A drastic shift in federal immigration policy will leave hundreds of immigrant youth in New Mexico legally unprotected, according to the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC).
On June 6, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a substantial change to a federal classification, stating it would no longer grant deferred action or work permits to recipients of Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status.
SIJ is a classification designed for undocumented children who have been victims of abuse, abandonment or neglect and are unable to return safely to their home countries.
Long-standing protections that allowed SIJ youth to live and work legally while waiting for permanent residency will come to an end under the new policy.
With visa backlogs ranging from a few years to potentially decades—more than 50 years for some categories and nationalities—this protection has been many youths’ only way of maintaining lawful presence in the United States.
“This sudden reversal of this policy by DHS-USCIS will affect hundreds of children, youth and young people in New Mexico. This vulnerable population has followed every step of this process in good faith, and they deserve deferred action, as the delays in their process are no fault of their own,” said Andrés Santiago, NMILC’s associate managing attorney with the SIJ Children’s Team.
In a recent press release, NMILC “strongly condemns” the sudden policy change, which impacts youth across the country as well as its own legal clients.
According to NMILC, hundreds of its clients are directly impacted:
- 223 youth currently holding work permits will be unable to renew them
- 27 clients with approved SIJ petitions were never granted protections
- 68 individuals with pending applications will no longer be considered
More than 150 others identified as SIJ-eligible may never receive interim safeguards under the new policy
Previously, USCIS granted deferred action to SIJ recipients who were waiting for green cards but unable to apply due to federal quota limits.
That protection allowed them to work, support themselves and access basic resources while their cases were in limbo.
NMILC is urging the Trump administration to reverse the policy and is calling on Congress to address the SIJ visa backlog through legislative reform.
“At NMILC, we believe that every young person should have the opportunity to live without fear and to contribute their labor and talents in the mainstream economy,” Santiago said. “This policy strips them of that opportunity and punishes them for a system that has already failed to protect them.”
For more information or to speak with an NMILC attorney, contact Felipe Vasquez at fvasquez@nmilc.org or (505) 639-8636. More details are available at nmilc.org.