ILAP Public Comment: Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently Approved Collection: Biographic Information (for Deferred Action)
Jerry Rigdon, Acting Chief
Office of Policy and Strategy
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
RE: Comment on Docket ID USCIS-2005-0024; the Form G-325A Revision “Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently Approved Collection: Biographic Information (for Deferred Action),” OMB Control Number 1615-0008
Dear Mr. Rigdon:
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) respectfully submits the following comments regarding the Form G-325A revision, which removes Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) as a filing type to be able to request Deferred Action. ILAP recommends that these changes, as well as the accompanying changes in the USCIS Policy Manual, be stricken in their entirety and previous policy be restored ensuring that vulnerable children with SIJS be eligible for protection from deportation and a work permit while waiting for the opportunity to apply for a green card.
I. About ILAP & Expertise in Impact of Form G-325A and Policy Manual Changes:
ILAP is Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, serving low-income people across the state who would otherwise not have access to immigration legal services. One of ILAP’s specialty practice areas is the Immigrant Children’s Project, which includes representing vulnerable noncitizen children in Maine in the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification process. ILAP’s Immigrant Children’s Project Attorney co-chairs the SIJ Action Committee of the Maine Commission of Domestic and Sexual Abuse, leads a statewide working group of practitioners in Maine who serve children in the SIJ classification process, and partners with legal experts and practitioners across the country who specialize in SIJ classification.
II. ILAP Recommends the Changes to Form G-325A and the USCIS Policy Manual Re: Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification and Deferred Action be Stricken in their Entirety and the March 2022 Policy be Restored
The changes to Form G-325A and the USCIS Policy Manual needlessly put at-risk immigrant youth in even more danger by eliminating the option for Deferred Action – including both protection from deportation and work permits – while they wait in the USCIS backlog to be able to apply for lawful permanent residency. In Maine, ILAP serves more than 200 children who will be made even more vulnerable without access to Deferred Action or the ability to renew.
Congress created the Special Immigrant Juvenile classification in 1990. The law, and underlying intent, seeks to provide permanent protection and stability to noncitizen children who have been found to be abused, neglected, or abandoned by a parent. While Congress intended for at-risk children who have been SIJ classified to have swift access to apply for lawful permanent status – providing them with the stability of protection from deportation and access to work permits – massive visa delays at USCIS have frustrated that goal. Accordingly, in order to align with Congressional intent, USCIS rightly put in place a Deferred Action policy in March 2022 to create a bridge between SIJ classification and availability of visas, ensuring that while noncitizen children waited in the backlog, they would have the protections and benefits Congress intended.[1] Since this policy was put in place – which automatically considers a 4-year, renewable grant of Deferred Action for a SIJ-approved child if a visa to adjust status is unavailable – hundreds of kids in Maine have been able to find more stability and security as well as work to better support themselves and build key skills for their futures. Additionally, and significantly, access to work permits helps reduce risk of labor exploitation and trafficking, further ensuring that Congress’ intent to protect these children is met.
The ability to access Deferred Action is life-changing for our most vulnerable child clients. In a recent case, ILAP represented a young teen who was severely sexually and physically abused throughout her childhood by household members. She stopped school at an early age because of this abuse and does not know how to read or write. In the United States, she lacks any family willing to support her. Although eligible for SIJ, without Deferred Action she will face years of instability and will be unable to care for her own needs and recover from her significant trauma history. The changes to the Deferred Action policy harm countless children like this young client and actively contradict the objective of SIJ to provide stability to the most vulnerable child noncitizens living in the United States.
The job of the agencies is to implement and execute the laws that Congress passes, in line with a democratic system. USCIS’ underlying reasoning to eliminate the March 2022 policy – and in turn remove Special Immigrant Juvenile Status from Form G-325A – flies in the face of Congress’ goals in creating the SIJ classification, which the agency itself notes in its policy alert: “While Congress likely did not envision that SIJ petitioners would have to wait years before a visa became available, Congress also did not expressly permit deferred action and related employment authorization for this population.”[2] In creating SIJ, Congress provided a pathway to citizenship for children adjudicated to be abused, neglected, or abandoned by at least one parent – unmistakenly, a path to citizenship means that Congress meant to provide permanent protection and stability to this extraordinarily vulnerable group, not deport them. By eliminating the Deferred Action policy, this group instantly becomes at risk of deportation, in complete contravention of the statute.
III. Conclusion:
In conclusion, USCIS should withdraw the changes to Form G-325A and changes to the USCIS Policy Manual and restore the March 2022 policy in order to safeguard vulnerable children and uphold Congressional intent and our democratic system of laws. Thank you for your consideration of our feedback. Please contact ILAP’s Policy Director, Lisa Parisio, at lparisio@ilapmaine.org for any questions or additional information.
Sincerely,
Susan Roche
Executive Director
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
P.O. Box 17917
Portland, ME 04112
207-780-1593
sroche@ilapmaine.org
[1] USCIS Policy Alert, Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification and Deferred Action, PA-2022-10 (Mar. 7, 2022), https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20220307-SIJAndDeferredAction.pdf.
[2] USCIS Policy Alert, Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification and Deferred Action, PA-2025-07 (June 6, 2025), https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20250606-SIJDeferredAction.pdf.