Created by Congress in 1990, the Special Immigrant Juvenile program seeks to aid foreign minors living in the United States. Minors unable to live with one or both of their parents in their home country due to abandonment, neglect, or abuse, may be eligible for special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS). SIJS permits a minor to remain in the United States and apply for legal permanent residency, and eventually, US citizenship.

Why is it important?

Last year, we wrote about the surge of Central American children crossing the US-Mexico border. While the number of unaccompanied minors entering the US has decreased, the motivations underlying their entry remain. Poor conditions in Central America, including poverty and gang-related violence, still prompt thousands of minors to flee their home countries every year. While some of these minors may be eligible for asylum (for individuals who have been persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group), U visas (for victims of certain crimes in the US who aid law enforcement in investigating or prosecuting the offender), or T visas (for victims of human trafficking), others are better candidates for SIJS.