They were promised safety, then told to wait.
Giovanna Calderon is a staff writer and first-year MPA student.
In 1990, Congress created Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), an act that provides a pathway to American citizenship for vulnerable children—those abused, abandoned, and/or neglected by one or both parents—until the age of 21. Because SIJS is only a pathway and not a visa, over the years, a growing visa backlog in the EB-4 category has left over 100,000 children unable to apply for permanent citizenship.
In May 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented an administrative policy that protected vulnerable youth from deportation and allowed them to apply for a work permit. In June 2025, USCIS rescinded the SIJS Deferred Action policy, removing protections. On Nov. 21, 2025, a federal court in New York ordered USCIS to reinstate the policy, though the possibility of a successful appeal leaves vulnerable children between protection and deportation.
- From Safeguard to Scrutiny: The Deferred Action Dilemma
Deferred Action for SIJS youth provides critical safeguards for vulnerable children while also sparking conversation over the limits of discretionary relief. Understanding its benefits—as well as its implications of its recission—is essential for evaluating its impact on vulnerable children.
- Bridging the Gap: How Deferred Action Is a Lifeline for SIJS Youth
Deferred Action is essentially the government’s decision to defer the removal of someone from the United States. For the approximately 200,000 youth granted deferred action under SIJS, they are granted protection from deportation while they wait more than 5 years for a visa to become available to adjust their status.
More than a temporary safeguard, deferred action functions as a bridge between vulnerability and stability. It protects vulnerable children from deportation and enables access to education, employment, and community integration during the critical stages of development for youth. The rescission of the policy in June 2025 reintroduced uncertainty to the already vulnerable lives of many youth. This is particularly true for those who have SIJS as their only pathway to protection in the United States, and are not eligible for other immigration protections, such as Asylum, U Visa, and T Visa.
Youth granted deferred action could apply for work authorization and obtain a Social Security number, unlocking access to healthcare, higher education, and stable employment, allowing them to transition into adulthood with greater autonomy.
With the growing EB-4 visa backlog, over 100,000 children are waiting years for a visa while their immigration proceedings continue. Without deferred action, once their work authorization expires, it cannot be renewed. This puts SIJS youth at risk of losing employment, healthcare, and educational opportunities, and leaving them unable to cover significant fees under the HR-1 Reconciliation Bill (commonly known as “Big Beautiful Bill”), compounding the factors they already face.
- Deferred Action for SIJS Youth Under Scrutiny
While deferred action is a lifeline, critics highlight administrative and policy limitations. Due to the discretionary nature of the policy, USCIS has taken the stance that deferred action was never intended to provide long-term protection and the rescission was in line with the national security priorities under the current administration. Even children granted deferred action, at times, have been re-detained, underscoring current national security priorities.
Additionally, work authorization and related benefits, while valuable, do not align with the statutory intent of SIJS, which was designed as a legal pathway— not a social support program. From this perspective, the rescission of deferred action reflects an effort to preserve limited agency resources to focus on priorities under the current administration and ensure limited resources are allocated according to statutory priorities, even as vulnerable youth are left without the protections they relied on.
- Policy Crossroads: Choosing a Path for SIJS Youth
The rescission of deferred action for SIJS youth presented policymakers with a critical choice: remove deferred action for SIJS youth or reinstate deferred action and codify protections. Each path carries implications for the safety, stability, and integration of vulnerable youth.
- Removing deferred action for SIJS Youth
Removing deferred action for SIJS youth puts thousands at immediate risk of deportation and strips them of benefits essential for their growth and development, while fueling harmful anti-immigrant narratives. The persistent EB‑4 visa backlog shows that temporary measures alone cannot address systemic delays, leaving vulnerable youth exposed to uncertainty and danger. Inconsistent protections reinforce the perception of immigrants as burdens, prioritizing enforcement over the humanitarian needs of even children legally recognized as vulnerable under SIJS. As a result, even these youth face increased detention and abrupt removal, underscoring the urgent need for permanent, codified protections.
- From Temporary to Permanent: Remove Discretion Codifying Deferred Action
Advocates have long advocated for removing discretion and codifying protections for SIJS youth, arguing that doing so would create a sustainable path forward. The End SIJS Backlog Coalition has supported the introduction and reintroduction of the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act, legislation designed to provide long‑term protection for SIJS youth. This effort underscores the urgent need for permanent safeguards, as temporary discretionary measures leave youth exposed to removal as they wait years to adjust status.
By codifying deferred action, policymakers could provide stability for youth, ensuring they can continue education, work, and integrate into their communities without fear of abrupt removal. This approach aligns legal pathways with practical protections, demonstrating that U.S. immigration policy can uphold both statutory intent and humanitarian obligations while also reinforcing the principle that these vulnerable youth deserve consistent and reliable protections.
- Protecting Promise, Preventing Peril
The rescission of deferred action for SIJS youth highlighted the fragility of a system that promises protection but leaves vulnerable children exposed to legal, social, and economic instability. Deferred action is more than a temporary safeguard–it transforms fragility into a foundation for stability, providing youth access to education, work, and community integration while waiting in the EB-4 visa backlog.
Without deferred action, SIJS youth, who have no alternative immigration protections, face a heightened risk of removal. Expiring work authorization limits access to employment, healthcare, and educational opportunities, while prolonged immigration proceedings can exacerbate economic and social precarity. Temporary discretionary measures, although valuable, leave youth dependent on administrative discretion, rather than guaranteed protections.
This context underscores the need to align statutory pathways with practical safeguards. Legal and policy frameworks that provide consistent protections can reduce uncertainty, prevent detention and removal, and allow youth to integrate safely into their communities. In contrast, leaving discretionary relief in limbo maintains vulnerability and reinforces the systemic challenges that deferred action seeks to mitigate, leaving children between protection and deportation.
Photo by Arthur Tseng on Unsplash
The views expressed in Policy Perspectives and Brief Policy Perspectives are those of the authors and do not represent the approval or endorsement of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the George Washington University, or any employee of either institution.
Policy Perspectives 