Latest news with #SIJ
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Trump Admin Identifies Gang Immigration 'Loophole'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A new report from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has raised concerns over the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program, citing instances of identity fraud and gang affiliations among applicants approved for lawful permanent residency. "The scale of criminality, gang involvement, and fraud described in this report is more extensive than in earlier public discussions of the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program," Morgan Bailey, a partner at Mayer Brown and a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, told Newsweek. One expert told Newsweek that Project 2025 had called for USCIS to bolster its fraud detection unit, with this latest report a sign of that effort. "It also reflects the Trump administration's terminations of the temporary, discretionary statuses granted under the Biden administration—humanitarian parole, deferred action, and temporary protected status (DACA being a notable exception)," Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told Newsweek. Why It Matters SIJ status is a form of humanitarian immigration relief available to undocumented minors in the United States who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one or both parents. It was created by Congress in 1990 to protect vulnerable youth from being returned to unsafe environments and to provide them a pathway to lawful permanent residency. Once SIJ status is granted, the individual becomes eligible to apply for lawful permanent residency. President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to carry out widespread removals as part of his pledge to conduct what Republicans describe as the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history. Police detain immigrants and asylum-seekers reporting for immigration court proceedings in New York City on July 24, 2025. Police detain immigrants and asylum-seekers reporting for immigration court proceedings in New York City on July 24, 2025. DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images What To Know USCIS said in a report that 853 known or suspected gang members filed SIJ petitions during the review period, including more than 600 affiliated with the MS-13 gang. Of those, over 500 applications belonging to suspected MS-13 gang members were approved, per the report. Many petitioners submitted their SIJ I-360 petitions after turning 18 and qualified based on determinations that one of their parents had abandoned or neglected them. The report also identifies approved petitions from individuals linked to other gangs, such as over 100 members of the 18th Street gang, at least three from Tren de Aragua (TdA), and several associated with the Sureños and Norteños. Bailey told Newsweek that there were various weaknesses in the program, particularly in how agencies communicate with one another, which can lead to opportunities for fraud or exploitation. The report, titled "Criminality, Gangs, and Program Integrity Concerns in Special Immigrant Juvenile Petitions," examines more than 300,000 SIJ petitions filed between fiscal year (FY) 2013 and February 2025. Over half the SIJ applicants in FY 2024 were between 18 and 20 years old, according to USCIS. Many applicants reportedly entered the United States without legal inspection, and some were found to have submitted petitions using false information about their age, identity, or nationality, the report claims. On June 6, USCIS rescinded a policy, in place since 2022, that automatically considered deferred action—temporary protection from deportation—for approved SIJ petitioners. "Criminal aliens are infiltrating the U.S. through a program meant to protect abused, neglected, or abandoned alien children," USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said in a press release. To qualify for SIJ, a state juvenile court must issue an order establishing dependency or custody or placement with a state‐appointed guardian, find that reunification with a parent is not viable due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and determine that returning to the child's home country would not be in the child's best interests. After USCIS approves the SIJ petition and a visa number becomes available, beneficiaries can apply to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident, thereby gaining the stability to build a safer future in the U.S. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in downtown San Diego, California. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in downtown San Diego, California. Getty Images What People Are Saying Morgan Bailey, a partner at Mayer Brown and a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, told Newsweek: "While these exceptions are well-intentioned, the program's relatively low statutory barriers to eligibility have also introduced vulnerabilities. Individuals who would otherwise be barred from obtaining lawful status may see the SIJ program as one of the few viable paths to remain in the United States and normalize their status. "While previous reports and policy analyses have noted some concerns about fraud and the need for better oversight, this USCIS July 2025 report is distinguished by its comprehensive data analysis, explicit documentation of criminal and national security risks, and detailed critique." Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told Newsweek: "Moving forward, I expect to see the Trump administration trying to deport some of the youth granted Special Immigrant Juvenile status, as happened before the Biden administration's deferred action program, since they remain vulnerable to deportation while they wait for visas to become available, if they do not have deferred action." USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said in a statement: "This report exposes how the open border lobby and activist judges are exploiting loopholes in the name of aiding helpless children." What Happens Next USCIS said it was looking at other ways to mitigate vulnerabilities in the SIJ program.
