The Power of Legal Status for Children

Rebecca Cusey, RILA Supervising Attorney

SIJS can be a powerful help to families and a clear pathway to legal status for a child.

Congress enacted SIJS, or Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, in 1990 to be a humanitarian response for immigrant children who have been mistreated by a parent and who have someone here in the United States willing and able to care for them.

It’s crafted for immigrant kids who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent. This means not everyone will qualify. But for those kids who have suffered these things, it can be a huge help.

SIJS starts as a custody case in the state court, in our clients’ cases, here in Virginia. The remaining parent, or in many cases, a surviving adult sibling, aunt, uncle, or cousin, files for custody of the child. Just as it would with any other custody case, the Virginia court looks at whether the custodian is fit to have custody of a child and whether the home is a nurturing setting for the child in which to thrive. If so, the court issues a custody order.

SIJS can have tremendous benefits in itself, outside of immigration status. Once the parent or custodian has sole custody, he or she can enroll the child in school, make medical care decisions for the child, get a passport for the child, and countless other benefits of legal custody.

After custody is established, a qualifying custody order from the state court is then sent to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services with an application that the child be granted special immigrant juvenile status. Those applications are usually granted relatively quickly and without much fuss. The child then has legal status in the United States and will not be sent back to his or her home country so long as he or she avoids criminal charges. Eventually, these children can apply for citizenship.

Children who have SIJS status become eligible for work permits. This means that when they are old enough, they can legally work and not be exploited by unscrupulous employers as brought to light by the New York Times recently.

SIJS also shields children from being deported to a country where there is no one suitable to care for them - or worse - where they would have to go back to the parents who abused or neglected them. Instead, it gives these kids security with their non-abusive parent or other open-hearted caregiver here.

It’s been an honor to come alongside dedicated single parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and even cousins who step up to care for children who otherwise would have no one to protect and nurture them.