Attorneys say children seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status face questioning in some local probate courts that goes beyond the federal eligibility test. Some children who already hold the status have also faced removal orders in immigration court.
The state-court process begins in the Connecticut probate court, where judges in Bridgeport and Naugatuck have asked children about their English skills and school grades, lawyers say. Those questions do not appear among the federal requirements.
Petitions increased during the Biden administration, then fell. In the first six months of 2026, probate courts received 551 petitions, less than half the number filed in the same period of 2025.
“I have had a client with this status be ordered removed from the United States,” said Addie Dickens, an attorney with Connecticut Legal Services. Dickens said other children have left the country out of fear, returning to places where they had not been safe.
State judges make findings before federal officers review petitions
The process has two stages. A state juvenile court makes findings about a child’s care and safety; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services then considers the federal petition.
An applicant must be under 21, unmarried and present in the United States. The child must be declared dependent on a juvenile court or placed in the custody of a state agency, department or court-appointed person. State custody is not required in every case, and the child need not rely financially on the state.
The court must find that reunification with one or both parents is not viable because of abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar state-law basis. It must also find that returning to the child’s or parent’s home country, or the child’s last habitual residence, would not be in the child’s best interest. The standards appear in INA § 101(a)(27)(J) and 8 C.F.R. § 204.11(c)(1-3).
Applicants seeking permanent residence file Form I-360 and Form I-485. They may submit both together or file the first and wait for a decision before filing the second; USCIS advises concurrent filing. There is no fee for the SIJS Form I-360, while a fee applies to the Form I-485.
Congress created the status in the Immigration Act of 1990. The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 later revised eligibility criteria and streamlined the application process.
Connecticut probate authority stops short of federal eligibility age
Connecticut law has drawn a line at age 18 for probate findings, although federal eligibility can extend to age 21. Testimony to lawmakers described Connecticut’s definition of a minor as a person under 18 and probate courts’ authority to make the required findings as ending at that age.
Public Act 14-104 took effect October 1, 2014, implementing part of the 2008 federal law. A later proposal, H.B. No. 5185, sought to extend probate jurisdiction for an unmarried person under 21 who depended on a competent caregiver and consented to the appointment or continuation of a guardian after turning 18. The requested authority would apply solely to a USCIS petition under the SIJS law.
Attorney Joanne Lewis of Connecticut Legal Services cited the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in Henry P. B-P in testimony supporting the bill. Henry turned 18 while a probate guardianship case was pending. The court dismissed the case, which left him ineligible for the federal status, Lewis said; the state Supreme Court urged lawmakers to address the circumstances of abused, neglected and abandoned young people between 18 and 21.
Lewis said New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts had raised the age to 21 for children in this position. Her testimony also identified California, Washington and Maryland as states offering protection.
Filings surged before applications and arrivals dropped
Connecticut received only a few hundred petitions annually before 2021. More than 400 arrived in 2021, and the number roughly doubled in each of the next two years. Filings topped 1,700 in both 2024 and 2025.
The total surged early in 2025 and fell later that year. Lawyers point to reduced migration to the United States under President Donald Trump and growing concern among immigrants already here that filing with the government could expose them to detention or deportation.
Unaccompanied minors entering Connecticut peaked at 1,441 in 2021 and remained above 1,000 annually until last year. Just 196 entered in 2025. The growth in petitions followed an increase in unaccompanied minors released by the Department of Homeland Security to sponsors in Connecticut.
Children without counsel face removal proceedings nationwide
A Vera Institute of Justice analysis found that unaccompanied minors lacked legal representation in about 55% of nearly 50,000 immigration cases completed as of August 2026, the highest share since 2019. Deportation orders for children identified as unaccompanied minors topped 7,300 in July, compared with 3,500 in May and 2,000 in January 2025.
At a September hearing in New York City, six children ages 13 to 17 appeared by video before immigration judge Lisa W. Ling. Five boys and one girl had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone, and none had a lawyer. A lawyer serving as a court adviser urged the judge to allow more time to find counsel, but Ling continued.
“Do you want the voluntary departure?” Ling asked a 15-year-old boy from Guatemala. “Yes, that's fine,” he replied. The hearing account left unclear whether he understood that the decision meant giving up on obtaining legal status and agreeing to leave the country.
Other cases involved younger children. In Texas, a 7-year-old agreed to leave without a lawyer present to explain the consequences. In Arizona, an immigration judge ordered a 1-year-old baby to file an asylum application. The child appeared with a 17-year-old mother who was herself an unaccompanied minor.
Migrant children do not have a right to court-appointed lawyers. A 2008 law nevertheless directs the federal government to provide unaccompanied minors representation “to the greatest extent practicable.” The Office of Refugee Resettlement, within the Department of Health and Human Services, carries that responsibility.
The office says it has sought to overhaul its legal-services contract to strengthen oversight, reduce backlogs, curb fraudulent claims and improve vetting against abuse and trafficking. It is in a dispute with the Acacia Center for Justice amid a monthslong contract battle between the Trump administration and the nonprofit network that has long served migrant children. The Vera Institute held the federal legal-services contract until December 2023.
Meghann LaFountain, an immigration attorney and legal-services director at Building One Community, described the accounts children may have to give in court.
“We're talking about cases of rape and sexual assault and violence and really horrible situations,” LaFountain said. “You've prepared this child to have to talk about all of these things, just to be told, 'No, I really don't think that you should stay here'”
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
