Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.-34) led 17 of their colleagues in a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Kika Scott demanding the Trump Administration provide answers on the changes it has made in determining deferred action for youth with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). The Members also express concern that these changes leave SIJS youth vulnerable to exploitation and deportation.
“We write to express our concern regarding recent changes seen in determinations of deferred action for youth with special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS), and to request further information about SIJS deferred action policy and adjudications,” wrote the Members. “Since early April, SIJS recipients have been receiving SIJS approval notices without deferred action determinations. This leaves abused and abandoned youth in legal limbo while heightening their vulnerability to exploitation.”
Created in 1990, SIJS provides permanent protection to immigrant children who have survived parental abuse, abandonment, neglect, or similar harms and for whom it would be dangerous to return to their home country. Since 2022, youth with SIJS have also received a deferred action designation, allowing them to legally work and avoid the danger of deportation while waiting to apply for lawful permanent residency. There has been a backlog of applications for permanent residency since April 2016.
“In the absence of a durable solution to the SIJS backlog, we believe it is critical that USCIS continue to consider every approved SIJS petitioner for deferred action,” continued the Members. “Additionally, we are deeply concerned by reports from practitioners of increased occurrences of detention and deportation of SIJS recipients, with ICE acting to strip SIJS youth of deferred action upon detaining them. Barring other circumstances, seeking removal of SIJS youth who are awaiting visa availability is in direct contravention of congressional intent for the program.”
In addition to their letter, Senator Cortez Masto introduced the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act to fix the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) program. This legislation would exempt SIJS children from annual employment-based visa caps, ending years-long case backlogs and allowing these children to move forward with their lives as lawful permanent residents of the United States. Congressman Gomez introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
Read the full letter here and the bill here. Additional signatories to the letter include Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as Representatives Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.-09), Danny Davis (D-Ill.-07), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.-07), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.-02), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.-29), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.-09), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.-12), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.-20), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52), and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.-07).
The first and only Latina senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada, calling on both administrations to protect TPS holders and other immigrants, as well as leading commonsense legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Cortez Masto joined Senator Rosen (D-Nev.) in introducing the Born in the USA Act to effectively block the implementation of President Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order attempting to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States. She has worked to pass meaningful immigration reform that balances critical border security measures with a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers.
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