Each year in Connecticut, thousands of immigrant children — some of whom arrived unaccompanied — apply for legal authorization to live in the U.S. through the federal immigration system. 

Under President Joe Biden, a growing number of those applicants petitioned for a legal status known as Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, SIJS, an option specifically designated for children and young adults under 21 who have been abused, abandoned or neglected by a parent. 

But lawyers representing SIJS applicants say the process, which starts in state court and then heads to the federal government for approval, can be expensive and emotionally taxing. Under the Trump administration, they say, the process has gotten more complicated — adding fear and anxiety for kids in especially difficult circumstances, living in a new country and processing traumatic experiences.

Applicants start in Connecticut probate court, and lawyers say children in some areas — specifically Bridgeport and Naugatuck — often face scrutiny from probate judges that’s not related to the federal application requirements. In these courts, lawyers say, children who should easily qualify are instead being interrogated about whether they speak English or how good their grades are.

The hurdles don’t stop there. The number of applicants for special status plummeted this year, partly due to fears of being deported mid-process. In immigration court proceedings, some people with the status are being told to leave the country, even though it historically allowed them to stay.

“I have had a client with this status be ordered removed from the United States,” Addie Dickens, an attorney with Connecticut Legal Services, said. “I’ve also had and know about more cases where children, because of how hostile it is right now in immigration court, have chosen to self-deport out of fear, returning to situations where they weren’t safe to begin with.”

The children and young adults applying for this status are increasingly choosing between two difficult options: sharing their traumatic story and risking deportation, or returning to the traumatic situation.

“We’re talking about cases of rape and sexual assault and violence and really horrible situations,” said Meghann LaFountain, an immigration attorney and director of legal services for the nonprofit advocacy group Building One Community. “You’ve prepared this child to have to talk about all of these things, just to be told, ‘No, I really don’t think that you should stay here.'”

A wave of applicants

Before 2021, there were only a few hundred SIJS petitions filed in Connecticut each year. But in 2021, more than 400 were filed. This number roughly doubled each of the next two years and topped 1,700 in 2024 and 2025.

This year, the number of applications filed will likely be much lower. In the first six months of 2026, only 551 petitions were filed in probate courts, less than half the number filed during the same time period in 2025.

SIJS petitions surged in early 2025 before dropping off later that year. The number of petitions filed in the first half of 2026 was half that filed during the same period in 2025.

The influx of applicants followed a sharp increase in the annual number of unaccompanied minor-aged immigrants released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to sponsors in Connecticut.

Unaccompanied minors entering the state hit a peak of 1,441 in 2021 and lingered above 1,000 each year until last year. Just 196 children entered Connecticut in 2025.

LaFountain and other lawyers attribute the decline in applicants to several factors, including an overall drop in international migration to the United States under President Donald Trump. And among immigrants already living in the U.S., there’s rising wariness that petitioning the government could lead to detention and deportation. 

“We’ve seen a lot of fear around not only the federal government but also state governments and seeking state services,” said Caroline Sennett, the chief legal program officer at the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants.

At each step of the process, new barriers

For those who set out to obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, lawyers say there are increasing challenges and potential setbacks at every step of what’s already a complex process. 

An applicant first petitions a state court to sort out their guardianship. This may mean removing an abusive parent as their guardian and establishing another relative or foster parent in place of the parent.

In June, the Department of Homeland Security sent a letter to state courts calling the SIJS program “rife with fraud” and urging them to “probe” applicants for specific details in their cases.

“The failure of state court judges to police the requirements of the SIJ process leads to tangible harm,” the letter reads. “It allows criminals, gang members, and even suspected terrorists to obtain lawful status, while eroding public trust and diverting court resources away from genuinely vulnerable children.”

But Connecticut lawyers say these vulnerable people are being turned away from the program because of state judges. In Connecticut, an applicant’s prospects can vary widely from one court to another. 

There are 54 regional probate courts and six regional children’s probate courts in Connecticut. State judges who take these cases look for proof that applicants cannot safely return to their home country, have been abused, abandoned or neglected by one or both parents, and that reunification with a parent is not possible. They also make decisions on guardianship based on state law and verify that applicants are unmarried and under 21, according to USCIS.

LaFountain and another lawyer who did not want to be named out of fear of retribution for their clients said Bridgeport’s probate court denies cases for reasons beyond the requirements. Presiding Judge Paul Ganim — the brother of Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim — frequently inquires about an applicant’s academic performance and proficiency in English, according to lawyers.

“I have had him ask questions … ‘What are your grades in school? Why do we want you here if you aren’t speaking English and your grades aren’t good?'” LaFountain said.

