Conditional Parole

Conditional parole is also known as release from custody. This is a separate and distinct process from parole and does not meet the “inspected and paroled” requirement for adjustment eligibility.

Evidence of Parole

Evidence of parole includes:

• A parole stamp on an advance parole document;
• A parole stamp in a passport; or
• An Arrival/Departure Record (Form I-94) endorsed with a parole stamp.

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Parole

INA § 245(h) states “a special immigrant described in section 1101(a)(27)(J) of this title…such an immigrant shall be deemed, for purposes of subsection (a) [adjustment of status], to have been paroled into the United States.”

The Regulations at 8 C.F.R. § 1245.1(a) goes farther, noting that regardless of how they entered the United States, a young person designated a special immigrant juvenile has been paroled: such a person is “deemed, for the purpose of applying the adjustment of status provisions of section 245(a) of the Act, to have been paroled into the United States, regardless of the actual method of entry into the United States” (emphasis added).

A Respondent cannot be found inadmissible or removable for being present in the United States without having been paroled when, under the law, he has been deemed to have been paroled. So this would serve as grounds for a motion to terminate removal proceedings if the the respondent is being charged only as inadmissible INA § 212(a)(6)(A)(i).

INA §245(h)

(h) Application with respect to special immigrants

In applying this section to a special immigrant described in section 1101(a)(27)(J) of this title-

(1) such an immigrant shall be deemed, for purposes of subsection (a), to have been paroled into the United States; and

(2) in determining the alien’s admissibility as an immigrant-

(A) paragraphs (4), (5)(A), (6)(A), (6)(C), (6)(D), (7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 1182(a) of this title shall not apply; and

(B) the Attorney General may waive other paragraphs of section 1182(a) of this title (other than paragraphs (2)(A), (2)(B), (2)(C) (except for so much of such paragraph as related to a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana), (3)(A), (3)(B), (3)(C), and (3)(E)) in the case of individual aliens for humanitarian purposes, family unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest.

INA § 245(h) is clear and unambiguous, as “a special immigrant described in section 1101(a)(27)(J) of this title…such an immigrant shall be deemed, for purposes of subsection (a) [adjustment of status], to have been paroled into the United States.” The Regulations at 8 C.F.R. § 1245.1(a) goes farther, noting that regardless of how they entered the United States, a young person designated a special immigrant juvenile has been paroled: such a person is “deemed, for the purpose of applying the adjustment of status provisions of section 245(a) of the Act, to have been paroled into the United States, regardless of the actual method of entry into the United States” (emphasis added). The Respondent cannot be found inadmissible or removable for being present in the United States without having been paroled when, under the law, he has been deemed to have been paroled.

8 USC § 1101(a)(27)(J)

(J) an immigrant who is present in the United States—

**(i)**who has been declared dependent on a juvenile court located in the United States or whom such a court has legally committed to, or placed under the custody of, an agency or department of a State, or an individual or entity appointed by a State or juvenile court located in the United States, and whose reunification with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under State law;

**(ii)**for whom it has been determined in administrative or judicial proceedings that it would not be in the alien’s best interest to be returned to the alien’s or parent’s previous country of nationality or country of last habitual residence; and

(iii) in whose case the Secretary of Homeland Security consents to the grant of special immigrant juvenile status, except that—

**(I)**no juvenile court has jurisdiction to determine the custody status or placement of an alien in the custody of the Secretary of Health and Human Services unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services specifically consents to such jurisdiction; and

**(II)**no natural parent or prior adoptive parent of any alien provided special immigrant status under this subparagraph shall thereafter, by virtue of such parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under this chapter;

When is Parole NOT Parole for Purposes of Adjustment of Status?

See **Matter of Olty CABRERA-FERNANDEZ, 28 I&N Dec. 747 (BIA 2023);**

MATTER OF CABRERA FERNANDEZ (1) Release on conditional parole under section 236(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a)(2)(B) (2018), is legally distinct from release on humanitarian parole under section 212(d)(5)(A) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) (2018). Matter of Castillo-Padilla, 25 I&N Dec. 257, 258–63 (BIA 2010), followed.

(2) Applicants for admission who are released on conditional parole rather than humanitarian parole have not been “inspected and admitted or paroled,” and accordingly are not eligible for adjustment of status under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of November 2, 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-732, 80 Stat. 1161, as amended.