May 28, 2026

Media Contact: media@haitianbridge.org

San Diego, CA — Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) strongly condemns the Trump Administration’s newly announced policy requiring many who are lawfully present in the United States to depart the country and apply for lawful permanent residency from abroad, effectively dismantling decades of established adjustment-of-status practice under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). 

The policy, announced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), limits adjustment of status to “extraordinary circumstances,” despite the longstanding statutory framework established by Congress under INA §245, codified at 8 U.S.C. §1255, which expressly permits eligible individuals inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States to apply for permanent residency from within the country. This policy creates heightened legal risks for immigrants who depart the United States to process abroad, including exposure to lengthy reentry bars triggered by prior periods of unlawful presence — risks Congress specifically sought to mitigate through provisions such as INA §245(i).

“This policy represents a profound departure from both the intent of Congress and decades of settled immigration practice,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “Forcing families to separate while applications are processed abroad is not merely administratively burdensome — it is economically reckless, legally questionable, and deeply destabilizing for American families, employers, and communities. Our team is exploring legal actions and will provide further guidance to our community in the coming days.”

The Administration’s decision threatens to trigger widespread family separation, particularly among mixed-status households in which U.S. citizen spouses and children depend financially and emotionally on family members pursuing lawful permanent residence. This policy could impact hundreds of thousands of applicants annually, including spouses of U.S. citizens, employment-based visa holders, refugees, and long-term residents who have built lives, careers, and families in the United States.

The economic consequences are equally severe. Many individuals adjusting status are integral members of the American workforce, including professionals in healthcare, technology, education, hospitality, logistics, and small business sectors. Employers may now face abrupt labor disruptions, prolonged staffing shortages, increased compliance costs, and the loss of highly trained personnel due to uncertain consular processing timelines abroad. Research consistently demonstrates that immigration contributes positively  to long-term economic growth, labor market expansion, entrepreneurship, and fiscal stability in the United States

Haitian Bridge Alliance calls upon Congress, civil society organizations, employers, faith leaders, and legal advocates to reject this draconian policy and defend the integrity of America’s family-based immigration system. HBA further urges immediate congressional oversight and litigation to prevent the unlawful erosion of adjustment-of-status protections established under federal law.

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ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and build solidarity and a collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”).
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