Government ordered to resume deportation protection program for vulnerable immigrant youth

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McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge issued an order Wednesday requiring the Trump administration to again consider granting protection from deportation to certain vulnerable young immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to again consider granting deportation protection under a 2022 program the agency rescinded in June. The decision will allow the program to continue while the lawsuit brought by plaintiffs in July continues.

Children and youth affected are those who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by a parent and given Special Immigrant Juvenile status through a state court and the federal government.

SIJS, as it's known, was created through congressional bipartisan support in 1990, and though it does not it grant legal status, it lets qualifying young people apply for a visa to become legal permanent residents and obtain a work permit. It can take years for a visa to become available due to annual caps. Under the Biden administration, USCIS could consider shielding designees from deportation while waiting for a visa.

Without the deferred action program, young people do not qualify for a work permit, face deportation and would no longer be eligible to become legal permanent residents if they're returned to their country of origin.

“The crux of the court’s decision is that the government can’t just pull the rug out from under hundreds of thousands of young people like it did without considering how they built their entire lives around the policy that existed,” Stephanie Ellie Norton, an attorney for the plaintiffs working for the National Immigration Project.

USCIS and DHS did not immediately respond to a request for a statement.

Under the judge's orders, applicants who had the protection as well as new applicants will be able to submit applications for consideration of this protection. USCIS will also be required to make decisions on the work permit requests for new applicants and designees with existing deferred action status.

The judge has not ruled on the certification of the class but litigation will resume.