For fourteen years, a single legal precedent let hundreds of thousands of people leave the United States for a parent's funeral, a family wedding, or a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and come home without jeopardizing their path to a green card. On August 13, 2026, that precedent was overruled. If you have a pending adjustment of status application, DACA, or TPS, and you've ever accrued unlawful presence, the calculus around international travel just changed — and most people affec