“When you’ve gone through trauma, it can be really hard to keep your grades up. It can be really hard to learn a new language because you have all this trauma, even just the trauma of getting to the U.S. and being in a new place and not being with your family or friends that you’re used to being around is traumatic,” LaFountain said. “So when you add on all of the extra things that have happened to someone, it can be really bad.” 

SIJS status is available to applicants up to age 21, but lawyers said Ganim isn’t inclined to approve it for applicants once they’ve turned 18. He also is hesitant to reassign guardianship if the child is getting proper medical and academic needs met under their current care, they said.

This leaves LaFountain offering clients what some may consider extreme advice: “Either move out of Bridgeport, or you have to be ready to appeal your case.”

Lea Oliveira, an immigration attorney based in Stamford, said she feels similarly about the Naugatuck probate court, which denied several of her clients’ petitions. Because of the denial rate, she doesn’t take cases out of Naugatuck anymore.

Representatives for the courts declined to make judges available to comment for this story.

The courts don’t release any information on decisions. But a count of appeals — attempts to overturn a judge’s decision on an SIJS case — shows that Bridgeport hears the most appeals yearly. Waterbury Regional Children’s Probate Court, which includes Naugatuck, heard the second-most in 2025 and 2026.

Some probate courts handle cases very differently, Oliveira said. She said she’s seen court staff hand out toys to children, for example. Often, hearings in other courts are brief, lasting just 15 minutes and ending in approvals, she said.

“I don’t see any other reason to deny SIJ cases, because they are so straightforward,” Oliveira said. “It’s black and white: If one of the parents abandoned the child, they shouldn’t give a hard time for the child to have the SIJ approved.”

Even the filing fees can vary from court to court, starting at $250 plus processing fees. In some courts, applicants must cover the cost of both the SIJ petition and the petition for change in guardianship. And some charge for other services such as printing or newspaper publishing. Some fees can be waived, but those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

LaFountain said she encourages clients whose probate cases have been denied to appeal. There’s a better chance of getting approved because appeals are handled in a separate court, she said. 

But they don’t always follow her advice. It can be difficult to tell and re-tell a traumatic story in a court setting, LaFountain said. And for some clients, the additional step is just not affordable.

Appeals can also become a race against the clock, since immigrants are only eligible to apply for SIJS status with USCIS until age 21.

What comes next

Once a probate court approves a case, obtaining SIJS status from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is relatively straightforward. 

To apply, immigrants file an I-360 form to USCIS. This form includes questions about the filer’s abuser, their immigration process and their nationality. With an approved I-360 petition, applicants officially have Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.

But the process doesn’t end there. SIJS holders must apply for a green card. There’s currently around a four-year waiting list for approval. 

While they wait, SIJS holders could be targeted for removal — adding another layer of anxiety to the process. In the past, SIJS applicants had deferred action, allowing people who did not have an immigrant visa immediately available to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident. If the U.S. opened removal proceedings against an SIJS recipient who was waiting on a green card, the case would typically be administratively closed, dismissed or terminated by an immigration court judge, allowing the applicant to wait out the green card backlog.

Under the Trump administration, that’s no longer the case. In a decision last year, the U.S. Department of Justice found that administrative closures can no longer be used in immigration court, even for SIJS recipients, and deferred action for most SIJS holders was terminated in 2025. The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that administrative closure was intended to be a “docket management” tool, not a form of relief from removal.

In Hartford immigration court, these three outcomes — administrative closure, termination or dismissal — were most often used in removal cases dealing with young people, including some SIJS applicants. Today, they are rarely used.

The federal government has issued public statements reiterating that an approved I-360 form granting SIJS status is not a protection against deportation.

“[DHS is] pursuing to return them to the same country where they don’t have a viable guardian and where it’s not in their best interest to return,” Dickens said. “Beyond whether it’s legal or not, it’s just morally horrifying to see what’s happening to families right now.”

Dickens said because of these changes, DHS might decide to deport a person even though an arm of that same agency, USCIS, has approved the person’s SIJS status. 

“I used to feel like, well, at least I can help someone get status and have the possibility of a better future. But now it feels like we’re unable to help people right now because of the changes in law,” Dickens said. 

A spokesperson for USCIS said the status has been abused in the past.

“The Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program has long been used by criminal aliens, including gang members, seeking to infiltrate our country by masquerading as SIJs,” USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said in an emailed statement. “State court judges are the first line of defense in this process as they make determinations based on state law about dependency or custody of juveniles.”

Sennett said her organization, CIRI, is seeing more cases where the young person may qualify for SIJS status, but they’re now too afraid to go through with it — which leaves them in a vulnerable position. 

“If people are afraid to access the courthouses, if people are afraid to file any application with immigration, then they aren’t going to get to the first part of the process,” she said.