The Biden administration this week announced that it will make a program providing abused children and young people with a pathway to citizenship more accessible, including allowing applicants to be considered for work permits and protection from deportation if visas aren’t immediately available to them.
“Today, we are taking action to help immigrant children in the U.S. who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned and offer them protection to help rebuild their lives,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Jaddou said. “These policies will provide humanitarian protection to vulnerable young people for whom a juvenile court has determined that it is in their best interest to remain in the United States.”
Reuters reports that 130,000 applications have been approved for the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program since 2010, which allows children and young people to apply for a green card “when the petitioner has provided evidence of court-ordered relief from parental abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis under state law,” USCIS said.
But the abused children and young people have in recent years been faced with roadblocks in applying, including under the previous administration, when “USCIS dramatically increased requests for documentation from applicants for SIJ status, drawing out many cases,” Reuters continued. The report said that applicants over 18 were also frequently rejected, despite eligibility criteria clearly stating that applicants can be 21 (and under).
The Biden administration now say its “updating an age-out provision to protect petitioners who turn 21 while their petition is pending,” as well as “updating regulations for evidentiary requirements to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the program,” the statement continued. Changes made by the Biden administration were initially proposed a decade ago, Reuters said.
”The regulations also make clear that petitioners cannot be required to contact their alleged abuser while USCIS makes a decision in their SIJ case,” USCIS said. “An SIJ petitioner may have an attorney, accredited representative, and/or trusted adult present, if an interview is scheduled, but only attorneys and accredited representatives are entitled to make a statement during such interviews.”
As noted earlier, USCIS will also consider applicants for more urgent relief, including work permits and protection from deportation, when visas aren’t immediately available.
“This is a huge deal for so many young people who should have a pathway to citizenship through SIJS, but have had to wait up to five years before actually receiving their green cards—a period during which they are at extreme risk of homelessness, exploitation, & deportation,” tweeted TIME immigration writer Jasmine Aguilera. She said that a 21-year-old SIJ applicant, Ariel, called the news of deferred action “the happiest day of my life.”
”Now, I will be able to attend college, get a job and be self-sufficient,” Ariel told Aguilera. “This will be a huge turning point in my life. I feel free and I am beyond excited for my future and the futures of so many other youth.”
In a separate major immigration policy move benefitting young people last May, the Biden administration also announced that it would be reinstating the Obama-era Central American Minors program, which allows Central American kids to be able to reunite with parents who were already in the U.S. and have legal status. Ken Paxton, the very corrupt Republican attorney general of Texas, has since challenged the program. In targeting a program seeking to expand lawful pathways, Paxton and his allies are admitting they simply don’t want any immigrants here, period.
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