What Is The Calderon Settlement And How To Take Advantage Of It
Hundreds of immigrant families across New England have a narrow, court-ordered chance to undo an old deportation order, and recent rulings show the government has to actually follow through on it.
That chance comes from the Calderon Settlement.
What is the Calderon Settlement? It’s a two-year agreement, running from January 2025 through January 2027, that lets many noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens ask the government to reopen and dismiss an old removal order, while also limiting when ICE can arrest or detain them while that request is pending. An immigration lawyer can look at your specific paperwork and tell you honestly whether the Calderon Jimenez settlement covers your family, and a green card lawyer can help you plan the steps that would follow. Call Brooks Law Firm today at (617) 245-8090 for a free consultation.
The relief traces back to Calderon Jimenez v. Mayorkas, a class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2018 on behalf of Lilian Calderon Jimenez, her husband Luis Gordillo, and other U.S. citizens and their noncitizen spouses across New England. After years of litigation, the court gave the settlement final approval on January 16, 2025, and its protections are set to run through January 16, 2027. The Calderon settlement does not erase a deportation order by itself, and it is not automatic. For eligible spouses, though, it opens a door that had been closed for years.
Where the Calderon Immigration Settlement Came From
The case began with an arrest that felt like a trap to the families who lived through it. In January 2018, Lilian Calderon, who had lived in Rhode Island since she was three years old, went with her husband to a routine USCIS interview meant to move her toward a green card. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained her immediately afterward. The ACLU of Massachusetts and the law firm WilmerHale sued on her behalf, arguing that the government was using a process meant to protect immigrant families, the very meeting where a spouse proves a marriage is genuine, to instead target them for removal. The case grew into a class action covering hundreds, and potentially thousands, of U.S. citizens and their noncitizen spouses across New England living under final orders of removal.
Even now, many eligible New England families have never heard that this Calderon immigration settlement exists at all.
What the Calderon Jimenez Settlement Actually Changed
The agreement gave class members two related forms of relief:
- A path back into court. Eligible noncitizen spouses can ask ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor to join a motion to reopen and dismiss their old removal case. When someone meets the settlement’s criteria, ICE has agreed to “presumptively” go along with the request rather than fight it.
- A pause on enforcement. While the settlement runs, ICE’s Boston field office generally will not arrest, detain, or move to deport class members, except in narrow cases where a senior official determines someone is a threat to public safety or national security.
Neither piece happens automatically. A class member still has to submit a request that meets the settlement’s terms, and ICE can decline to join it when specific disqualifying factors are present. The Calderon settlement immigration process isn’t something you register for; it either applies to your situation or it doesn’t, based on facts that already exist. (You can read the settlement’s own terms directly from the ACLU of Massachusetts, which represented the class.)
The Courts Have Been Enforcing the Settlement Through 2026
This is not an agreement sitting quietly on a shelf. In January 2026, Judge Saris, who now oversees the case, ruled on a request to enforce the settlement on behalf of a class member who had been arrested far outside New England, in Florida, while his request to reopen his case was pending. The government argued the settlement only protected people arrested within Boston’s ICE jurisdiction. Judge Saris disagreed on the narrow question in front of her: she held that once a class member’s request to reopen is pending, removing that person from anywhere in the country would undercut the very benefit the settlement was built to protect. She was careful to note that her ruling addressed only removal during a pending request, not whether the settlement’s broader protection against arrest and detention reaches beyond ICE’s Boston field office.
That fight is still active. In August 2026, the attorneys representing the settlement class asked the court to enforce the agreement again, this time on behalf of two more class members, arguing ICE had not lived up to its obligations under the deal. The dispute remains before the court as of this writing. Whatever the outcome, both episodes show the settlement is being watched, tested, and actively enforced, not treated as an old agreement nobody remembers.
Why This May Matter for Your Family
This settlement may be relevant to you if you are a U.S. citizen married to someone with a final deportation order, or if you are the spouse carrying that order. It generally reaches noncitizen spouses who have not left the country under their removal order, who live in or are detained within Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine, and whose U.S. citizen spouse has filed, or already had approved, a family petition on their behalf.
Meeting that general outline does not guarantee ICE will agree to join a request. Details like immigration history, prior court proceedings, and the exact wording of a removal order can all shape how a case is evaluated, which is exactly why a case-specific review matters before anyone relies on this.
Taking Advantage of the Calderon Settlement Before January 2027
For families who qualify, reopening the deportation case is the first step, not the last one. Clearing the old order does not, by itself, grant any status. What typically comes next depends on how the noncitizen spouse originally entered the country. Someone who entered on a visa may be able to pursue a green card through marriage while remaining in the United States. Someone who entered without inspection usually has to leave for a consular interview abroad, which can trigger a separate reentry bar unless a provisional waiver is approved first.
None of this has to be figured out alone, and none of it should wait until the settlement’s window has already closed. If ICE has already detained a family member, our guide on what to do if a family member is detained by ICE in Massachusetts covers the first steps to take. If your family hasn’t been through that yet, the better time to find out where you stand is now, while the settlement is still in effect.
Brooks Law Firm has represented immigrant families across Massachusetts and New Hampshire for years, and we can look honestly at your situation and tell you whether the Calderon settlement, or another path entirely, fits your family’s case. Reach out to Brooks Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation. Call (617) 245-8090.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Every immigration case is different, and only an attorney who has reviewed your full history can tell you whether the Calderon settlement applies to your situation.
