For over three decades, Congress has created a statutory framework through immigration laws and regulations to provide noncitizen survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and other serious crimes a pathway to permanent residence, specifically via the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA (for noncitizen survivors of domestic abuse by U.S. citizens), the U visa (for noncitizens harmed by certain serious crimes and who help law enforcement investigate and prosecute these crimes), and the T visa (for survivors of human trafficking). Until recently, DHS’s longstanding, general practice was to not pursue immigration enforcement actions against individuals with pending application for these survivor-based benefits, in line with Congress’s intent, but in early 2025 the Trump administration implemented new guidance rescinding prior practices and allowing ICE to arrest, detain, and deport immigrant survivors of these violent crimes as a routine matter, without regard to their pending applications for these benefits and the protections Congress put in place for these individuals.
Plaintiffs—a coalition of individuals who are immigrant survivors of these crimes and organizations who work with and represent survivors of these crimes (Immigration Center for Women and Children (ICWC), LRCL, CHIRLA, and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ))—filed this class action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's rescission of the decades-long policies and practices protecting this population from enforcement, and the administration’s implementation of new guidance that exposes this population to widespread arrest, detention, and deportation.
Plaintiffs argue that these actions are unlawful, in violation of immigration laws and regulations and the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiffs also argue that the manner in which the government has rescinded its prior policy and implemented its new policy failed to meet the threshold requirement for “reasoned decision making” and failed to consider important factors regarding Congress’s purpose behind these benefits and the impact this would have on these individuals and public safety.
On October 30, 2025, Plaintiffs filed a motion to certify three classes of individuals harmed by the administration’s actions.
Technical Summary
Plaintiffs allege that the new guidance surrounding the arrest, detention, and deportation of individuals with these pending benefits is 1) arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA; 2) not in accordance with the laws and regulations in place for applicants of these survivor-based benefits; 3) allows for a de facto revocation of an individual’s U or T visa status or deferred action of this status and, as a result, is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA and longstanding regulations pursuant to the Accardi doctrine; 4) in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Due Process); in violation of the Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure); and 5) the government’s policy of blindly removing these individuals without first doing the requisite determinations is both in violation on INA § 237(d)(1) and the APA as not being in accordance with law.
Latest Updates
- 05/08/2025
