Yes. You can ask the Civil Rights Division to support your request for deferred action, and we will consider supporting your request for deferred action on a case-by-case basis. If you would like the Civil Rights Division to consider supporting your request for deferred action from DHS based on your participation in a Civil Rights Division matter involving workplace violations, you or your representative must ask for the Civil Rights Division’s support. See Question 3 below.

The Civil Rights Division will consider supporting someone’s request for deferred action under DHS’s enhanced process if their request for deferred action relates to a Civil Rights Division matter involving a potential workplace-related violation. This can include investigations or cases involving employment discrimination, human trafficking, and other types of discrimination that occurred at or relate to a workplace. To qualify for the enhanced DHS process, the investigations or cases must relate to the workplace. The Civil Rights Division will decide whether to support a request for deferred action on a case-by-case basis. Learn more about the Civil Rights Division’s enforcement work. To ask the Civil Rights Division to support a request for deferred action involving matters that do not relate to the workplace, see Question 12 below.

You or your representative should contact the Civil Rights Division and ask the Division to support your request for deferred action. You can ask for the Division’s support on behalf of an individual or a group.

The Section in the Civil Rights Division handling the matter to which your request for deferred action relates will follow up with you. For example, if the Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section is handling the workplace-related matter that forms the basis for your deferred action request, that Section will follow up with you.

Include:

• A statement indicating that you would like the Civil Rights Division to support your request for deferred action;
• Information identifying the workplace involved in the relevant Civil Rights Division matter;
• The name of the Section in the Civil Rights Division handling the matter to which your request for deferred action relates; and
• Contact information for you or your representative.

Do NOT include:

• Your immigration status or immigration history; or
• Sensitive personally identifiable information, such as your birth date, Social Security number, USCIS/A number, or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

Someone from the Civil Rights Division will follow up with you to obtain additional information as necessary to determine whether the Civil Rights Division will support your request for deferred action.

The Civil Rights Division will consider whether: 1) your request for deferred action relates to your participation or involvement in a Civil Rights Division matter involving potential workplace violations; 2) you have experienced workplace-related harms that the Civil Rights Division can remedy; 3) you have witnessed possible workplace violations that fall within the Civil Rights Division’s authority to remedy or are assisting with a Civil Rights Division matter; 4) you are experiencing retaliation or fear retaliation (or threats of retaliation) if you participate in a workplace-related investigation or enforcement action handled by the Civil Rights Division; and/or 5) deferred action would help the Civil Rights Division carry out its enforcement mission given the particular circumstances.

The Civil Rights Division will consider whether to support a request for deferred action on a case-by-case basis. After considering these factors, and at its discretion, the Civil Rights Division may provide a letter of support (or “Statement of Interest”) to DHS explaining how DHS’s granting of deferred action would affect the Civil Rights Division’s ability to carry out its mission.

No, you do not have to file a complaint, charge, or report of discrimination or another civil rights violation. However, when contacted by the Civil Rights Division after you ask for a letter of support (or “Statement of Interest”), you will need to describe your assistance on or participation in a Civil Rights Division matter involving potential workplace violations.

Participation or assistance can include different types of things depending on the matter and what stage it is in. For instance, when the Civil Rights Division is investigating a matter, assistance or participation can include providing information that helps the Civil Rights Division determine whether there has been a violation that the Civil Rights Division can address. It also can involve offering to provide information about potential workplace-related violations the Civil Rights Division is investigating. Assisting a Civil Rights Division lawsuit can involve providing information or serving as a witness during a lawsuit or prosecution that the Civil Rights Division is handling. In some cases, assistance might also include providing information to help the Civil Rights Division assess whether a party is complying with obligations under an existing court order or settlement.

No, if the Civil Rights Division submits a Statement of Interest to DHS in the form of a letter supporting your request for deferred action, this letter does not confer any immigration status, protection, or relief. DHS retains sole discretion over whether it will exercise its prosecutorial discretion. The Statement of Interest simply provides information that DHS may consider when determining whether to grant deferred action.

If the Civil Rights Division decides to support your request for deferred action, it will submit the Statement of Interest in the form of a letter supporting your request for deferred action directly to DHS. You or your representative will also receive a copy of this letter, which you must submit with your deferred action request to DHS.

If the Civil Rights Division decides not to support your request for deferred action, the Civil Rights Division will not communicate with DHS about your request.

No, but you may wish to consult an immigration attorney. View a list of organizations providing free immigration legal services.

Yes. If you are asking the Civil Rights Division to support a deferred action request related to an open or closed Civil Rights Division matter that does not involve workplace allegations, you can contact the Civil Rights Division, and we will consider whether to support your request for deferred action on a case-by-case basis. Please include the general information discussed in Question 4, above, such as information about the Civil Rights Division matter to which your request for deferred action relates. 

However, DHS’s enhanced process is limited to potential workplace violations. The process for requesting deferred action from the Department of Homeland Security is different if your deferred action request relates to a Civil Rights Division matter that does not involve workplace violations (for example, discrimination in housing or education). For non-workplace-related matters, deferred action requests from non-U.S. citizens who are in removal proceedings or have a final order of removal should be submitted to your local ICE office (find more information about ICE’s use of prosecutorial discretion in these situations); requests for deferred action from noncitizens who are not in removal proceedings and do not have a final order of removal should be submitted by following the filing instructions for USCIS’s Form G-325a.