The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has issued recent practice alerts relating to international travel of immigrants who in the past, have typically returned to the U.S. without incident. In particular, Conditional Residents (CR) or Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), that have been issued a “Notice to Appear” before the Immigration Court should curtail international travel entirely while their cases are pending, as there has been a shift in Custom and Border Protection (CBP) policies in admitting returning residents who are in removal proceedings. This is the case even when the CR or LPR in possession of a recently issued “I-551” stamp.
In addition, there have been recent reports of persons issued valid “Advance Parole” or “512 documents” being subjected to extensively questioning or even being refused admission to the United States by CBP officers in recent weeks. Though Advance Parole documents are not officially affected by the President’s “Securing Our Borders” Executive Order which terminated unrelated humanitarian parole programs, extra precautions should be taken prior to departing the U.S. if travel is necessary.
Notably, travel to areas that are often considered “domestic,” such as Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or even Alaska and Hawaii should be treated as international destinations, due to the potential for CBP encounters in these locations. Considering CBPs recent enhanced scrutiny of those returning to the U.S., the decision to leave the United States temporarily in any nonimmigrant status, with a parole document, or as a CR or LPR in removal proceedings should not be made without first consulting with a trusted immigration attorney.
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