Change to Federal Immigration Policy to Strip Protections from Hundreds of Vulnerable Immigrant Youth in New Mexico
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2025
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — On Jun 6, 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made a significant change to a federal classification that ends deferred action and work authorization for immigrant youth with Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status.
CONTACT:
New Mexico Immigrant Law Center:
Felipe Vasquez, 505-639-8636,
fvasquez@nmilc.orgThe New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC) strongly condemns this sudden policy reversal that immediately impacts SIJ recipients nationwide and hundreds of NMILC clients in New Mexico, who are unable to apply for lawful permanent residency due to visa backlogs.
The Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification is a form of immigration relief for children in the United States who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one or both parents. To qualify, a state juvenile court must determine that the child cannot be reunified with one or both parents due to that mistreatment, and that returning to their home country is not in the child’s best interest. While SIJ classification provides a pathway to apply for lawful permanent residence once a visa becomes available, it does not automatically grant legal status, protection from deportation, or the right to work. Until June 2025, many SIJ recipients were granted deferred action and work permits while waiting for a visa—but USCIS has now ended that protection.
Impact on NMILC Clients
Approximately 238 NMILC clients will lose the ability to renew their deferred action, which has provided temporary protection from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.
Of these, about 223 youth currently hold work permits that they will be unable to renew.
27 clients have approved SIJ petitions but were never granted deferred action, leaving them unprotected despite having legal recognition of their need for humanitarian relief and unable to obtain a work permit.
68 clients have pending SIJ petitions that will now be denied consideration for deferred action.
An additional 150+ clients have been identified as SIJ-eligible and are working with NMILC to apply for this humanitarian relief—but under this policy change, they may never receive any interim protection.
USCIS had previously offered deferred action, and work permits to SIJ recipients who could not yet apply for a green card due to visa backlogs that are not at fault of the recipients. This protection gave them the ability to live, work, and heal while awaiting permanent status. The June 6 reversal removes these safeguards for a vulnerable population who followed every step of the process in good faith.
“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. “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. This policy strips them of that opportunity and punishes them for a system that has already failed to protect them.”
The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center urges the Trump administration to reverse course and calls on Congress to pass legislative solutions that address the SIJ visa backlog and ensure lasting protections for these young people.
Attorneys from NMILC are available to discuss how this decision will impact hundreds of children in New Mexico, as well as share first-hand accounts of what our clients are experiencing.
The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center is a non-profit organization seeking to advance justice and equity by empowering low-income immigrant communities through collaborative legal services, advocacy, and education.
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