Miami Herald
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
USCIS just raised immigration fees. See what work permits and asylum now cost
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began enforcing on Tuesday new mandatory fees for certain immigration benefits, as required by the HR-1 Reconciliation Act, passed by Congress earlier this month. These new fees are in addition to existing USCIS filing fees and cannot be waived — even if the applicant qualifies for a fee waiver under existing Department of Homeland Security regulations. The changes, published in the Federal Register, apply to individuals filing for asylum, work authorization (EAD), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and other humanitarian benefits, including Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status. Higher fees for key immigration applications The newly imposed USCIS fees represent a significant increase for some of the most common forms used by immigrants in the U.S., particularly those from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and other Latin American countries. These are the main additional mandatory fees required under HR-1: ▪ Asylum application (Form I-589) Before: $0 - Now: $100 ▪ Annual fee for pending asylum cases Before: Not applicable - Now: $100 per year (USCIS will issue annual notices to collect this fee from individuals with pending asylum cases.) ▪ Initial work permit (Form I-765) Before: $410 - Now: $960 (Standard fee + $550 HR-1 surcharge) ▪ Work permit renewal (Form I-765) Before: $410 - Now: $685 (Standard fee + $275 HR-1 surcharge) ▪ Temporary Protected Status (Form I-821) Before: $135 (including biometrics) - Now: $665 (Breakdown: $50 base fee + $85 biometrics + $500 HR-1 surcharge) An additional $30 biometric fee may apply if required. ▪ Humanitarian parole renewal with work permit (Forms I-131 + I-765) Before: $390 - Now: $665 (Standard fees + $275 HR-1 surcharge) ▪ Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) petition (Form I-360) Before: $0 - Now: $250 Who must pay the new USCIS fees? The HR-1-mandated fees apply to a broad range of immigration applicants, including: ▪ Individuals applying for or with pending asylum ▪ Applicants requesting or renewing a work permit (EAD) ▪ Beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) ▪ Foreign nationals renewing humanitarian parole with employment authorization ▪ Youth applicants for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status Federal authorities emphasized that these fees cannot be waived or reduced, even if the base form is eligible for a fee waiver under DHS regulations. Because these charges are imposed by statute through the HR-1 reconciliation package, they are not subject to agency discretion, exemption or appeal. New limits on work permit validity In addition to the new fees, HR-1 also imposes changes to the validity period of Employment Authorization Documents for certain categories of immigrants. 'H.R. 1 also changed validity periods for some EAD categories,' USCIS said in an official release. 'For alien parolees, initial employment authorization is valid for a period of no more than one year or for the duration of the alien's parole, whichever is shorter. For aliens with TPS, initial and renewal employment authorizations are valid for no more than one year or for the duration of the alien's TPS status, whichever is shorter, ' USCIS stated. The shortened duration means that many parole and TPS beneficiaries will need to renew their work permits annually, adding financial and administrative burdens.
Boston Globe
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
A ‘special immigrant juvenile' designation used to offer some young immigrants security. These days? Not so much.
'I had everything in order,' he said in Spanish. 'I thought they were going to release me at that moment. But it wasn't like that. They checked everything and they cuffed me, my legs and my hands, and they put me in the black van.' Jaime, who asked to be identified only by his first name to limit the risk of retaliation against his family and friends, was sent to a federal prison in Berlin, N.H., where he was strip-searched and authorities insisted he was Advertisement Jaime remained behind bars for more than seven weeks, until a federal judge in New Hampshire ordered the government to release him. Congress Advertisement Since applicants often spend years waiting, the Biden administration said in 2022 it would automatically consider granting deferred action for each SIJ recipient. That way, people in Jaime's shoes could go about their lives without constant fear of detention and deportation. But stakeholders noticed the Trump administration began withholding deferred action from SIJ recipients in early April, according to 'This leaves abused and abandoned youth in legal limbo while heightening their vulnerability to exploitation,' the lawmakers wrote. The following day, US Citizenship and Immigration Services formally The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit whose advocacy for restrictive immigration policies has been The number of SIJ petitions approved each fiscal year by the federal government rose from about 40,000 in 2020 to a record high of nearly 71,000 in 2024, according to government data. More than 300,000 people have been approved as SIJ designees over the past 15 years, but that is a small subset of the US immigrant population and represents a group Congress has identified as deserving humanitarian relief. Advertisement Detentions have increased in recent months as the Trump administration pursues a quota of Jaime's immigration attorney, 'He's done absolutely nothing wrong,' she said. Jaime is from an Indigenous village in central Ecuador, where his parents and six siblings sometimes didn't have anything to eat, according to court records. He left home at 14 and rented a room in a nearby city, where he continued his studies while working in a factory slaughtering chickens. Jaime said his parents never called and never came to visit. Even when they were in the city for work, they didn't speak with him. In a sworn declaration, he told a Massachusetts judge he feels his parents don't love him and were relieved he left. 