The Calderon Jimenez Settlement grew out of a federal class action, Calderon Jimenez v. Mayorkas, Case No. 18-10225-MLW, decided right here in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Filed in 2018, the case was brought on behalf of U.S. citizens and their noncitizen spouses across New England who were living under deportation orders (final orders directing someone to leave the U.S., typically issued after an immigration court case). The court gave the settlement final approval on January 16, 2025, and its terms run for two years, ending January 16, 2027.

Here’s what the Calderon Settlement actually does for Massachusetts families, broken down into its core pieces:

• A path to reopen your case. Eligible noncitizen spouses can file a Motion to Reopen and Dismiss, a formal request asking the government to revisit a closed deportation case and end it.
• A presumption in your favor. ICE has agreed to “presumptively” join a properly documented request, meaning the settlement’s default leans toward approval rather than denial.
• Protection while you wait. For as long as the settlement runs, ICE’s Boston field office generally will not arrest, detain, or move to deport class members.
• A fixed window. The settlement runs for exactly two years, from January 16, 2025 through January 16, 2027, and neither benefit continues automatically once that window closes.

None of this happens on its own. Every piece depends on meeting the settlement agreement’s criteria and submitting a request that holds up to ICE’s review.

If you’re in Massachusetts and wondering whether the settlement applies to your family, a Calderon Settlement attorney would start by checking these factors:

• One spouse holds U.S. citizenship; the other spouse does not.
• The noncitizen spouse has a deportation order on record and has not left the U.S. under it.
• The U.S. citizen spouse has filed Form I-130, the petition proving the family relationship, and it is pending or already approved.
• The noncitizen spouse lives in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine, or is currently held by ICE in one of those states.
• The noncitizen spouse is 17 or older and has no green card application (Form I-485) already pending with USCIS.
• Apart from the deportation order itself, the noncitizen spouse would otherwise be positioned to pursue a green card through marriage in the U.S. or a waiver for consular processing abroad.

Brooks Law Firm is licensed to represent clients in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. If you live in Vermont or Maine and believe you qualify, mention that when you call so we can advise you on the best way to get help.

Meeting these general factors doesn’t settle the question on its own. Your immigration history, any prior court proceedings, and the specific wording of your removal order can all shape whether your case truly qualifies. An immigration attorney reviewing your documents can tell you where things stand.

Requesting reopening as a Massachusetts resident means putting together a package ICE can act on quickly, not just a letter stating that you qualify. At minimum, a complete request generally includes:

• A signed declaration stating your intent to pursue a green card, either through adjustment of status or consular processing, once your case is reopened.
• Proof of your marriage to your U.S. citizen spouse.
• Documentation showing your spouse’s I-130 petition, whether it’s pending or already approved.
• Evidence of your Massachusetts residence.
• Supporting documentation addressing your eligibility for either adjustment of status or a provisional waiver, depending on how you entered the country.

The request goes by email to ICE OPLA’s dedicated settlement inbox (Calderon-JMTR-Requests@ice.dhs.gov), and there’s no fixed timeline for a response; some requests are answered within weeks, others take months. Missing documentation, or a package that doesn’t anticipate ICE’s likely questions, is the most common reason a request stalls. We can help you prepare a complete, well-documented request from the start, so it moves through review as smoothly as possible. Call us at (617) 245-8090 for a free consultation to get started.

For Massachusetts families living with an old deportation order, the Calderon Settlement’s clock is already running, whether they know it or not. Any request to reopen a case has to reach ICE before the window shuts on January 16, 2027. Plenty of eligible families still haven’t heard about this settlement at all, and the deadline won’t bend for anyone who learns about it too late. If a deportation order has been quietly sitting in the background while your spouse’s petition waits, now is the time to find out if you qualify, not after the window has already closed.

Not every Massachusetts family’s request gets ICE’s agreement to join, and it helps to know what can stand in the way before you apply. ICE may decline to join a Motion to Reopen and Dismiss if it identifies any of the following:

• A threat to public safety, typically tied to serious criminal conduct.
• A threat to national security.
• A record of serious immigration benefit fraud.
• A pattern of repeat immigration violations.

These determinations are made case by case, not by a fixed checklist, and a single factor in someone’s history doesn’t automatically rule them out. If any of this sounds like it could apply to your situation, that’s a conversation to have directly with an attorney before you submit anything, not a reason to assume the door is closed.

