Join us in asking Congress for the passage of the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act.
Right now, thousands of children and young people are in the United States under the protected "Special Immigrant Juvenile" classification. To get this classification, applicants had to appear before a state court judge and prove that they cannot be returned to their parents or their home country due to abandonment, neglect, or abuse. The classification alone is not a legal status, and for the many years while their cases are settled, the immigrant youth are never authorized for employment or receive other rights unless they apply for a separate visa.
The only form of visa that is available to the special-case juvenile immigrants is the EB-4 visa, the same category of visas that religious workers apply for. Visas in this category are capped, and the current backlog for EB-4 visas is over five years long.
Young people who have been abandoned, neglected, or abused fall into a different category of situation altogether. They should not be competing for a visa within the same category as religious workers. Given the length of time of the backlog, the young people here now will become adults without getting work authorization, unable to return to their home country and unable to provide for themselves in the United States. Meanwhile, religious workers and other EB-4 applicants should not be under the same visa caps as the Special Immigrant Juveniles.
The Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act would help reduce the extreme backlog for EB-4 visas, including for religious workers like Catholic clergy. For the youths, this bill can mean the difference between a young person being able to lawfully work and self-sustain as one matures, or becoming eternally dependent, homeless, or subject to exploitation.
Use the form below to contact your members of Congress.
Photo above by Yannis H via Unsplash
Photo below by Mani Albrecht of Border Patrol Agents at Brown Field Station handing a child a juicebox, courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection via Flickr.