SAIPAN – Independent candidate for U.S. House delegate Galvin Sablan Deleon Guerrero on Sunday released a statement criticizing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy memorandum issued Friday that directs officers to apply heightened discretionary scrutiny to in-country adjustment of status applications.
“I am deeply saddened and disappointed by the recent USCIS decision to restrict adjustment of status opportunities for individuals lawfully residing and working in the CNMI,” Deleon Guerrero said.
“For years, workers and families have relied on longstanding USCIS practices that provided lawful pathways to adjust their status while contributing to our economy and community. Abruptly changing those rules now, after multiple presidential administrations upheld these practices, is not only unfair, it is harmful.”
Deleon Guerrero said the policy “threatens to separate families, including households with U.S. citizen children, while creating fear and uncertainty for long-term residents who have followed the law, paid taxes, and helped sustain our islands through difficult times.”
He framed the issue in the context of broader CNMI challenges, citing population decline, labor shortages, economic stagnation, and ongoing Super Typhoon Sinlaku recovery.
“At a time when the CNMI is already facing population decline, labor shortages, economic stagnation, and ongoing recovery challenges, the federal government should be helping stabilize our community, not implementing policies that may drive more people away,” he said.
“Leadership means fighting for your people and ensuring Washington understands the unique realities facing the CNMI,” Deleon Guerrero said. “If elected to Congress, I will fight for policies that recognize the CNMI’s unique circumstances and protect families who have built their lives here lawfully and in good faith. I will not be quiet about that.”
The USCIS memorandum, designated PM-602-0199 and titled “Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative Grace,” took effect Friday and applies to all pending and new Form I-485 applications nationwide, including in the CNMI. The memorandum does not change the eligibility criteria of Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, but directs USCIS officers to weigh discretionary factors more actively and treat adjustment of status as an “extraordinary” form of relief rather than an entitlement. Dual-intent visa categories such as H-1B and L-1 remain compatible with adjusting status, and statutory protections for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, asylum and refugee adjusters, and Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners remain intact.