'I took care of myself the best I could,' he said. After being robbed twice within a year, including once at knifepoint, Jaime fled to the United States. Although he was 18 when he crossed the border, he was still eligible to receive the SIJ designation, since he had yet to reach his 21st birthday. Advertisement A juvenile court judge in Massachusetts agreed in 2024 that Jaime should stay in the US with a person who had given him guidance and support. The federal government then reviewed the state court's findings and approved his SIJ Still, when authorities detained him this year, they claimed they had no choice but to hold him without bond because he had entered the country illegally years earlier — a stance that ICE now appears to be taking with regard to The change reflects the Trump administration's push to hold more people in mandatory detention throughout their immigration court proceedings, rather than consider whether their release on bond would be safe and prudent. Jaime left home at 14 and said his parents never called or visited him, even when they were in his city. 'I took care of myself the best I could,' he said. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Jaime said immigration agents first took him to a crowded ICE field office in Burlington — the 'They don't give you anything there,' he said. Jaime then went to the Plymouth County Correctional Facility for four days, before being transferred to the federal prison in Berlin, N.H., which began housing ICE detainees He winced as he recounted how prison staff strip-searched him upon his arrival. 'At that moment, a lot of things, a lot of ideas go through your head,' he said, 'like, 'Why am I here? What did I do?'' Advertisement But he never got a clear understanding of why he was in the prison, let alone how long he would be there. 'No one tells you anything,' he said. Days and weeks crawled by. Fellow detainees fell ill, he said. Contact with the outside world was restricted to Seventy-five percent of the people in ICE custody at the Berlin prison in late June were noncriminal detainees, according to government data. Jaime's lawyer pleaded with immigration judges to release him. But they refused. So she turned to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, which filed a petition in federal district court in Concord, N.H., to challenge his detention. The government claimed it was Immediately after issuing her decision verbally on July 7, McCafferty conducted Jaime's bond hearing herself. When the government presented no evidence that he was a flight risk or posed any danger to the public, she ordered his release on personal recognizance. Williams wiped tears from her eyes as an interpreter relayed the ruling to Jaime, then she hugged her client and said she would drive him home to Massachusetts that evening and buy him a meal of his choice. Advertisement But he wasn't in the clear just yet. After the judge and the government's attorney left the courtroom, two ICE contractors said they wouldn't release Jaime, as a supervisor on the phone said there may be criminal charges pending. Meanwhile, a member of the US Marshals Service could be heard providing a physical description of Jaime to an unknown person on the phone, heightening concern that he could face further detention. The mood in the room shifted from celebratory to confrontational. Kasey A. Weiland, an assistant US attorney, returned to the courtroom and told the ICE contractors she was unaware of any criminal charges. She made multiple phone calls to resolve the tense situation she described as an apparent misunderstanding. About 45 minutes after McCafferty issued her order and left, the courtroom was nearly silent. The stare-down continued. With ICE contractors on one side of the room, Marshals on the other, and half a dozen attorneys in between, Jaime waited quietly at the table where he had sat all afternoon. Finally, an ICE contractor's phone rang and the directions came through: Jaime could leave. His legal team escorted him outside and drove away without further incident. A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons referred questions about Jaime's detention to ICE. Spokespeople for ICE, USCIS, and the US Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. Despite his ordeal, Jaime said he remains eager to pursue his green card and, ultimately, his US citizenship. Why? 'So what happened to me won't happen again,' he said. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Steven Porter can be reached at
Boston Globe
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Detained Providence teen was moved to Colorado days before asylum hearing because of ‘bed space,' ICE says
Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement 'The major disadvantage here is that she had an individual hearing date that was on the calendar,' Salazar Tohme said Tuesday. 'She already had her opportunity and her time slot to fight her case. Now she's been moved and it's starting over.' In response to emailed questions from the Globe, an ICE spokesperson said on Tuesday said Soriano-Neto was moved 'for reasons of bed space management.' 'There are a finite number of beds dedicated to ICE detainees at a given facility,' the spokesperson said. A Honduran national, Soriano-Neto was arrested in February by Providence police on charges of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor, Rhode Island court records show. Advertisement She was charged after Soriano-Neto was a student at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence at the time of her arrest, according to Salazar Tohme. She is no longer enrolled, however, a district spokesperson confirmed. Now, Soriano-Neto may never get her day in Providence County District Court for her criminal case before she is possibly deported, her criminal defense attorney, John MacDonald, ICE first publicized the case through a Then, Related : MacDonald said earlier this month the timing of the Soriano-Neto's transfer out of state 'absolutely smacks of retaliation.' 'The suggestion that ICE is somehow retaliating for media coverage is ridiculous,' the ICE spokesperson said. 'ICE does not allow coverage from the Boston Globe or any media outlet to dictate our operations.' MacDonald responded on Wednesday, saying the timing 'is either incredibly coincidental or ICE isn't paying attention to the immigration docket.' 'It's either cruelty or incompetence on their part,' he said. The ICE spokesperson said it is 'not at all unusual to move detainees.' 'The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) exists nationwide with immigration judges deciding cases on the basis of the [Immigration and Nationality Act], which applies across the entire country,' the spokesperson said. 'EOIR will schedule a hearing for Ms. Soriano-Neto. As of right now they have not scheduled her next hearing.' Advertisement The spokesperson also disputed that Soriano-Neto, who unlawfully entered the country as a child, was on a pathway to legal status at the time of her arrest. '[US Citizenship and Immigration Services], who granted the deferred action in her case, canceled her deferred action status after her arrest by the Providence Police Department,' the spokesperson said. 'USCIS is independent from ICE and they chose to cancel it.' Salazar Tohme, on Tuesday, maintained Soriano-Neto had an approved petition giving her a right to get a green card as a 'special immigrant juvenile.' Immigrants are eligible for SIJ status they have 'have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent,' according to 'Once her priority date comes current, what happens is that she is eligible to file the I-485 application to register as a permanent resident,' Salazar Tohme said. 'So that's certainly a pathway to legalization.' According to MacDonald, Soriano-Neto does not yet need to appear in Rhode Island state court for the criminal case against her, but he said it is typically 'very difficult to get any out-of-state client back in Rhode Island in ICE custody.' A warrant can be issued against her if she fails to eventually appear and therefore, she will not be allowed 'to ever legally come back into the United States,' MacDonald has said. The ICE spokesperson did not answer questions about why Soriano-Neto was detained before she was convicted. Asked how ICE determines which people it will pursue and whether individuals are detained based on the facts of the case or the charges alone, the spokesperson said, 'ICE will continue to arrest individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States.' Advertisement Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Newsweek
12-06-2025
- Newsweek
ICE Arrests Teenager Eating Lunch Weeks After Graduation
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Federal immigration agents allegedly arrested a Guatemalan immigrant and legal permanent resident without a warrant as he ate lunch at his home in Kentucky just weeks after he graduated from high school. Ernesto Manuel Andres, 18, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on June 4 in Bowling Green, according to immigrant advocates. "This is terrifying, if someone with legal protections like Ernesto can be taken this way, no one is safe." Luma Mufleh, founder of Fugees Family, told Newsweek. Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment. A federal agent stands watch outside an apartment complex during a raid Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in east Denver. A federal agent stands watch outside an apartment complex during a raid Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in east Denver. David Zalubowski/AP ICE agents were initially targeting someone else but apprehended Ernesto's father. While in custody, agents reportedly asked the father to bring them to their apartment complex—where Ernesto was inside eating lunch. "They initially detained Ernesto's father because he resembled someone they were targeting," Mufleh claimed. "ICE entered his apartment without a warrant while he was having lunch and took him, even after he informed them of his legal status," Mufleh said. "If this can happen to a young man who just graduated and followed every legal step, it raises serious questions about the safety and rights of others in our community," she added. Upon entering the apartment, ICE agents detained Ernesto on the spot, despite his efforts to explain that he held Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status and was protected under deferred action. His SIJ status—a legal protection granted to undocumented children in the U.S. who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one or both parents—should have shielded him from removal. Designed to offer vulnerable minors a pathway to lawful permanent residency, SIJ status is meant to protect them from deportation and ensure they can remain safely in the country as they rebuild their lives. Ernesto arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala in December 2022 and has lived in Kentucky for about two and a half years. Instead, he has been transferred between three detention facilities, with his current location listed as Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana. Family members say the arrest has left them devastated and fearful. "They're devastated and afraid. They thought Ernesto was protected. Now they fear for him, and for themselves," Mufleh said. Despite decent conditions inside the detention center—where Ernesto has access to a bed and meals—the repeated transfers have left him frightened and destabilized, according to Mufleh. No warrant was presented during the arrest. Advocates say the case raises serious questions about due process and the treatment of immigrants with legal status protections.
