Vitor Lopes Ramiro is shy, quiet but earnest as he folds his hands on the table of a Boston law firm.
The 21-year-old was recently released from federal immigration detention. “Every moment, I was worried about being deported to Brazil,” he said in Brazilian Portuguese through an interpreter.
Lopes Ramiro is one of many young immigrants in Massachusetts and across the nation with a legal protection called Special Immigrant Juvenile status, or SIJ. As part of a continued effort to ramp up deportations, advocates say the Trump administration is now focusing on detaining youth with this status.
“They’re trying new methods to try to hit their quotas and hit their numbers — it’s easier to target people who are playing by the rules,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, which is part of Lopes Ramiro’s legal team.
There are at least 5,000 people in Massachusetts who have Special Immigrant Juvenile status.
SIJ requires an application to and approval from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which falls under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.
To get the humanitarian relief, people under 21 must prove they were abused, neglected or abandoned by one or both parents, and that it is in their best interest to remain in the U.S. The applicant has to be under 21, unmarried, and declared a dependent in a state family court. State courts issue a judgement about the family custody issues before an application is filed with USCIS. Reunification with one or both of the youth’s parents must no longer be a viable option because of neglect or abuse. After SIJ is granted, recipients can eventually apply for a green card.
SIJ was created in 1990 by Congress under Republican President George H. W. Bush.
‘I wasn’t here illegally’
Lopes Ramiro left Brazil at 19, crossed the border near El Paso last summer, and interviewed with an immigration agent who released him into the U.S. after judging that his fear of returning to Brazil was credible. He came alone, fleeing what his attorney called “severe abuse” from a family member in Brazil. He came to Massachusetts because he had family here and says there was no one else in Brazil he could turn to.
By June of this year, he had a pending asylum claim, SIJ status, and another legal status called deferred action. Under the Biden administration, deferred action was often granted to SIJ recipients to protect them from deportation during the lengthy process of their case being decided. On June 6, USCIS rescinded that deferred action policy.
On June 16, Lopes Ramiro received a text message from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, telling him to appear at a previously unscheduled appointment at the Burlington ICE processing center.
He wanted to “follow the rules,” so he went and was detained. Hours later, he was transferred to an ICE detention facility in Plymouth County. Still, he had no idea why he was there and was unable to talk to any family or an attorney for over a day. Lopes Ramiro said he was strip searched, then slept in a unit with 40 other men and witnessed other detainees fighting in tight quarters near him. He said he felt anxious that he couldn’t move away from them.
Due to the USCIS policy change, Lopes Ramiro lost his deferred action status while he was in the Plymouth facility, increasing his risk of being deported.
“I noticed a complete lack of respect for the process and the laws that currently exist,” said attorney Annelise Araujo about why she took on Lopes Ramiro’s case. “We’re talking about somebody who had two statuses. They had special immigrant juvenile status and deferred action. And he was arrested, given no reasons why he was being arrested.”
Araujo and the ACLU of Massachusetts filed a federal habeas petition, arguing that Lopes Ramiro’s due process rights were violated by his allegedly unlawful arrest.
While awaiting his bail hearing, District of Massachusetts Judge Brian Murphy blocked ICE from moving Lopes Ramiro to another state, similar to what’s been done for other immigrants.
Government claims fraudulence among youth
ICE didn’t return requests for comment, but a report issued last week by USCIS’ fraud division sheds light on the government’s new focus on SIJ recipients.
The agency claims there has been an increase in age and identify fraud, and false claims about parental maltreatment. The report said MS-13 is “a significant threat” within the program, citing that more than 500 known or suspected members of the gang received SIJ status since 2013.
From FY 2021 through FY 2025, the top four states from which SIJ petitions originated were New York, California, Massachusetts and Maryland, with 60% of petitioners being over 18.
The report also mentions Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras as comprising almost three-quarters of all SIJ recipients — countries plagued by economic and political upheaval, along with gang violence.
While no official policy change regarding SIJ has been announced, the USCIS press release that accompanied the release of the report suggests that all SIJ cases are now under review. The end of deferred action status for SIJ applicants and recipients is also an indicator.
“Criminal aliens are infiltrating the U.S. through a program meant to protect abused, neglected, or abandoned alien children,” USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in the release. “This report exposes how the open border lobby and activist judges are exploiting loopholes in the name of aiding helpless children.”
The day before deferred action was canceled for SIJ recipients, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Jim McGovern and other legislators wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, demanding explanations for why there have been significant changes in the program.
“We write to express our concern regarding recent changes seen in determinations of deferred action for youth with special immigrant juvenile status, and to request further information about SIJS deferred action policy and adjudications,” they wrote. “Since early April, SIJS recipients have been receiving SIJS approval notices without deferred action determinations. This leaves abused and abandoned youth in legal limbo while heightening their vulnerability to exploitation.”
Government shifts arguments to keep SIJ holder detained
Lopes Ramiro’s attorneys say he has no criminal record in the U.S. or Brazil. GBH News reviewed local, state and federal court records and could find no evidence or mention of criminality.
Araujo said the government changed its legal justification for detaining Lopes Ramiro just before his bail hearing this week — at first saying they wanted to remove him from the country through expedited removal, which wouldn’t allow him to see an immigration judge, to instead detaining him under “mandatory detention,” a recent policy under which the government doesn’t allow most detained immigrants to be released on bond.
In court filings reviewed by GBH News, the government admits that Lopes Ramiro had two valid immigration statuses at the time of his arrest, and that at the border he “provided a credible fear review at his request and an immigration officer made a positive finding in that regard.”
Judge Murphy ordered Lopes Ramiro released on bail and set a hearing for this fall on the rest of the habeas claim. He remains in deportation proceedings.
He said he wants to get back to work building commercial buildings and schools. He said his company “is very supportive” of his effort to study and become a machine operator. But since his release from detention, he’s grown anxious about the future.
“I’m very afraid because of the way they arrested me,” he said. “I don’t know if they will see me on the street and arrest me, take me to a place where I don’t know, like they did.”
