Attorneys sue to restore deportation protections for abused and neglected migrant children

Attorneys representing migrant children who were abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent asked a federal court on Thursday to restore their deportation protections after the Trump administration ended them.

The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of New York, was filed on behalf of nine young people and their legal advocates who want a judge to keep the protections for up to nearly 150,000 beneficiaries.

“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,” said Rachel Davidson, plaintiff attorney with the National Immigration Project.

The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were both named in the lawsuit. USCIS Spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said, “As a matter of practice, USCIS does not comment on pending litigation.” DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Migrant children who suffered parental abuse, neglect or abandonment are designated through state courts and the federal government with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, which was created by Congress in 1990 with bipartisan support.

SIJS, as it is known, does not grant legal status. But it lets qualifying young people apply for a visa to become legal permanent residents and obtain a work permit. It can take years for a visa to become available due to annual caps. In 2022, the Biden administration allowed children to be shielded from deportation while waiting for a visa.

In June, the Trump administration ended deportation protection for SIJS beneficiaries. Without it, they can still wait in the U.S. for a visa but cannot receive work authorization. And if they are deported while they are waiting, they will no longer be eligible to become legal permanent residents.

Though overshadowed by higher-profile moves to end birthright citizenship and halt asylum at the border, the policy shift is part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration system overhaul intended to make it more difficult for people to legally remain in the U.S.

A Guatemalan teen who is living in New York and living with her older brother is one of the plaintiffs. She said through attorneys, who omit using the names of minors, that her dreams of becoming an astronaut one day may be cut short if she’s unable to continue high school for fear of deportation.

“I felt that I was finally in a safe environment, but if I had to return to (Guatemala), I would be very afraid of the violence and abuse from my mother and father,” she said in a statement shared by the attorneys without her name.

The policy shift may shut down a legal pathway to possible citizenship for nearly 150,000 migrants who attorneys estimate have received this classification and are stuck in the visa backlog.

It could keep them from obtaining Social Security cards, driver’s licenses, medical treatment, health insurance, higher education, bank accounts, and, for older youth, legal and safe employment opportunities.