USCIS Rewrites the Rules on Deferred Action — and Immigrant Children Pay the Price

A sweeping rewrite of federal deferred action rules ends automatic deportation relief for 200,000 Special Immigrant Juveniles — and hands officers broad new grounds to deny

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has quietly completed a sweeping rewrite of the federal rules governing deferred action — the last-resort immigration relief that keeps people from being deported while they wait for Congress’s machinery to catch up with their lives.

The most consequential change targets the most vulnerable people in the system: children.

In June 2025, USCIS rescinded its policy of granting deferred action to recipients of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status — known as SIJS — who were unable to adjust to permanent residence because a visa number wasn’t yet available. The policy had been a lifeline since 2022.

Around 200,000 SIJS youth awaiting visas had been granted protection from deportation and work authorization under the old framework. These are not people who crossed a border illegally as adults pursuing economic opportunity. They are young people whom a state court has already determined cannot safely be reunified with a parent — due to abuse, neglect, or abando…