Comment by anigbrowl
2 hours ago
A misrepresentation. 'Adjustment of status' is not 'if the government really likes you', it's a process that's available by rule. And the federal rulemaking process, as you are fully aware, involves publication in the federal register, solicitation and and collation of public comment, and republication of teh final rule, again, in the federal register.
Incidentally, we don't have an attorney general at present, only an acting one (Trump's former personal lawyer), and I question the standing of an unconfirmed federal officer to alter existing rules, never mind to bypass the federal rulemaking process entirely.
> misrepresentation. 'Adjustment of status' is not 'if the government really likes you', it's a process that's available by rule
I’m using a colloquialism to convey how much latitude the administration has under the wording of statue. It says that the “status of an alien who was inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States … may be adjusted by the Attorney General, in his discretion and under such regulations as he may prescribe…”
When the statute says an officer “may … in his discretion” do something, that’s Congress giving very broad latitude to the executive to make case by case determinations.
The word “discretion” has a special meaning under the APA. The APA says that courts can’t review agency actions that are “committed to agency discretion by law.” The Supreme Court has read that carve out narrowly (because otherwise I think you have serious due process problems). But Congress using the word “discretion” here at the very least conveys how much latitude Congress intended to give the administration with respect to adjustment of status.