Transcript of the above video: 

I don't really want to be hyperbolic in this video. I went ahead and titled this video what I titled it, because as we'll get to, the headline from, I think it's the New York Times, you'll see why I did it. Again I don't want to engage in hyperbole; I don't want to freak people out. Do I think the vast majority of K-1 Visas, so these are folks that are fiancés of US citizens, going to the United States, they've gotten married, now they're now going through what is called the Adjustment of Status process; do I think that these folks are all going to wind up in handcuffs? No, I don't and I will explain why. But it is in the news, and it is something to be concerned about. 

Look, this Administration is clamping down. However you want to measure it, however you want to look at it, this Administration in the United States with regard to US Immigration - both legal and illegal - which I have no problem on the illegal side; on the legal side, look I don't know what the point is of putting people through all of this, but this is where we're at. 

So I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from The New York Times, newyorktimes.com, the article is titled: Green Card interviews end in handcuffs for spouses of US citizens. Quoting directly: "In every case, agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the applicants that they had overstayed Tourist or Business Visas." So I am going to get into that in a video I made contemporaneously with this one but suffice it to say for purposes of this video, that doesn't apply. A lot of this analysis isn't going to apply because it pertains to people that went to the United States in a different type of visa, and are trying to what's actually called change status, not adjust status, and they are getting called out on having come in on one intent and changing over. Quoting further: "An arrest warrant, reviewed by the New York Times, states that "there is probable cause to believe" that the named spouse is "removable from the United States." "Apprehensions at US Citizenship and Immigration Services 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," said Matthew J. Tragesser, an Agency spokesman, noting that the arrests were typically carried out by ICE."  

So again, to go back to just K-1 Visa holders. You didn't enter on a Visa that was anything other than what you claimed to be entering for; to be married to your American citizen counterpart. Meanwhile, I don't think you're going to have to worry if you have no outstanding warrants and you're not subject to removal orders - you haven't been ordered deported; you haven't committed fraud, crimes, or other violations of Immigration Law while in the US. If you haven't done any of these things, don't worry greatly about out being handcuffed if you will in your Adjustment of Status interview. Quoting further: "But the couples and their lawyers said they had followed the required steps: They had submitted extensive paperwork and paid fees." Again to change status, not to adjust status. Those who came in in Fiancé Visa status, everybody knows where they stand; you have got to understand the difference there. "The foreign spouses had been fingerprinted and passed medical exams. None had criminal records. None had entered the country illegally." - Okay, now that is the crux of all of this. I get to this in another video made contemporaneously with this one on Tourist Visas, but yeah, look maybe they didn't enter Illegally, but that's what this Administration is starting to look at. And again they're looking at “oh you came in on a tourist visa and then you married somebody” - did you have that intent when you came in? Again, none of these issues come up with regard to those who are going in on a proper bona fide Fiancé Visa, and actually did get married, fulfilled the terms of their travel document, sought Adjustment of Status, and are in status pending adjustment. So again, all this hyperbole that's out there, for the most part it's not going to pertain to bona fide couples. Quoting further: "They had already been granted employment authorization. Green Card applicants' temporary visas often lapse while their "Adjustment-of-Status" proceeds over several months or longer." Yes, and in the case of the K-1 Visa, it doesn't lapse. Basically, you have 90 days of lawful status on the Visa itself. If you don't get married and you leave before the 90 days, you're not in overstay. If you get married and file for Adjustment of Status, you're considered in status, your sort of duration of status if you will, pending the outcome of the adjudication regarding the Adjustment of Status. 

Now one thing I didn't like about this article is New York Times makes it sound like, "oh we went through the medical exams, and we had fingerprints taken". That's not the adjudication. It is Immigration's job to determine whether or not folks are in the country legally and have complied with American Immigration Laws. In the cases that involve folks that have used Tourist Visas to go in and then are seeking to marry somebody and keep their status in the United States, hey, that's not how the system was designed. Now I know there were laws, I think in the '80s and some things, where they made that easier effectively, but that's not how the system is set up. If you meet abroad, if you meet somebody abroad, the proper visa is the K-1 Fiancé Visa. That's why you are not hearing about those people per se having issues. Quoting further: "An Immigration Statute passed by Congress in '86 allows a spouse who entered the country lawfully to be eligible for a Green Card through marriage, even if the person's visa has expired." Yeah, that's what the Trump Administration is coming after, whether or not you entered lawfully. If you came in on a Tourist Visa and you get married 3 weeks after you arrive and then file for a Green Card, it's going to raise the inference that you intended, well you basically, what would be called by US Customs and Border Protection "an intending immigrant without documentation". You had a Tourist Visa, but you actually had immigrant intent which was illegal; it can be deemed to be immigration fraud at the time of entry. I get into that in another video I made contemporaneously with this one. Again, K-1 Visa holders don't have to worry about this because their intentions are clear from the outset. Quoting further: "While Federal Law does not prohibit spouses with expired visas from being detained and placed in deportation proceedings, in the past they have rarely been detained while applying for Green Cards. The Trump Administration is carrying out such detentions without having announced any change in policy." Well, they don't need to announce it. There is a change in policy; they're implementing a change in policy. Now again, "Federal Law does not prohibit spouses with expired visas from being detained." Yeah, in the past, the Executive just took the position, we don't care about that. You could argue they acted sort of negligently or neglectfully toward their duties, especially under the Take Care clause of the Constitution. That said, whatever, that was their prerogative, and they exercised it accordingly. This Administration is taking a different tact, and again, I get into that in a video I made contemporaneously with this one. 

That said, the thing to take away from this video, where your intentions are clear, you're going into the United States with a Fiancé Visa, and then you do in fact get married and you do in fact seek Adjustment of Status, I don't think folks that are going through that process are going to see these kind of issues involving the intentions that they had with the Visa that they used to get into the United States to subsequently marry and seek a Green Card therein.