1. United States
2. Ore.
3. Letter

I am writing as a constituent to request your assistance in addressing a critical gap in current immigration practice that is creating unnecessary risks for law-abiding families pursuing adjustment of status inside the United States. Recent events in California underscore a growing problem: individuals who have followed all legal requirements to obtain permanent residence are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) solely because their underlying nonimmigrant status expired while they awaited adjudication of a properly filed Form I-485. Under current law, applicants with a pending Adjustment of Status application are considered to be in a “period of stay authorized,” but they are not regarded as having lawful nonimmigrant status. This distinction creates a loophole: even though Congress intended the adjustment process to allow eligible families to remain together in the United States during adjudication, ICE retains discretion to treat these individuals as removable simply because their temporary status naturally expires during the months-long adjudication window. This situation has produced troubling outcomes. In multiple California field offices, including Fresno and San Diego, family-based applicants with no criminal history have been detained at or around their immigration appointments. These individuals are following every requirement of the legal process, yet they face the threat of detention and removal solely due to administrative timing rather than any violation of law or policy intent. The collateral harm to spouses, U.S. citizen children, and employers is severe. I respectfully request that your office consider pursuing legislative or oversight remedies to close this gap. Potential approaches include: 1. Clarifying by statute that a properly filed I-485 confers a temporary lawful status for the duration of adjudication, unless disqualifying criminal or security issues exist. 2. Restricting ICE from initiating enforcement action against individuals with pending family-based or employment-based adjustment who filed while in status and have no public-safety concerns. 3. Directing DHS and USCIS to issue uniform guidance protecting bona fide applicants from detention or removal during the adjudication of their cases. These changes would align immigration practice with congressional intent, reduce unnecessary enforcement costs, and strengthen family unity and workforce stability in our communities. I would be grateful for the opportunity to discuss this issue further with your staff, and I appreciate your work on behalf of our district. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.