Abused and neglected youths granted immigration protections are being detained and deported

Immigrant youth granted legal protections face detention and deportation

Young immigrants who endured abuse or neglect were granted a route to permanent residency through a special program. However, under the Trump administration, these individuals were detained and sent back to their home countries. From January 20 to December 22 of last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) held 265 youths and deported 132 with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), as revealed in a letter from the Department of Homeland Security to Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., obtained exclusively by NBC News.

“They are tearing them away from the stability that they’re in, the lives that they’re building on their pathway to permanent protection,” said Rachel Davidson, director of the End SIJS Backlog Coalition, a group affiliated with the National Immigration Project.

The SIJS program was established in 1990 by Congress to shield minor immigrants who had been victims of abuse, abandonment, or neglect in their countries of origin. This status provides a pathway to legal residency, with eligibility requiring applicants to be under 21 when they apply. Due to a backlog in green card applications, SIJS recipients were also granted deferred action since 2022, protecting them from removal and enabling them to work legally in the U.S. while awaiting their visa approvals.

In June, the Trump administration ended the deferred action policy for SIJS beneficiaries. Though the policy remains paused due to a court case, the Department of Homeland Security maintains that SIJS “does NOT confer lawful status.” The agency claims the program is “infected with fraud and abuses” as hundreds of adult gang members were admitted under the Biden administration.

Senator Cortez Masto emphasized that these youths were specifically targeted because they fled their countries under dire conditions. “We do not want them to be further harmed or exploited in our country, so we have created specific provisions under the law to protect their best interests,” she stated.

Emma Israel, a senior policy analyst at Kids in Need of Defense, noted that the numbers provided by DHS were “much higher than we expected.” The agency reported that the 132 individuals deported were charged with immigration violations, including being in the U.S. without admission or lacking valid visas. Federal data did not specify whether any of these youths faced criminal charges or convictions.

A recent case highlights the urgency of this issue. In May 2025, ICE deported a 16-year-old named Elias to Guatemala despite his having been granted SIJS in July 2024. Elias arrived in the U.S. alone at age 14 in 2023 after enduring “severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect at the hands of his mother,” according to court documents filed in his defense. He was released into Louisiana with his father and relatives but continued to live in fear of his mother and her partner.

“The physical abuse that he suffered was so severe that he was admitted to the hospital for his injuries,” the complaint stated. “The neglect he faced was constant: Elias was often left alone for days or even weeks at a time without access to food.”

Earlier in April 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services abruptly terminated Elias’ deferred action without notice or explanation, as detailed in the lawsuit. His father was briefly detained by ICE and instructed to return to Guatemala with his children. On May 21, 2025, Elias was removed from the U.S. without a formal order, held in a hotel room in Alexandria, Louisiana for about 12 hours, and denied contact with his attorney. The National Immigration Project, an organization of legal professionals and advocates, described ICE’s actions as a “flagrant violation of federal law and Elias’ constitutional rights.”

DHS responded by asserting that Elias “was NOT illegally removed” and that “the father and son received full due process and were ordered removed by an immigration judge.” The father opted to accompany his son in the deportation. Elias’ legal battle continues, while other youths remain in ICE custody.