Immigration attorney Liudmila Marcelo warns that USCIS interviews for status adjustment cases under the Cuban Adjustment Act appear to be resuming, including cases involving holders of form I-220A, after a prolonged period of inactivity.
"It seems like a silent uprising from the pause because it had been a while since an interview was seen, and now I've already seen two," Marcelo stated in an interview with journalist Tania Costa.
The attorney detailed that one of these cases corresponds to a person with I-220A and the other with humanitarian parole, mentioned in the USCIS office in Jacksonville, Florida, also with I-220A and pending cases in court, called for interviews for residency through Cuban adjustment.
"They are citing interviews, the interviews are being conducted, so it seems there is something there," Marcelo emphasized.
This message arrives at a time of great uncertainty for the Cuban immigrant community, marked by the effects of the USCIS memorandum PM-602-0199, issued on May 21, 2026, which instructed officials to treat adjustment of status within the United States as an "extraordinary" form of immigration relief.
In practice, the memorandum pushed many applicants—especially those who entered with temporary tourist, student, or work visas and then married or have a child over 21 who is a U.S. citizen—toward the consular process in their countries of origin.
Marcelo explained that the measure does not only affect immigrants. "We are not just affecting immigrants. Here there are American citizens by birth... who have wives, who have children, who have a girlfriend or whatever, and they will be affected by this."
Approximately two days after the release of the memorandum, USCIS issued a clarifying note stating that its intention was to remind officials when to apply the consular process, not to eliminate the adjustment of status.
However, Marcelo points out that in practice, little has changed. "They still ask the same questions: Why did you stay longer? Why didn't you wait to come in a legal way with an immigrant visa instead of a non-immigrant visa? What is stopping you from going to complete your consular process?"
According to the lawyer, those in this situation should attend their interviews with enhanced preparation. "They need to prove even more that they are good people and that they deserve exceptional treatment," she stated, listing key elements such as paying taxes, family ties with citizens, stable employment, and school enrollment.
Regarding the USCIS clarification note, Marcelo was straightforward: "They have wanted to ease tensions."
The I-220A is a Supervision Order issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that was widely used for Cubans who arrived during the migratory wave of 2022-2023. Its recognition as parole — a requirement to qualify for the Cuban Adjustment Act — is still subject to litigation, as the Board of Immigration Appeals has not formally recognized it as such.
The lawyer had predicted on April 29 that the pause in the green card process would end between May and mid-June of 2026, a forecast that recent interview cases seem to begin confirming.
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