U.S. District Court Judge André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California has issued a major victory for immigrant survivors of domestic and sexual violence. While litigation is ongoing, this ruling preserves the intent and impact of critical legal protections for many survivors.
In an order issued on May 20, 2026, in ICWC v. Noem (2:25-cv-09848), the court preliminarily certified three nationwide classes of immigrant survivors of violence and granted significant portions of the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against policies implemented by DHS, ICE, and USCIS.
The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, Public Counsel, La Raza Centro Legal (LRCL), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Immigration Center for Women and Children (ICWC), and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) challenged new policies that target survivors with pending applications for humanitarian protections including U visas, T visas, and others under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Congress created these legal protections for immigrant survivors decades ago; undermining them through executive action must stop.
The court preliminarily certified three nationwide classes protecting:
Survivors with pending U visa, T visa, or VAWA self-petitions who were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or ICE sought to detain;
Survivors granted deferred action based on pending U or T visa petitions who were detained by ICE or removed without notice or a hearing; and
Survivors with pending U or T visa petitions who requested stays of removal before ICE enforced removal orders.
The court temporarily blocked ICE from detaining plaintiffs and class members since they have pending protections specifically designed to safeguard them as victims of crime, trafficking, and domestic violence.
“This is a deeply important victory for immigrant survivors,” said Archi Pyati, CEO of the Tahirih Justice Center, a nonprofit that provides legal and social services to immigrant survivors. “For years, Congress has recognized that survivors need protection, not punishment, and the importance of ensuring that all victims and witnesses feel safe to come forward and report crime. Targeting survivors of crime with punitive action not only worsens community safety, it's the wrong thing to do.”
The lawsuit challenged three ICE policies:
- “2025 Guidance”: A new ICE policy that replaced earlier victim-protection policies and allows the agency to deport people with pending victim-based immigration petitions, including by not considering a noncitizen being a victim of crime as a positive factor in determining whether to detain them;
- “De Facto Revocation Policy”: Where ICE ignores grants of deferred action by USCIS, and detains or deports people anyway, effectively revoking their protected status without due process; and
- “Blind Removal Policy”: Where ICE removes people with pending U or T visa applications who have requested a stay of removal without first obtaining the required prima facie eligibility determination from USCIS.
The ruling provides immediate protections for many immigrant survivors while litigation continues, and could have life-changing consequences for survivors across the country who are currently navigating the immigration system while seeking safety and stability.
”The fight is far from over, but because of this decision, many survivors and communities are safer today,” said Pyati. “Immigrant survivors are doing exactly what Congress intended — reporting abuse, cooperating with law enforcement, filing applications for protection, attending hearings, and trying to rebuild their lives. Targeting them for detention and deportation is not only cruel, but it also rolls back the clock and makes all of us less safe. The court’s decision affirms that the executive cannot simply erase protections passed by Congress through enforcement policies designed to maximize deportations at all costs.”