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COMBINED MANUAL

ISSUE DATE 09/2020

NON-CITIZENS - LAWFULLY RESIDING PEOPLE

0011.03.24

Under certain circumstances within US immigration law, people are permitted to enter and/or remain in the United States with a temporary, time-limited, or other discretionary classification, or while they have an application pending for a more permanent status. People in these circumstances are considered lawfully residing. Review their status to be sure it has not expired or changed.

● PAROLE: The United States Attorney General has authority to parole non-citizens into the United States when it is in the public interest or for humanitarian reasons. Parole is usually granted for a specific time period, but in some instances it may be indefinite. Humanitarian parole is usually for the purpose of medical treatment that is not available in a non-citizen’s home country. Parole may also be used while other applications are pending, such as asylum applications. Parole is often used for people from refugee-producing countries when they do not qualify as refugees but have family members already in the United States.

NOTE: Parolees from Cuba and Haiti are considered Cuban/Haitian Entrants. Determine program eligibility for Cuban/Haitian entrants the same as eligibility is determined for persons with refugee status. Do not treat Cuban or Haitian entrants as parolees. See 0011.03.18 (Non-Citizens – People Fleeing Persecution).

● LAWFUL TEMPORARY RESIDENT (LTR): Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, certain undocumented non-citizens were allowed to legalize their status, first to Lawful Temporary Resident (LTR), and then to Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). There is no current provision to allow undocumented non-citizens to apply for legalization to LTR. A small number of LTRs were unable to adjust to LPR, mostly because of the English language and civics testing requirements.

● FAMILY UNITY: A program resulting from problems that arose due to the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, which allowed the spouses and children of people who legalized their status, to remain in the United States. Most Family Unity cases should be pending adjustment to LPR and the numbers should be decreasing.

● TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS): Certain countries may be designated as temporarily unsafe to return to because of armed conflict or natural disaster. Residents of those countries who are present in the United States at that time may apply for TPS. TPS is granted for a specified time (6 to 18 months). At the end of the specified time period, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will conduct a review to determine if it is safe for the people to return or if TPS should be extended.

● PEOPLE WITH PENDING IMMIGRATION STATUS: Under certain circumstances a person may be considered to be lawfully residing in the United States while his or her application is still being processed. This would specifically include:

- The spouse or child of a United States citizen whose visa petition has been approved and who has a pending application for adjustment of status to LPR.

- An applicant for asylum or withholding of removal.

● OTHER DISCRETIONARY CLASSIFICATIONS: There are several immigration classifications used to permit non-citizens to remain in the United States for humanitarian or other public policy reasons. These classifications include:

- Deferred Enforced Departure (DED).

- Deferred Action, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

- Voluntary departure.

- Stay of deportation.

Inform people who ask about the public charge rule to contact a Legal Aid office at 1-800-292-4150 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday, Legal Services Corporation, or a private immigration attorney. See 0011.03.17 (Non-Citizens – Public Charge).

MFIP, DWP: Lawfully residing non-citizens paroled for a period of 1 year or more may be eligible for federally-funded cash assistance, but NOT