FAQ: New Guidance on Renewals for Labor-Based Deferred Action

On January 17, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced new guidance on how immigrant workers involved in labor disputes can request renewals of prior grants of deferred action. This guidance supplements DHS’s January 2023 guidance that created a streamlined process for DHS to consider workers’ requests for deferred action on a case-by-case basis where their employers are involved in a labor dispute with a federal, state, or local labor agency.

The renewal process largely mirrors the process for initial requests, which poses both opportunities and challenges for workers seeking to renew their immigration protections as they exercise their labor rights against abusive employers. To ensure this process remains a useful tool for strengthening labor standards enforcement, both the labor agencies and DHS must implement this renewal process in a way that is efficient and accessible to all eligible workers.