The federal government can now deport abandoned, abused and neglected children even if they have been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile status.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the change June 6, the same day it went into effect. The action is designed to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order launching his ongoing mass deportation policy.
“This guidance confirms that USCIS will no longer consider granting deferred action on a case-by-case basis to aliens classified as SIJs who are ineligible to apply for adjustment of status solely due to unavailable immigrant visas,” the federal announcement said.
The change reverses the 2022 Biden-era policy of granting automatic deferrals and work authorizations to juveniles and to immigrants granted special statuses as widows or the Amerasian children of U.S. citizens, USCIS explained.
“While Congress likely did not envision that SIJ petitioners would have to wait years before a visa became available, Congress also did not expressly permit deferred action and related employment authorization for this population,” the agency said. “Therefore, USCIS has determined that this update is necessary to more closely align agency policies and procedures with statutory requirements and authorities.”
But Kids in Need of Defense said the decision will expose abused, abandoned and neglected immigrant children to heightened risk by sending them to home countries to face greater dangers.
“This protection is essential because of protracted delays in the visa issuance process, delays that put paperwork ahead of protection,” the group explained. “Deferred action also safeguarded these young people from exploitation and other harm by providing identity documentation and work authorization.”
Jennifer Podkul
Withdrawing deferred action from thousands of young immigrants will make them more vulnerable to human traffickers and other forms of exploitation, said Jennifer Podkul, chief of global policy for KIND.
“Children whom the U.S. government has recognized as survivors of parental abuse, abandonment and neglect could be deported despite the determination by a state court with child protection expertise that it is not in the child’s best interests to return to their home country,” she said. “This is yet another example of the administration undermining the role of our nation’s judicial system. Without question, the administration’s action makes children less safe and far more vulnerable to harm.”
But the president’s executive order makes no allowances for protecting children from trafficking — despite his campaign promise to make the issue a top priority if re-elected. On the contrary, Trump’s Jan. 20 order directed that “any alien” in the nation without proper documentation must be removed.