Elia smiles as she speaks, moving her scrunchie-laden wrists to describe two things that bring her joy: math and basketball. She pauses a moment to ask her foster mom how to say volleyball in English.
The 17-year-old from Central America is a recipient of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, a humanitarian protection for immigrant children who survived neglect, abuse or abandonment from one or both parents. She’s had nearly two years of stability here in the U.S.. But now, that’s in jeopardy.
“My attorney called and said I have to be at the court hearing, so I went, but my attorney did the speaking to the judge,” Elia said in a video interview, tugging at the pink rose on her purple sweater. GBH News is using a pseudonym for Elia since she is a minor.
“I’m afraid I’m going to lose the opportunity to study. I’m just really confused,” she said.
In April, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rescinded a Biden-era policy that deferred deportation proceedings for youth who are current and future Special Immigrant Juvenile petitioners for green cards.
Elia is one of many immigrant youth and children who have been ordered removed from the country as a result, despite having already gained humanitarian relief to be in the U.S. legally. Other youth and children who have the same immigration status, or are in the process of getting it, fear they will be ordered to a court hearing and told to leave the country.
An hour before getting the life-changing call from her attorney, Elia was talking about college majors with Stacey, her foster mother. Right after the call, Stacey, connected with Elia’s therapist to get her additional emotional support. GBH News is not using Stacey’s real name due to concerns of repercussions on Elia from the Trump administration.
Federal immigration authorities ordered Elia to appear in court earlier this month, where she joined many children at a room in an Ascentria Care Alliance location in Worcester for a virtual immigration court hearing. Immigration Judge Omar Karram ordered her deported, but that’s on hold while she appeals the decision.
Worcester-based Ascentria is the only foster care service provider for the state’s Unaccompanied Refugees Minors Program. Staff there are used to representing children in routine immigration hearings. Recently, staff there say more children are being forced to miss school to attend hearings.
“These are children who are victims of extreme abuse, abandonment, neglect, trafficking, all kinds of things. And their escape to the United States was quite frankly the only option, and it is not an option that comes easily for them, “ Angela Snyder, supervising attorney at the Immigration Legal Assistance program at Ascentria. “There has been a systematic attack on the rights for these youth through the immigration system.”
The Trump administration cut funding to support unaccompanied minors’ legal representation with the organization in 2025. Some of the immigration policy changes have also caused adult Special Immigrant Juvenile visa recipients to have their work permits cancelled.
So far, no one in the program has been deported, but they’re concerned that could change, and more children have been ordered to hearings.
From immigrant to foster care
To gain that status, there are many requirements, including an order from a state court that children can’t return and live safely in their county of origin in order to get the status.
When unaccompanied immigrant children arrive in the U.S., they’re held at facilities run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which works with local provides to establish state guardianship and bring them into the specific state’s foster care system.
Two agencies co-administer the program, the state Department of Children and Families and the federal Office of Refugees and Immigrants. The Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which houses both DCF and ORI, told GBH News that the Office of Refugees and Immigrants has opened its help desk services for children with SIJs.
“Since the 1990s, Massachusetts has hosted children in foster care on behalf of the federal government’s Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program,” said a spokesperson for DCF. “The federal government has long held the responsibility to provide legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children, including those in the federal URM program. But the Trump Administration has cut that funding and rolled back longstanding protections against deportation, leaving vulnerable young people across the country without legal representation.”
The office said that for decades, immigration enforcement action against SIJ holders was deferred and Judges regularly cancelled deportation hearings for those children and young adults with SIJS, who were on a lawful pathway to a green card.
“Simultaneously, Immigration Court Judges have been ordering these children deported, when in previous years their hearings would be delayed while they await their green card process,” said the spokesperson. “In Massachusetts, we are working to provide access to legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children and DCF-involved young adults through the Massachusetts Access to Counsel Initiative, the ORI Help Desk, and our contracted partners. This includes those in the care of the Department of Children and Families and other unaccompanied youth who hold Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.”
Elia spent a month at a federal facility in Texas for minors who arrived in the U.S. without parents. Then she was connected with her foster parents.
Stacey says of Elia, “she’s just pure joy and innocence.” She said Elia had an education gap, but has been able to make up at least four grade levels in less than two years. She’s now hoping to go to college after high school, and the family is supporting that dream with extra tutoring. Stacey proudly mentioned an award Elia recently got at school, and says the family was already planning her next birthday with a prom theme.
“We want to make sure she has that experience because we don’t know what’s going to happen. She has this deportation order. We don’t know if that means that it’s going to be appealed or there’ll be some legislation that stops it or that she’ll have to leave,” said Stacey.
Ascentia Care Alliance has 30 days to appeal her order of removal. Then the Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest court in immigration court system, must issue a timeline with deadlines for parties to file arguments.
Change affects older immigrants, too
People over 18 who have Special Immigration Juvenile status are nervous about what the changing policies can mean for them as adults, and their foster families are trying to be preemptive in supporting them.
One of those is Juan, a 20-year-old student from Central America who is studying to be an HVAC technician. GBH News isn’t using his real name because he’s afraid of being detained. He’s been in Central Massachusetts living with a foster parent since he was 15.
“I’ve done everything that has been asked of me, all of my responsibilities,” said Juan. He said he’s nervous about an upcoming court hearing in December, and doesn’t understand if it’s routine or not.
“I really don’t want to leave my studies, my dreams. My foster mom is my family,” he said. Juan is hoping to one day own his own business, and is working at a restaurant until he can finish the degree. “We’re here to work hard, build a future, and not hurt anyone, or take anything from anyone,” said Juan.
Grace, his foster mother, launched a change.org petition with over 1,200 views. GBH News is not using her last name due to her concerns of retribution of the Trump administration on Juan, and repercussions as a state employee. She wants to see the deferred action policy reinstated by the federal government, and accountability in the immigration courts.
The petition urges Gov. Maura Healey, the Department of Children and Families, and state legislators to take action to protect the youth from deportation. It is unclear what can be done on a state level, however. The Governor’s office referred to Health and Human Services’ comment to GBH News. A spokesperson said the administration had spoken with the petition creator and spoke to her again on Friday.
“I’m hoping that they’ll be able to either connect me with the right contacts in order to find procedural safeguards for these kids or get the word out there to people to know that this is happening right here in Massachusetts,” said Grace.
