USCIS Reopens Previously Pending Deferred Action Requests

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will reopen all non-military deferred action cases that were pending on August 7, 2019. Deferred action is a discretionary decision to temporarily postpone the removal from the United States of a person who is unauthorized to stay.

On August 7, USCIS stopped considering deferred action for non-military requestors and sent denial letters to applicants, which led to controversy as many cases were based on medical need. A lawsuit was filed subsequently on behalf of the Irish International Immigrant Center by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lawyers for Civil Rights. A hearing on this issue, to be held before the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, is scheduled for September 11, 2019.

Deferred action related to military members and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals cases were not affected by the August 7 action. USCIS said “consideration of such cases is ongoing.”

Related Links:

• USCIS Announcement
• Lawsuit
• News Article
• Denial Letter Sent by USCIS to a Deferred Action Applicant
• New York Times article about a congressional hearing on medical deferred action