SIJS Deferred Action and Work Permit Changes

Status: Partially blocked — A.C.R. v. Noem (No. 1:25-cv-03962 (E.D.N.Y.); appeal pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit)

A federal court has partly blocked the government's effort to end the 2022 SIJS deferred action policy. On November 19, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York stayed USCIS's rescission as unlawful, restoring automatic consideration of deferred action for people with an approved SIJS petition. USCIS then issued a new memo on April 10, 2026 (PM-602-0198) that again ends automatic consideration, but it took effect May 10, 2026 and applies only to SIJS petitions filed on or after that date; petitions filed earlier are still considered automatically. The court's order does not require USCIS to treat an approved SIJS petition as a "strong positive factor," except for petitions approved between April 7 and June 5, 2025. Plaintiffs' appeal is pending before the Second Circuit.

Next step: A decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the plaintiffs' pending appeal, which could change the standard USCIS must apply when considering SIJS-based deferred action requests.

Verified against the primary source as of 2026-07-25 — status can change with a single court ruling. Official source.

What’s happening

A federal court has partly blocked the government’s effort to end the 2022 SIJS deferred action policy. On November 19, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York stayed USCIS’s rescission as unlawful, restoring automatic consideration of deferred action for people with an approved SIJS petition. USCIS then issued a new memo on April 10, 2026 (PM-602-0198) that again ends automatic consideration, but it took effect May 10, 2026 and applies only to SIJS petitions filed on or after that date; petitions filed earlier are still considered automatically. The court’s order does not require USCIS to treat an approved SIJS petition as a “strong positive factor,” except for petitions approved between April 7 and June 5, 2025. Plaintiffs’ appeal is pending before the Second Circuit.

Who it affects

Affects immigrant youth who have an approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petition but cannot yet apply for a green card because no visa is available. Under the 2022 policy, USCIS automatically considered these youth for deferred action, which provides protection from deportation and access to a work permit (EAD). The changes determine whether that automatic consideration continues: petitions filed before May 10, 2026 are still considered automatically, while petitions filed on or after that date are not. Young people who already hold SIJS-based deferred action generally keep it, and their work permit, until it expires, though USCIS can end it case by case. Advocacy groups estimate the policy has affected roughly 200,000 SIJS youth.

How it got here

  1. Jun 6, 2025 USCIS officially terminated the 2022 SIJS deferred action policy (FOIA records later showed it had ended the policy internally on April 7, 2025).
  2. Nov 19, 2025 The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York stayed the rescission as unlawful, restoring automatic consideration of SIJS-based deferred action.
  3. Jan 14, 2026 The court denied plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration; plaintiffs then appealed to the Second Circuit, where the case remains pending.
  4. Apr 10, 2026 USCIS issued a new memo (PM-602-0198) again ending automatic SIJS deferred action, effective May 10, 2026 and applying only to SIJS petitions filed on or after that date.
  5. May 10, 2026 The new memo took effect; SIJS petitions filed before this date are still automatically considered for deferred action, while later filings are not.

What to watch next

A decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the plaintiffs’ pending appeal, which could change the standard USCIS must apply when considering SIJS-based deferred action requests.

Official sources

This page is general information about ongoing litigation, not legal advice. A case’s status can change with a single ruling, and outcomes can turn on facts specific to each person. For advice on a specific situation, consult a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative.