Special Immigrant Juvenile Work Permits
Setting the standard for detained immigrant children's living conditions and reuniting them with their families under the Flores Settlement.
The Issue
USCIS’s prolonged delays in adjudicating Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) petitions, violate the 180-day legal mandate, and unlawfully deprive vulnerable children of timely access to work permits and essential protections, leaving them exposed to the risks of homelessness and further harm.
What is a Special Immigrant Juvenile?
The Immigration Act of 1990 created a humanitarian immigrant classification known as Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJ). These immigrant youth have experienced abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment by their parent(s) in their home countries, and many entered the US as unaccompanied minors seeking safety and stability. Through this Act, Congress granted these children and youth a path to legalization of status (get a green card).
Campaign Statement
March 15, 2022 Spectrum News 1 Interview - Attorney Peter Schey and SIJ applicant Gabriel Flores
Current USCIS policy does not permit SIJ applicants to apply for work permits until both their SIJ applications are fully approved (which can take a year or more), and they are at the front of the quota line and can apply for permanent resident status, which can easily take several more years. Only then does USCIS allow SIJ applicants to apply for work permits. This policy causes young immigrant SIJ applicants to suffer extreme hardships, often including homelessness, hunger, the inability to continue their education, and extreme exploitation should they find underground work with employers uniformly violating federal “employer sanctions” and labor laws. Without employment authorization it is also often difficult, if not impossible, to procure a driver’s license or state ID card, a social security number, in-state tuition at public colleges, and scholarships and financial aid for continuing education. Our goal is the change these policies so that SIJ applicants are granted work permits soon after filing approvable SIJ applications rather than waiting years for USCIS to allow them to work legally.
Casa Libre v. Mayorkas
As it currently stands, immigrant juveniles who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned may apply for SIJ status. It often takes USCIS a year or longer to approve SIJ petitions even though a federal statute says this must be done in 180 days. In addition, even if a juvenile files a SIJ petition that is approvable (and the vast majority of such petitions are eventually approved), USCIS will not allow SIJ applicants to file applications for work permits until (1) their SIJ applications are finally approved, which may take a year or more, AND (2) they have reached the front of the visa quota line allowing them to file applications for adjustment of status, which may take another four or five years. Only then will DHS/USCIS permit SIJ visa recipients to file applications for work permits. So SIJ applicants around 16 to 21 years old who need to work to survive (especially if they have no family members here in the US) are forced to work in highly exploitative jobs, their employers universally violate federal employer sanctions laws, they are paid cash and work in unsafe conditions, they are afraid to report labor law and wage and hour law violations or crimes, and they often go hungry and without stable housing thanks to the DHS/USCIS policy of refusing to provide them with work permits. Unlike SIJ visa applicants, USCIS allows many other categories of applicants to apply for employment authorization even before their visa petitions are approved and long before they may apply for adjustment of status, including U visa applicants, T visa applicants, and others.
We believe (1) the discriminatory practice against young SIJ applicants is irrational and violates the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment, and (2) the long delays in approving SIJ petitions violate federal law which clearly states SIJ applications must be decided in 180 days.​
