Last updated:  August 28, 2024

IMPORTANT UPDATE: PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT PRELIMINARILY APPROVED

J.O.P. v. DHS, No. 8:19-CV-1944, is a certified nationwide class action venued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland challenging a Trump administration policy that limited the ability to seek asylum for certain children who arrived in the country alone. Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), The National Immigration Project, Public Counsel, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, and Goodwin Procter LLP represent the plaintiffs in this case, who came to the United States as unaccompanied children (UC) and whose asylum applications would have been rejected by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Trump administration policy. The lawsuit alleges that the challenged policy violates the 5th Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The court certified a nationwide class and entered an expanded preliminary injunction in December 2020.