Earlier this month, the Trump administration halted the consideration of new deferred deportation requests by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). On Monday, however, the administration announced a partial reversal. Now, cases that were pending on or before August 7th will be re-opened and considered.
What Is an Emergency Deferral?
An emergency or temporary deferral allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country while themselves or their relatives receive life-saving medical care. In these cases, deportation will be deferred while families battle health concerns and other hardships. Although the deferrals do not help illegal immigrants gain citizenship, they can allow parents to work legally or qualify for government-funded health benefits while their children are treated.
What Happens When Deferrals Are Denied?
When requests for deferrals are denied, people fighting serious conditions like cancer become susceptible to deportation. Although USCIS asserts that the agency is not actively targeting families with extenuating circumstances, people in hospital beds are still vulnerable to the threat of deportation. Democrats claim that “Donald Trump is literally deporting kids with cancer,” and concerned immigration professionals paint a horrifying picture:
“Can anyone imagine the government ordering you to disconnect your child from life-saving care – to pull them from a hospital bed – knowing that it will cost them their lives?”
Far and wide, critics are denouncing the suspension of deferral requests as a cruel action by the Trump administration. Left with no choice, desperate migrant parents may be forced to accept sub-par treatment in their turbulent homelands.
Fighting Back
Emergency deferrals are not the only piece of the immigration puzzle the Trump administration has tried to remove. When the White House attempted to dismantle DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), for example, they were prevented from doing so by several appellate courts. These bodies found that the program “could not be stopped abruptly without valid and non-pretextual legal justification” because millions of people depended on it. The DACA issue is expected to head to the Supreme Court soon and set create an important legal precedent in all other deferral cases.
In the meantime, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) will handle all future deferral cases. If you need help dealing with ICE, have questions about your DACA case, or just need help understanding immigration law, contact our respected immigration attorneys today. Get the personalized advice you need by calling (636) 400-1177 or filling out a contact form ASAP.