For Immediate Release
June 6, 2025
Contact: media@nipnlg.org
Washington, DC – On June 6, 2025 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy alert announcing its abrupt and devastating decision to eliminate the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Deferred Action policy. Young people with approved SIJS will no longer be considered for deferred action and they will no longer be able to access deferred action based work permits. Further, the policy alert states that young people who already have SIJS deferred action will generally retain it until it expires, unless USCIS exercises its discretion to terminate it. However, they will not be able to renew their deferred action or work permits. The termination of this policy places immigrant children – who were already determined by USCIS to be in need of protection – at risk of labor exploitation and deportation.
SIJS is a humanitarian protection designed by a bipartisan Congress to quickly provide lawful permanent residence status for young people who have survived parental abuse, abandonment and neglect. In recent years, more than 100,000 children and youth have been approved for SIJS, but have been forced to wait years to access the stability and protection SIJS promises due to a technical oversight in how Congress drafted the law.
Since the creation of the SIJS Deferred Action policy in May 2022, immigrant youth who are trapped in a years-long green card backlog have been able to work lawfully, which protects them from labor exploitation and further abuse. They have been able to go to school and progress in their lives without fear of deportation. Without deferred action, SIJS youth will no longer be able to obtain work authorization leaving them to fend for themselves in the unregulated labor market that is rife with trafficking and abuse. They now fear for their safety as the administration ramps up its deportation machine.
“Deferred action provided a level of security to youth like me who have been failed so often by adults like our parents. Taking away deferred action from us is another way adults and the government are failing to protect us”- Sofia*, SIJS youth
“I am a successful student, gaining experience in my field of study through
internships, which would be impossible to do without employment authorization. It would be difficult to pay for tuition, books, and fees without being employed, and my life would be drastically different…All we are trying to do is work hard and contribute… and deferred action has given us the guarantee to do so.” John*, SIJS youth
“Taking away deferred action from SIJS youth leaves me again in a state of not knowing, with everything up in the air, wondering when will they come for me?” Luz*, SIJS youth
“The administration’s decision to terminate the SIJS Deferred Action policy is an unconscionable attempt to fast-track the deportation of immigrant youth who were already promised permanent protection by this country,” said Rachel Davidson, Director of the End SIJS Backlog Coalition, a project of the National Immigration Project. “Instead of honoring that promise, the administration is now putting them at risk of labor exploitation and deportation before they even have a chance to apply for lawful permanent status. All children deserve safety and this action by the Administration is absolutely antithetical to that ideal.”
The End SIJS Backlog Coalition calls on Congress to act now to exempt SIJS youth from the visa caps that are preventing them from accessing permanent protection and that leave them vulnerable to deportation.
*All youth names in this press release are pseudonyms to protect their identities.
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The End SIJS Backlog Coalition, a project of the National Immigration Project, is a national group of lawyers, immigrant youth, child welfare organizations and other stakeholders working together to protect the rights of immigrant children seeking permanent legal protection through SIJS.