For Massachusetts families, reopening and dismissing the case clears the obstacle. Getting the green card itself is a separate process that still has to happen next, and which path applies depends on how the noncitizen spouse originally entered the country.

Adjustment of Status in the U.S.

If the noncitizen spouse entered on a visa, filing Form I-485 may let them pursue a green card through marriage while staying right here in Massachusetts. Eligibility for this path depends on the details of the original entry and immigration history; some people who entered without inspection, or who have certain criminal convictions, aren’t eligible to adjust status in the U.S. and need to pursue the other path instead.

Consular Processing and the Provisional Waiver

If the noncitizen spouse entered without inspection, leaving the country to finish the green card process at a U.S. consulate can trigger a separate reentry bar of three or ten years. Form I-601A, a provisional waiver request, lets some people get that bar forgiven before they leave, which shortens the time spent apart from family. This path takes coordination between the reopened case, the I-130 petition, and the waiver application, and discretion applies at every stage.

None of this is simple or guaranteed. For many Massachusetts families, though, this is the first real opening they’ve had in years.

For Massachusetts residents with an old deportation order, the answer is yes, but not by asking to have it erased. 

The settlement works by clearing the legal record through the courts, not by making an old order disappear on its own. Once ICE agrees to join a Motion to Reopen and Dismiss, that motion goes to the immigration court that issued the original order. If the court grants it, the removal order is vacated, meaning it no longer stands in your way the way it once did. This is different from an appeal: an appeal challenges the original decision itself, while reopening under Calderon works around it through a separate legal path. That’s what actually clears the barrier to a green card, not the settlement by itself.

Brooks Law Firm doesn’t publish outcome statistics for Massachusetts Calderon Settlement cases, and we’d be skeptical of any firm that claims a specific success rate for this kind of relief; no organization tracks or publishes an official approval percentage for the settlement as a whole. 

What is publicly documented is the settlement’s own standard: ICE has agreed to “presumptively” join a properly documented request, meaning the default outcome favors approval unless ICE identifies one of a narrow set of disqualifying factors. In practice, that means the strength of your specific request, not a general statistic, is what matters most. 

An attorney can review your situation and tell you honestly where you stand.

Massachusetts falls within the jurisdiction of ICE’s Boston field office, and that matters for what protection looks like during the settlement period. Beyond the reopening process itself, the settlement puts real limits on ICE enforcement against class members. For the full two-year period, ICE’s Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations office generally cannot arrest, detain, or seek to remove a class member, or force them to leave the country, unless a senior ICE official determines the person is a threat to public safety or national security. This protection stands alongside the reopening process, not in place of it, and it holds only while the settlement remains active.

A request under the Calderon Settlement goes to the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) field office that holds jurisdiction over the original removal order, which for Massachusetts cases is the Boston OPLA office, not to the immigration court directly. If ICE agrees to join, an attorney files a joint Motion to Reopen and Dismiss with the immigration court that issued the removal order. Because the request is joint, meaning both sides are asking for the same outcome, the immigration judge typically grants it. Once the order is vacated, the deportation case underlying it no longer stands in the way.

Even if the original removal order came from an immigration court outside Massachusetts, reopening can still be requested under the settlement as long as the person currently lives in a qualifying New England state. Because the paperwork has to hold up to ICE’s review, an attorney typically prepares and handles the filing rather than a family navigating it alone.

Brooks Law Firm handles Calderon Settlement matters on a flat fee, collected over time, so Massachusetts families know what to expect going in. We’ll go over the fee for your specific situation during your consultation.

A deportation order from years ago doesn’t have to define what happens next for your Massachusetts family. If you’re married to a U.S. citizen and still living under an old removal order, a Calderon Settlement attorney at Brooks Law Firm can look honestly at your situation and lay out your options before the January 16, 2027 deadline arrives. Have questions about your situation? Call Brooks Law Firm at (617) 245-8090 or reach out to us online to schedule a free consultation. We’re here to listen and help you understand your options.

This content 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 you qualify for relief under the Calderon Settlement.

Sources: Calderon Settlement summary, ACLU of Massachusetts (class counsel)

Calderon Joint Motion to Reopen and Dismiss template, ACLU of Massachusetts