Immigrant kids push 2nd Circuit to restore pre-Trump deportation protections

Before the second Trump administration, migrants under 21 who were abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents were subject to certain guardrails against removal.MANHATTAN (CN) — A class of immigrant youth pressed a Second Circuit panel Monday to restore deportation safeguards they say were unlawfully scrapped by the Trump administration.The plaintiffs are Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJ), a classification for migrants under age 21 who have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents. In the past, this immigration status would allow beneficiaries to live and work in the United States without the imminent threat of removal.But the Trump administration quietly reversed course in 2025 by no longer treating SIJ eligibility as a “strong factor” to grant these protections. A lower court agreed with the plaintiffs that this was unlawful, but only ordered a return to the status quo for those granted SIJ status in a fixed time period — between April and June 2025.Catherine Weiss, a public interest lawyer for Lowenstein Sandler representing the plaintiffs, told the panel Monday that this unfairly endangers thousands around the country.“The district court was wrong to jettison the strong factors standard for tens of thousands of young people who were abused, neglected, or abandoned by their parents,” she told the court.The contested lower court ruling comes from U.S. District Judge Eric Komittee, a Donald Trump appointee in the Eastern District of New York. In briefing, the plaintiffs contend Komittee’s narrow relief does not truly restore the status quo and can’t work.“People applying for SIJ had a reason to anticipate that they would not be subject to removal,” Weiss said. “And so they did things like start school, begin degree programs, pay for higher education because they were able to lawfully work.”The government contends the appeal should be moot amid new 2026 guidance on the issue. Department of Justice lawyer William Silvis told the court it is speculative to assume the plaintiffs need any further relief — a statement that prompted some pushback from the panel.“But what you’re calling speculative, they’re calling uncertain and transitory,” said U.S. Circuit Judge Myrna Pérez, adding statistics show it is indeed more difficult to get these protections after the administration’s changes.Pérez, a Joe Biden appointee, remained skeptical of Komittee’s ruling throughout Monday’s hearing, at one point scrutinizing the narrow time frame for which he granted the relief.“How can that be?” she asked. “The status quo was either the status quo or it wasn’t.”U.S. Circuit Judges Raymond Lohier, a Barack Obama appointee and Barrington Parker, a George W. Bush appointee, rounded out the panel, which did not indicate when or how it will rule.Congress created the SIJ designation in 1990 under the Immigration and Nationality Act to offer immigrant minors abused or neglected by a parent a path to permanent residency. The plaintiffs in this case filed suit last summer after the Trump administration formally ended protections against deportation for these youths.One of the named plaintiffs, identified only as A.C.R., said the policy shift endangered her dreams of becoming an astronaut.“Without the protection of deferred action, I won’t be able to attend school and pursue my dreams, and I’ll live in constant fear of deportation,” she said in a statement accompanying the suit. “I felt that I was finally in a safe environment, but if I had to return to [Guatemala], I would be very afraid of the violence and abuse from my mother and father.”The SIJ program has faced widespread uncertainty amid the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration restriction. In July, immigrant rights groups sued the Department of Homeland Security after the agency decided to remove fee waivers for kids seeking SIJ status. The $250 fee had been waived by past administrations for more than three decades.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads