk of apprehen- questioned about their status. U.S. lance and intimidation, fostering fear
the expense and uncertainty of de- sion when they travel, even domes- citizens traveling domestically are and police state-like conditions for
fending against removal despite hav- tically. Noncitizens traveling within required only to present TSA-accept- noncitizens whose only vulnerability
ing a pending application that may the United States should carry proof ed identification, which can include may be an expired I-94 coupled with
ultimately provide a path to lawful of their status or authorization to re- a state-issued driver’s license or ID. a pending application. Americans
permanent residence. main, such as an unexpired Form I-94, They should not feel compelled to should not tolerate the Trump ad-
Given the increased risk of ar- green card, I-551 stamp, Employment carry a U.S. passport or other proof of ministration’s decision to wield immi-
rests in airports, noncitizens who Authorization Document, Advance citizenship to protect themselves from gration enforcement in this manner
have an expired I-94 are advised to Parole document, or receipt notice immigration enforcement encounters. against people who have complied
avoid travel domestically, even if for a pending application, in the event Directing enforcement resourc- with the law and are awaiting adjudi-
they are in a period of authorized of an encounter with ICE. But the es toward people who are authorized cation of their applications. A system
stay. An individual who filed an em- burden should not fall on noncitizens to remain in the United States im- that detains individuals who are au-
ployment-based adjustment of status who are following the rules to avoid poses significant costs on employers, thorized to remain does not promote
application which is still pending be- routine travel out of fear that they families, and the immigration system public safety or the rule of law; it un-
cause his priority date retrogressed may be detained. without any clear corresponding gov- dermines both by using fear as an in-
might be a target for apprehension by The chilling effect may extend ernment benefit. More troublingly, it strument of governance.
ICE if he did not maintain his under- even to U.S. citizens, who may fear transforms ordinary spaces like air- *Kaitlyn Box is a Partner
lying H-1B status and his I-94 has now being mistaken for noncitizens and ports into sites of immigration surveil- at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners PLLC.
expired. Similarly, those who did not ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
extend their nonimmigrant status, but Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate of Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, is the Managing Partner of Cyrus D. Mehta
have a pending marriage-based ad- & Partners PLLC in New York City. Mr. Mehta is a member of AILA’s Administrative Litigation Task Force; AILA’s EB-5 Com-
justment of status application or asy- mittee; former chair of AILA’s Ethics Committee; special counsel on immigration matters to the Departmental Disciplinary
lum application, may be vulnerable Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, New York; member of the ABA Commission on Immigration; board member
to detention at airports. A noncitizen of Volunteers for Legal Services and board member of New York Immigration Coalition. Mr. Mehta is the former chair of the
who has an expired green card and Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council and former chair of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality
has filed a pending I-751 petition may Law of the New York City Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker and writer on various immigration-related issues, including
be unlikely to be targeted, however, if on ethics, and is also an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches a course entitled Immigration and
she has a valid I-551 stamp as proof of
her conditional LPR status. Work. Mr. Mehta received the AILA 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for advancing the practice of immigration law
Given this recent uptick in ICE and the AILA 2011 Michael Maggio Memorial Award for his outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the
arrests at airports, individuals who immigration field. He has also received two AILA Presidential Commendations in 2010 and 2016. Mr. Mehta is ranked among
do not have valid nonimmigrant sta- the most highly regarded lawyers in North America by Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration Law 2019 and is also ranked
tus but are in a period of authorized in Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2019 in immigration law, among other rankings.

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