(Reuters) – U.S. immigration authorities launched new insurance policies on Monday that can make it simpler for immigrant minors who’re victims of parental abuse and neglect to qualify for green cards, finalizing modifications first proposed greater than a decade in the past.
The rules from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) develop the pool of people who’re eligible for “particular immigrant juvenile” (SIJ) standing and make clear the varieties of proof that have to be submitted to assist an software.
The program created in 1990 permits immigrants beneath 21 to apply for everlasting residency within the United States if a state court docket determines that they want safety and that returning to their house international locations could be unsafe. Since 2010, greater than 130,000 purposes have been accredited.
Immigrant advocates and attorneys have turned to the SIJ program as one avenue to provide younger migrants who had come from violent pasts a path to authorized residency within the United States. But some critics have criticized this system as a loophole that’s too permissive and encourages extra migration.
During the Trump administration, USCIS dramatically elevated requests for documentation from candidates for SIJ standing, drawing out many instances.
The company additionally denied many petitions filed by candidates over the age of 18, reasoning that they have been ineligible as a result of state household courts lacked jurisdiction over them.
The rules adopted on Monday are designed to streamline the method, USCIS stated, by making clear what varieties of paperwork are wanted to show eligible for SIJ standing. They additionally clarify that any particular person youthful than 21 could apply for this system.
USCIS Director Ur Jaddou in an announcement stated the insurance policies would assist kids who’re abused or deserted rebuild their lives within the United States.
“These insurance policies will present humanitarian safety to weak younger folks for whom a juvenile court docket has decided that it’s of their greatest curiosity to stay within the United States,” she stated.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
