Legal Challenges Mobilize Against USCIS Green Card Policy Memo as ~500,000 H-1B and Visa Holders Face Forced Departure

One day after USCIS published its sweeping policy memo eliminating routine adjustment of status for green card applicants, immigration attorneys and advocacy organizations on May 24, 2026 mobilized legal challenges and filed emergency motions to block the policy from taking immediate effect. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) challenged the memo's legal basis, arguing USCIS cannot overturn decades of regulatory practice via an internal memo without the notice-and-comment rulemaking required by the Administrative Procedure Act. The policy, if it takes effect, would require approximately 500,000 legal visa holders — including H-1B tech workers, F-1 students, and holders of temporary work visas — to leave the US and apply at US consulates abroad to complete their green card process. Many applicants with pending I-485 applications filed under the prior rules face particular hardship: they had already paid fees, submitted biometric data, and organized their lives around the domestic processing timeline. Texas state officials signaled support for the Trump administration policy as aligned with the 'immigration enforcement' mandate, while immigration advocates warned of a 'brain drain' from US tech and healthcare sectors if the policy forces out hundreds of thousands of skilled workers. Courts were expected to rule on emergency stays within days.