Trump Administration Faces Legal Challenge from Youthful Migrants over Alterations to SIJS Scheme
A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in July 2025, challenging the Trump administration's efforts to remove immigrant youths with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) from the United States. The lawsuit aims to protect these vulnerable children who have suffered abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and are now being retraumatized by the constant threat of detention and deportation.
The SIJS provision, authorized by Congress in 1990 as part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows immigrant minors who were abused, abandoned, or neglected in their home countries to apply for protection against deportation. The provision also makes these immigrant minors eligible to receive work permits.
The lawsuit was filed due to concerns that the Trump administration's policies are retraumatizing SIJS recipients who have already survived such hardships. The plaintiffs argue that these young people have survived abuse, abandonment, and neglect only to be retraumatized now by the constant threat of detention and deportation from the same agencies that vowed to keep them safe.
The lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s elimination of protections for SIJS recipients, specifically the withdrawal of a Biden-era policy that granted deferred action—a protection from deportation and work authorization. USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) announced in 2025 it would no longer grant the deferred action classification to SIJS recipients and halted approval of their work permit applications starting April 2025.
The plaintiffs include immigrant youths represented by organizations such as The Central American Refugee Center and Centro Legal de la Raza, highlighting fears that reversing the protections will expose them to deportation back to unsafe environments. The lawsuit argues that the termination of the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status program is unlawful and contradicts Congress's intent of protecting young people who had been abused from being deported.
Critically, an SIJS classification allows young immigrants to apply for permanent residency, unlike other migrant programs. However, the SIJS classification does not ensure immediate protection or residency, as the process can take several years due to longstanding backlogs. The plaintiffs are asking the court to reinstate a policy that let certain immigrants obtain work permits while waiting for their green card applications to process.
The lawsuit names as defendants the Department of Homeland Security and its leaders, including Secretary Kristi Noem and USCIS directors. USCIS published a report in July 2025 focusing on alleged program abuses, citing concerns about criminal elements infiltrating the SIJ program, and rescinded the automatic deferred action policy for SIJS recipients as part of a broader agency directive change.
The Trump administration has changed policies, requiring SIJS recipients to apply for Social Security and work permits separately. Davidson, speaking to NBC, expressed confusion over why SIJS recipients are subject to visa limits, as SIJS is a humanitarian program for young immigrants. The lawsuit claims that the Trump administration failed to provide a good, reasoned explanation for taking away the protections granted to SIJS recipients.
The proposed class-action lawsuit is currently active and ongoing. The legal challenge seeks to protect these vulnerable children by reinstating a policy that lets certain immigrants obtain work permits while waiting for their green card applications to process. The lawsuit continues to highlight the concerns of immigrant youths and advocacy groups who believe that the Trump administration's policies are retraumatizing SIJS recipients who have already survived abuse, abandonment, and neglect.
[1] NBC News, "Immigrant Youths Sue Trump Administration Over Ending Protections," July 2025, link [2] The Hill, "Immigrant youths sue Trump administration over ending protections," July 2025, link [3] USCIS, "Policy Alert: Deferred Action for Certain Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJ)," April 2025, link [4] Department of Homeland Security, "USCIS Policy Alert: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJ)," July 2025, link
- The ongoing lawsuit, filed in July 2025, alleges that the Trump administration's policy-and-legislation changes on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) are retraumatizing vulnerable children who have already suffered abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
- Politicians and advocacy groups have expressed their concerns about the Trump administration's policy-and-legislation adjustments regarding SIJS, as the changes have been reported in general-news publications, citing the potential harm to these immigrant youths who have been promised protection.
