The Administration recently announced that it would reconsider its decision of deferred action to force immigrants facing life-threatening health crises to return to their home countries.
In early August, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, without public notice, eliminated a “deferred action” program that previously allowed immigrants to avoid deportation while they or their relatives were undergoing life-saving medical treatment.
The “deferred action” program had provided a lifeline for immigrants and their families, allowing them to remain in the United States while undergoing vital medical treatment. The sudden removal of this program, without prior public notice, left many individuals and families in a state of uncertainty and fear of potential deportation. USCIS’s decision, communicated through letters to concerned family members, highlighted a significant shift in the agency’s approach to immigration matters.
USCIS sent letters to family members who had requested relief from deportation, saying the agency’s field offices “no longer consider requests for deferred action,” except for certain military exceptions. The letters informed those who had asked for a renewal, which immigrants must make every two years, that they must leave the country within 33 days, or face deportation.
Individuals can apply to ICE for a “stay of deportation or removal,” but that’s done only after someone has exhausted all immigration judicial proceedings and has been ordered removed. USCIS is the agency responsible for legal immigration benefits, including work authorization.
The statement said that deportation proceedings had not been initiated against anyone who had received the letter. However, it did not say whether it would continue to grant immigrants extensions to stay in the country or whether the program would be continued after current applications are processed.
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