05/24/2026
How Adjustment of Status Changed my life
The new USCIS policy memo on adjustment of status is unlawful, anti-immigrant and an attack on family unity. We must push back. This is very personal for me and hits home.
In 2009, I adjusted status as an F-1 student married to a U.S. citizen. I was 8 months pregnant. The thought of having to leave this country to consular process — separated from my husband, about to give birth, just starting my family and my career — would have been devastating. It would have derailed our lives completely. I had already accrued unlawful presence and would have needed a 601a waiver . My husband would have been my only qualifying relative, in perfect health and condition with no hardships. This would have been a disaster.
And that’s exactly the point. Think about what consular processing actually means for a family:
👶🏾 Who cares for the children while one parent is abroad?
💸 Loss of income — because while you adjust status inside the U.S., you can work. If you leave, you lose that.
🏠 A two-parent household becomes a one-parent household overnight.
Congress has repeatedly affirmed that the primary policy of our immigration system is family unity. Adjustment of status exists precisely to minimize travel, expense, and time apart. The consular process route is expensive, unpredictable and chaotic.
My family has been able to build a beautiful life in the United States and taken full advantage of all the opportunities because our green card process was not interrupted with consular processing. There are people whom the law already requires must do so.
This isn’t a neutral policy clarification. It is an intentional misreading of the law designed to harm immigrant families — and we have no choice but to push back.
