On Tuesday, January 19, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval to the classwide settlement. The settlement sets forth policies and procedures that DHS, ORR, and EOIR must provide to class members when it seeks to rearrest them based on gang allegations, and requires that the government provide such class members with hearings after their rearrest.

The settlement also includes provisions for a subclass of Saravia class members who applied for SIJS, asylum, U-visas, and T-visas (or related adjustment applications) before the age of 21, but were denied such benefits based on gang allegations. The settlement includes new procedures that USCIS must use when adjudicating the benefits applications of subclass members. For subclass members whose applications have already been denied based on gang allegations, the settlement would require USCIS to re-adjudicate those applications under the new procedures.

If you have any questions contact: Stephen Kang, skang@aclu.org; Amy Belsher, abelsher@nyclu.org; JP Perry, jperry@nyclu.org; and Holly Cooper, hscooper@ucdavis.edu.