ICE agents have reportedly detained several spouses of U.S. citizens during routine green card interviews in cities including San Diego, New York City, Cleveland and Utah. Attorneys call the practice an unprecedented enforcement shift because immediate relatives traditionally may adjust status despite visa overstays. Advocates warn detentions could push eligible applicants into removal proceedings, worsen immigration court backlogs and raise enforcement-cost concerns. USCIS and ICE say arrests can occur for outstanding warrants, removal orders or other violations.
Spouses Of U.S. Citizens Detained During Green Card Interviews Raise Alarm Over Enforcement Shift
Green card applicants married to U.S. citizens face new uncertainty amid arrests
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have reportedly detained multiple spouses of U.S. citizens during what were expected to be routine green card interviews, prompting alarm among immigration attorneys and advocates. Known incidents have been reported in San Diego, New York City, Cleveland and Utah, and attorneys describe the practice as a sharp departure from long-standing norms.
What Happened
Several dozen detentions have been reported in San Diego alone, with additional cases documented in other jurisdictions. In these incidents, applicants—many of whom attorneys say were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and had no criminal histories—were taken into custody during interviews at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices after officers or ICE identified outstanding issues such as visa overstays or prior removal orders.
Who Is Affected
Reported detainees include a British mother with an infant, a Ukrainian refugee, the spouse of a Navy veteran and a German man nearing his first wedding anniversary. Attorneys say all four had overstayed visas at some point but remained, by law and practice, eligible to apply for green cards as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
Legal Context
Immigration lawyers stress that U.S. law has long permitted immediate relatives—spouses, parents and minor children of U.S. citizens—to apply for adjustment of status even if they fell out of legal status while waiting for adjudication. Julia Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institute explained that this "carve-out" was intended to allow immediate relatives to pursue lawful status despite technical periods out of status during processing.
"This was or is the legal path for them to adjust their status. This is going about doing things 'the right way,'" Gelatt said.
Officials' Statements
USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser told NBC News that arrests at agency offices "may occur if individuals are identified as having outstanding warrants; being subject to court-issued removal orders; or having committed fraud, crimes, or other violations of immigration law while in the United States." ICE said it conducts "targeted operations" that prioritize national security and public safety and that individuals out of status at federal sites may face arrest and removal in accordance with law.
Examples From the Field
Jan Joseph Bejar, an immigration attorney in San Diego, described a case in which a Mexican man who arrived in the United States as a child was detained two days before Thanksgiving during a USCIS interview. Bejar says the officer indicated initial approval of the petition before ICE agents took the applicant into custody. The British applicant in the reported cases was later released and ultimately had her green card approved; other cases remain in various stages of detention or court proceedings.
Courtney Koski of the Costas Law Firm in Cleveland recounted a case in which a woman with no criminal history was detained at a spousal petition interview. Koski said the woman carried a removal order tied to a prior court scheduling error she attributes to the government, and Koski has moved to reopen the proceeding after the spousal petition received approval.
Consequences And Concerns
Advocates warn that detaining applicants at USCIS offices could push otherwise eligible green card applicants into immigration court, exacerbating already significant backlogs and increasing taxpayer costs. Shev Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association questioned the enforcement priorities, arguing that detention resources should focus on public-safety threats rather than applicants following the statutory process.
What To Watch
Attorneys say the full scope of the practice is unclear and difficult to quantify, but they note that USCIS data show hundreds of thousands of people are at various stages of the green card process. Legal advocates are monitoring whether these detentions remain localized or spread nationally and are urging applicants to consult experienced immigration counsel if called to an interview.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com and has been edited for clarity and structure.
