Immigration attorneys in the United States are reporting an increase in the number of green card holders, including Indian nationals, being subjected to secondary inspection and, in some cases, overnight detention at airports by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Some individuals have also been pressured to voluntarily surrender their green cards.
Elderly Indian green card holders who spend winter months in India and reside with their children in the US are reportedly more vulnerable to such scrutiny. Immigration attorneys advise against surrendering green cards, emphasising that green card holders have the right to be heard by an immigration judge.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a lawful permanent resident (LPR) who is absent from the US for over 180 days is treated as seeking ‘re-admission’ and is subject to grounds of inadmissibility. Although abandonment of green card status typically arises when an individual has been outside the US for more than 365 days, shorter stays, such as winter visits to India, are increasingly being scrutinised.
Ashwin Sharma, an immigration attorney based in Florida, stated, “I have personally handled cases recently where the CBP has targeted elderly Indian green card holders, particularly grandparents who happen to have spent a bit longer outside the US, and pressured them to sign Form I-407 to ‘voluntarily’ surrender their lawful permanent resident status (green card). And the moment they have tried to push back, they have been met with threats of detention or ‘removal’ by the CBP officers who have been emboldened by Trump to see themselves as judge, jury, and executioner.”
Kripa Upadhyay, a Seattle-based immigration attorney, highlighted the significance of not surrendering the green card.
“Generally, an individual’s green card cannot be revoked by the border unless the person ‘voluntarily’ surrenders (by signing Form I-407). If a green card holder has spent more than 365 days out of the US they are deemed to have ‘abandoned’ their residence. Even if this is the allegation, the green card holder has the right to challenge this in court but they lose this right if they ‘voluntarily’ surrender at the airport.”
Snehal Batra, managing attorney at NPZ Law Group, noted, “Only an immigration judge can take away a green card, so individuals should not sign this form. Unfortunately, people do not realise this because they are afraid, confused or do not understand what they are signing due to language barriers. This is a particular problem for our elderly green card holders who spend winter months in India and may not have sufficient evidence to prove maintenance of permanent resident status. Through documentation such as ownership of property, tax returns and employment one can overcome a presumption of abandonment.”
Batra referred to a recent case where an individual faced secondary inspection due to frequent travel to India. Though the individual never spent more than 180 days outside the US, CBP officers noted the pattern and warned that green card status could be at risk if the individual was not residing in the US permanently.
“He was lucky this time and was admitted into the country but warned by CBP to give up his green card if he was not living in the US on a permanent basis,” she said.
Rajiv S Khanna, an Arlington-based immigration attorney, cautioned, “One of the common scenarios that I have provided consultations on is when green card holders are not living in the US. They may visit every few months and consider that to be sufficient. That is legally incorrect. Maintaining a green card requires establishing and maintaining a permanent home in the US. Anything short of that can be grounds for ‘lifting the green card’ for abandonment.”
Jesse Bless, another immigration attorney, added, “Lawful permanent residents who are outside the US for more than a year (without a re-entry permit) are getting a notice to appear in removal proceedings.”
Greg Siskin, co-founder of Siskin Susser, an immigration law firm, recalled, “During the previous Trump administration, there were sky marshals who were passing forms out on planes asking people to surrender their green cards and people were calling and texting from the planes asking what to do. People need to not surrender their cards. But they must be prepared to sit for a while in secondary inspection. It is possible a CBP officer could even detain a person overnight. But a person is entitled to a hearing in front of a judge and most judges are not going to be happy about these cases going in front of them so I suspect CBP will cave in if a person is adamant about not surrendering.”
Attorneys strongly advise green card holders to be aware of their rights and avoid surrendering their status under pressure at the port of entry.
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