Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
Coverage of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in the Nexus archive.
- Legal services contract expires, and unaccompanied immigrant children face deportation
A legal services contract for unaccompanied immigrant children expired, leaving over 20,000 children without legal representation. The Trump administration has not awarded a new contract, raising concerns about increased deportations and a lack of transparency in the process.
- Unaccompanied immigrant children face deportation after legal services agreement expires
More than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children lost legal representation after the Trump administration allowed a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice to expire. Without lawyers, fewer than 10% of these children secure the right to remain in the U.S. during immigration proceedings. The Department of Health and Human Services has not announced a replacement contractor or transition plan.
- Immigration advocates sue federal government over removal of fee waivers for neglected kids
Immigration and children's rights nonprofits sued the Department of Homeland Security over the removal of fee waivers for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), a protection for abused, neglected, or abandoned immigrant children. The plaintiffs argue the government's abrupt termination of the long-standing $250 fee waiver violates the Administrative Procedure Act and misinterprets H.R. 1, which they claim does not prohibit SIJS fee waivers.
- Under Trump, deportations of once-protected immigrant kids have tripled
Under President Trump, deportations of unaccompanied immigrant minors have tripled compared to his last term. Elder Chavez, an 18-year-old granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, faces deportation after a traffic violation, despite having no criminal record and pursuing permanent residency. Immigration judges have issued over 10,000 removal orders monthly for such minors, a rate four times higher than in Trump’s last term.