In a significant policy shift, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will no longer grant deferred action automatically to individuals who are granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). This change marks a departure from the previous practice and has major implications for thousands of vulnerable children across the country.
What Is SIJS?
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is an immigration classification available to certain immigrant children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by one or both parents. These children must first be determined by a state juvenile court to be in need of protection and that it is not in their best interest to return to their country of origin. After this finding, USCIS can grant SIJS—recognizing the child’s need for humanitarian protection and offering a pathway to lawful permanent residency. However, due to visa backlogs, SIJS recipients must wait years before they can apply for a green card.
What Is Deferred Action?
Deferred action is a form of prosecutorial discretion that protects a person from deportation for a certain period of time. While it does not provide legal status, it offers protection and eligibility for a work permit and social security number. It provides a vulnerable child with a measure of stability while awaiting lawful permanent residency.
What Has Changed?
USCIS has quietly ended the practice of automatically granting deferred action to SIJS recipients. Now, individuals with approved SIJS petitions must make separate, individual requests for deferred action. Reportedly, these requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the agency, with no guarantee of approval and no understanding of what more must be proven beyond their SIJS status. This policy change was implemented without a formal public announcement or stakeholder engagement, catching many advocates and legal service providers off guard.
The failure to grant deferred action to SIJS recipients does more than create legal limbo—it actively punishes children who have already been recognized by both state courts and the federal government as requiring special protection.
These are children who:
- Have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by one or both parents
- Have been found by a judge to be unable to safely reunite with their family of origin
- Cannot be safely returned to their country of origin due to the risk of harm or lack of care
By denying them deferred action, the government is choosing to place these children at risk of deportation—despite their legal recognition as vulnerable and in need of protection. This policy undermines the core humanitarian purpose of the SIJS program and fails to honor the findings of the very courts tasked with protecting children.
Why Does It Matter?
Without deferred action:
- SIJS recipients may be deported before they are eligible to apply for permanent residency
- They lose access to work authorization, making it harder to support themselves or continue education
- They face prolonged insecurity, contradicting the state and federal determination that they need stability and protection
What Can Be Done?
Legal advocates are calling on USCIS to reverse this harmful policy and restore automatic deferred action for SIJS recipients. In the meantime, affected youth are encouraged to seek legal assistance to explore individual requests for deferred action or other forms of relief.
The SIJS program exists to protect immigrant children from abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Stripping away the promise of deferred action betrays that mission and exposes young people—already recognized by law as needing protection—to unnecessary risk.
As the immigration landscape continues to shift, it is critical for lawmakers, advocates, and communities to reaffirm their commitment to protecting vulnerable youth and ensuring the SIJS program lives up to its intended purpose.