Texas Judge Orders Government to Reinstate Protections for Vulnerable Immigrant Youth

A federal judge in Texas has ordered the Trump administration to reconsider its decision to end deportation protections for young immigrants with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee requires U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to restart the deferred action process that was halted earlier this year. The programme will remain in effect while a lawsuit brought by immigrant advocates proceeds.

SIJS, created in 1990 with bipartisan support, applies to children who have experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Although it does not grant legal status, it allows eligible young people to seek permanent residency. 

Because annual visa numbers are limited, many applicants wait years before a visa becomes available. During the Biden administration, USCIS offered deferred action to SIJS recipients, which provided protection from deportation and access to work permits during those waiting periods. 

That policy was withdrawn in June, leaving many vulnerable to removal and at risk of losing eligibility for permanent residency if sent back to their home countries.

Judge Komitee found that the government failed to consider how SIJS recipients depended on the existing policy before ending it. 

Stephanie Ellie Norton, an attorney with the National Immigration Project representing the plaintiffs, said the case centres on the government’s obligation to assess the impact on young people who had structured their lives around the programme. Under the court order, USCIS must now accept applications from former and new deferred action applicants and process related work permit requests. 

The judge has not yet decided whether the case will move forward as a class action, and the litigation is ongoing. The Department of Homeland Security and USCIS have not released public comments on the decision.