Last Updated: Nov. 20, 2025
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Court grants stay of the rescission of the SIJS Deferred Action Policy on November 19, 2025
A.C.R. et al. v. Noem et al., No.1:25-cv-3962, is a proposed nationwide class action filed by nine immigrant youth and two legal services providers in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The lawsuit challenges the federal government’s decision to end the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Deferred Action Policy. The SIJS Deferred Action Policy provided protection from deportation and the ability to apply for work permits to young people who had been approved for SIJS. Congress laid out a clear path to lawful permanent residency for SIJS beneficiaries, but visa backlogs cause years-long delays before they can apply for their green cards.
The lawsuit—brought by the National Immigration Project, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Public Counsel, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and Lowenstein Sandler LLP—seeks to reinstate the SIJS Deferred Action Policy, which has protected approximately 200,000 immigrant youth who have survived parental maltreatment and who a state court has determined should not be returned to their countries of origin. The complaint argues that the government violated the Administrative Procedure Act by ending the policy without proper notice or justification, leaving thousands of immigrant youth in legal limbo and at risk of deportation.
On November 19, 2025, the court issued an order staying the government’s rescission of the 2022 SIJS Deferred Action Policy. The court found that the Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the policy reversal was unlawful for several reasons, including because the government did not consider reliance interests or alternatives to rescinding the policy. The court also ruled that, absent the stay, the Plaintiffs were likely to face irreparable harm because of the heightened risk of removal they would face without the protection of deferred action. The opinion did not grant everything the Plaintiffs requested, as the court deferred a ruling on class certification and chose not to grant relief in the form of a preliminary injunction. However, the court’s decision does provide the main relief sought: an order that blocks the rescission of the SIJS Deferred Action Policy. The decision means that the 2022 SIJS Deferred Action Policy is back in effect and “the government must therefore conduct deferred-action and employment authorization adjudications pursuant to the 2022 Policy Alert.” The court also enjoined the government from removing the Individual Plaintiffs during the pendency of the litigation.