Washington, D.C. –
KIND applauds the reintroduction of the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Representatives Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). The bipartisan bill would bring overdue reforms to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) for abused, abandoned, and neglected children by exempting them from annual visa limits to ensure their access to vital protection.
Senator Cortez Masto and Representative Gomez are simultaneously leading their colleagues in an important request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for more information about why for the last several months Special Immigrant Juveniles have not been receiving deferred action, which protects them from deportation while they wait for their visa to be approved. Due to a visa backlog, it can take years for a Special Immigrant Juvenile to be able to apply for a green card. The Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act would greatly decrease the amount of time Special Immigrant Juveniles would have to wait for their visa, moving them into protected status far more quickly, and eliminate the need for deferred action in the first place.
“The Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act would offset systemic delays and backlogs that place green cards out of reach during years-long wait times,” said Jennifer Podkul, KIND’s Chief of Global Policy and Advocacy.
“In the meantime, it is greatly concerning that Special Immigrant Juveniles have not been receiving deferred action in recent months,” Podkul added. “Withholding deferred action from children whom the U.S. government has recognized as survivors of parental abuse, abandonment, and neglect puts them at risk of return to dangerous conditions in their countries of origin despite USCIS’s recognition of the determination by state family courts that such returns are not in the child’s best interests. In addition, denying these young people documentation that would allow them to lead stable lives and work toward independence greatly heightens their risk of being trafficked or exploited.”
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) was established by Congress in 1990 as a form of legal protection for immigrant children who have survived parental abandonment, abuse, neglect, or similar circumstances. To approve a petition for SIJS, USCIS must review the findings of a state court determining that parental reunification is not viable and that it is not in the child’s best interests to be returned to their country of origin. After a SIJS petition is approved, the young person may apply for a green card, subject to an annual quota system that is severely backlogged. Deferred action enables children who have been granted SIJS by the U.S. government but who have not yet received green cards to remain safely in the country.
Starting in 2016, due to delays and backlogs in the immigration system, young people found eligible for protection through SIJS are forced to wait years before receiving their green cards – a protracted legal limbo. While awaiting green cards these young people faced an ongoing threat of deportation. These youth also lacked access to work permits that often serve as children’s sole identification documents and that enable them to obtain Social Security Cards; driver’s licenses; essential medical treatment and health insurance; higher education; bank accounts; and, for older youth, lawful, safe, and appropriate employment and training opportunities. The advent of deferred action for SIJs in 2022 offset the worst of those harms for youth during their long waits for green cards. Many of the special immigrant juveniles whom the administration is depriving of deferred action are the same children that the administration recently deprived of legal representation, leaving this particularly vulnerable population even more unsafe.
KIND urges the administration to continue considering SIJS recipients for deferred action and calls upon Congress to pass the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act, actions that would help provide safety and stability to abused, abandoned, and neglected children so that they can build a secure future and confidently contribute to their communities.
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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990