FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2025
Media Contact: Ivette Delgado
Vice President, Infinite Global
Email: ivette.delgado@infiniteglobal.com
More than 150,000 vulnerable young people stuck in a visa backlog now face potential deportation and will be denied the ability to apply for work authorization
(NEW YORK) July 17, 2025 – Today, immigrant youth and legal service providers filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government for abruptly terminating a policy that protected immigrant children and youth who fled their home countries due to parental neglect, abuse, and other mistreatment. The lawsuit seeks to reinstate their protections and stop the government from causing further harm to these young people who now face renewed fear and instability.
The plaintiffs – immigrant youth, Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN-NY), and Centro Legal de la Raza – are represented by the National Immigration Project, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Public Counsel, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and Lowenstein Sandler LLP.
Created by Congress in 1990, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) provides a pathway to permanent protection for immigrant children and youth who have been abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent. But since 2016, a growing visa backlog has left these youth in legal limbo, unable to apply for permanent residence. This has put dreams of college on hold, left children aging out of foster care at risk of homelessness, and stranded youth without access to safe work options and in fear of deportation.
In 2022, USCIS implemented the now-terminated SIJS Deferred Action Policy to support and protect SIJS-approved youth who were waiting for a visa to become available. Deferred Action protected these youth from deportation and allowed them to apply for a work permit – a document that for many is the sole available form of government identification and in turn enables them to obtain Social Security cards, driver’s licenses, medical treatment, health insurance, higher education, bank accounts, and, for older youth, legal and safe employment opportunities. While the Policy was in effect, the deferred action approval rate was over 99%. But now, without the protection of SIJS Deferred Action, these youth again face the risk of deportation and labor exploitation.
In April 2025, amid a wave of policy changes that eliminated immigration protections, expanded deportation, and targeted immigrant children, the government quietly and without notification reversed the SIJS Deferred Action Policy. USCIS stopped adjudicating deferred action for immigrant children and youth who had been granted SIJS. And then in June 2025, USCIS issued a policy alert officially eliminating the SIJS Deferred Action Policy, stating that the agency will no longer grant deferred action to SIJS youth, and will not allow SIJS youth who currently have deferred action to renew it.
News of the policy change in April of this year also prompted several members of Congress, led by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), to voice their concerns in a letter sent to USCIS and DHS requesting further information on the agencies’ handling of SIJS cases and deferred action determinations.
“This is a case about broken promises with devastating consequences,” said Rachel Davidson, Counsel to the Plaintiffs and Proposed Class, National Immigration Project. “State courts and the federal government have already found that it is not safe for these young people to return to their countries of origin, but their protection is now being callously stripped away. These young people have survived abuse, abandonment, and neglect only to be retraumatized now by the constant threat of detention and deportation from the same agencies that vowed to keep them safe.”
“The government’s decision to discontinue SIJS deferred action has already hurt me and is going to hurt me in the future,” said A.C.R, impacted youth and named Plaintiff. “My dream is to become an astronaut. Without the protection of deferred action, I won’t be able to attend school and pursue my dreams, and I’ll live in constant fear of deportation. I felt that I was finally in a safe environment, but if I had to return to [Guatemala], I would be very afraid of the violence and abuse from my mother and father.”
Plaintiffs also claim that the Policy’s termination impedes the work of organizations representing SIJS beneficiaries in their immigration cases, leaving a greater number of young people without access to adequate legal representation and other programs aiding SIJS youth.
"Every child deserves fundamental protections as they navigate immigration processes,” said Melanie Creps, Executive Director, Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN-NY). “There is an overwhelming need for more effective guidance and support for the thousands of SIJS beneficiaries who are navigating this process, and CARECEN's capacity to help is already stretched thin. Recent policy changes that target the most vulnerable youth are only making this work harder, stripping rights from children and hindering our ability to support our clients."
The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and for the court to reinstate the 2022 SIJS Deferred Action Policy. The case is A.C.R v. Noem, No. 125-cv-3962 filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
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About the National Immigration Project
The National Immigration Project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who believe that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those most impacted by the immigration and criminal systems are uplifted and supported. Learn more at nipnlg.org. National Immigration Project is the organization home of the End SIJS Backlog Coalition, national group of impacted immigrant youth and allied advocates working together to end the SIJS backlog and its harms.
About Kids in Need of Defense
Through strategic partnerships, KIND provides pro bono legal representation and psychosocial services for forcibly displaced children across the United States, and we work to replicate this same model abroad. We partner with governments, international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector to protect unaccompanied and separated children through training, technical assistance, and capacity strengthening. Since its inception, KIND has received referrals for tens of thousands of cases, children protected through direct legal assistance and by leveraging the pro bono legal resources provided by hundreds of law firm, corporate, law school, and bar association partners.
About Public Counsel
Public Counsel is a nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to advancing civil rights and racial and economic justice, as well as to amplifying the power of our clients through comprehensive legal advocacy. Founded on and strengthened by a pro bono legal service model, its staff and volunteers seek justice through direct legal services, promote healthy and resilient communities through education and outreach, and support community-led efforts to transform unjust systems through litigation and policy advocacy in and beyond Los Angeles.
About the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest at Lowenstein Sandler LLP
From its founding, Lowenstein Sandler has been committed to advancing the public interest and serving communities in need. The Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest embodies this commitment, directing the firm’s strong pro bono program and other forms of civic and philanthropic engagement. Through these efforts, the center addresses significant social problems and offers meaningful assistance to low-income and other marginalized people, along with the organizations that advocate for and support them. This work engages the full range of the firm’s talents and reflects the core values that imbue all of the firm’s efforts: to perform work of the highest quality in a manner that maximizes results for our clients and causes.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 600 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm is widely recognized as a national pro bono leader and has a long record of effective advocacy on behalf of immigrant communities. Learn more at https://www.dwt.com/about/pro-bono.