Special Immigrant Juvenile Status is a valid and long-standing immigration remedy created to protect the most vulnerable members of society—undocumented, abused, abandoned and neglected immigrant children—and is uniquely dependent on state courts’ expertise in child welfare matters. Its scope is far narrower than recent news reports suggest; of the more than one million applications for lawful immigration status to federal immigration authorities nationwide each year, special immigrant juvenile status petitions represent less than one percent of the applications received.
Recent news reports have alleged a pattern of fraud in which unknown numbers of South Asian youth were instructed by unethical attorneys to lie about their personal histories in Queens Family Court in order to obtain legal status in the United States. Unfortunately, these reports have called into question an urgently needed immigration protection. They have also questioned the role and authority of the Family Court in these matters, and created an aura of suspicion around immigrant children and youth who are validly seeking protection from Family Court.
