Overview
This webinar is designed to offer reliable information surrounding lawful pathways to legal status in the US. Recent developments have left people more confused than ever about how a person obtains a green card and becomes a US citizen. There are pathways to legal status through employment, family reunification, humanitarian protection, and more, but many people who desire to immigrate or adjust to lawful status simply do not qualify.
As a response to humanitarian crises around the globe, the Biden administration has come to rely on parole, a form of temporary admission, as a short-term solution to provide refuge in the US. While the administration routinely refers to these new parole programs as alternate legal pathways, parole itself is not a genuine alternative to permanent legal status—paroled individuals must qualify for some other more permanent benefit to remain lawfully in the US long term. The question remains, why are millions of people who have lived in the US for decades still unable to obtain permanent legal status? Where do parolees fit into the current immigration framework? How have procedures for asylum-seekers changed at the border after the end of Title 42 on May 11, 2023? Join us as our panel of experts cuts through this confusion, busting myths about lawful and unauthorized immigration, untangling the often-circuitous routes to legal status, and answering your questions about the ongoing challenges for increasing opportunities for legal status.
Speakers
- Kevin A. Gregg – Partner, Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A.
- César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández – Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
- Hiroshi Motomura – Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law; Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law
- Laura Flores-Bachman (Moderator)– Director of Legal Programs and Operations, ABA Commission on Immigration
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