Legal Challenge Against Policy Affecting Noncitizens’ Immigration Applications
Washington, D.C. — A coalition of detained noncitizens, represented by Democracy Forward, the National Immigration Project, and the National Immigrant Justice Center, has initiated a class action lawsuit against the Trump-Vance administration’s new policy. This policy hinders detained immigrants from completing the biometric processes necessary for their applications submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), leading to automatic denials of their immigration requests.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asserts that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a system mandating biometric submissions for immigration relief applications. However, it simultaneously fails to collect the required biometric data from individuals held in detention facilities. Consequently, eligible individuals are barred from pursuing legal immigration status, which includes protections available to survivors of human trafficking, as well as abused and abandoned children, and those seeking family reunification.
Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, stated that the Trump-Vance administration’s actions represent an illegal barrier for noncitizens. “This policy is as illegal as it is cruel. It strips individuals of their legal rights, cuts off paths to safety and stability, and accelerates deportations without due process,” she noted. “We are calling on the courts to restore access to the legal protections that Congress has guaranteed.”
Michelle Mendez, Director of Legal Resources and Training at the National Immigration Project, emphasized the deliberate nature of the government’s actions. “This is not merely a failure of administration; it is a calculated strategy,” she said. “By requiring biometrics while refusing to collect them, the government is ensnaring individuals in a trap and leveraging this failure as justification for deportations. We urge the courts to scrutinize this scheme carefully.”
Mary Georgovich, Senior Litigation Attorney at the National Immigration Justice Center, explained the severe implications of this policy for many detainees seeking legal status or protection from trafficking and abuse. “Without judicial intervention, the Trump-Vance administration’s mass deportation strategy will continue to systematically separate families and remove individuals to perilous situations while their applications for legal protection remain unresolved,” she warned.
The lawsuit details the troubling consequences of the policy on detainees awaiting immigration relief. One plaintiff, a young abuse survivor, has faced multiple denials of his application due solely to the inability to collect biometrics while in custody. Another plaintiff, a survivor of human trafficking, missed an appointment for her biometric submission due to detention transport issues, placing her at risk of deportation.
According to federal law, USCIS is required to process correctly submitted immigration benefit applications, which includes obtaining biometric information. The lawsuit contends that DHS’s policy effectively obstructs detained individuals from accessing the legal remedies available to them, thereby violating federal immigration statutes, the Administrative Procedure Act, and due process rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
The plaintiffs are seeking a court order to block the enforcement of this policy, annul it, and restore access to the application process as the lawsuit progresses. The case is identified as JZ Others v. Department of Homeland Security et al. The legal team includes Democracy Forward’s Sean Ouellette, Anne Swift, Jennie Kneedler, Paul Wolfson, and Elena Goldstein, alongside Mitchell Mendez from the National Immigration Project, and Mary Georgovich, Kellen Zwick, Richard Caldarone, Gerald Romo, and Nicole May from the National Immigrant Justice Center.
