Illinois immigrant families may lose medical care under a new Trump administration decision, and immigrant families with serious illnesses may be facing deportation. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) on August 7, 2019, stopped accepting and adjudicating medical deferred action applications for non-military applicants. Medical deferred action requests for migrants’ medical care must now be submitted to ICE for consideration. No public notice of this change was made until USCIS confirmed the change on August 23 to the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA). According to USCIS:
USCIS field offices will no longer consider non-military requests for deferred action… USCIS will generally defer to the DHS component agency responsible for removing individuals from the United States – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – to make most non-DACA, non-military deferred action determinations.
The program known as “medical deferred action” allows people to remain in the U.S. for two-year periods if they can prove extreme medical need. Ronnie Millar, executive director of Irish International Immigrant Center, said in a press release:
“These families are all here receiving treatment that is unavailable in their home countries, and our government has issued them a death sentence.”
NPR reports that families across the country have received letters denying their medical deferred action request, and stating they must leave the country within 33 days of the government’s writing or face removal and exclusion from the U.S.
The immigration attorneys at Godoy Law Office in Chicago and Lombard can help you with your immigration case. If you need help with an immigration issue, please contact our office or call us at 855-554-6369.
