Illegal Alien Criminals Exploited Loophole Meant for Abused Children to Sneak Into U.S.
A federal report from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revealed that over the past decade, the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program-originally designed to protect abused, abandoned, or neglected foreign children-has been exploited by gang members, criminals, and murderers to gain entry into the United States. The report examined more than 300,000 SIJ petitions filed between 2013 and early 2025 and found significant abuses, including applicants falsifying their age, identity, and contry of origin. Notably, over half of the 2024 petitioners where over 18 years old, many entered without inspection, and some came from countries considered national security threats. Among those approved were hundreds of known or suspected gang members, including over 600 MS-13 affiliates, some charged wiht violent and federal racketeering crimes.USCIS officials criticized the program’s lax vetting standards and lack of criminal bars or moral character requirements for approval. The number of applications surged dramatically under the Biden administration, from 18,440 in 2020 to 67,754 in 2024, highlighting increased exploitation of the program. The report underscores urgent calls for reforms to close loopholes and tighten screening to prevent criminals from abusing a program intended to safeguard vulnerable children.
A federal report discovered that the U.S. government has been approving entry into the country for gang members, criminals, and murderers for over a decade using a special classification reserved for abused children.
“Hundreds of gang members, murderers, and sex offenders exploited a vulnerability in America’s immigration system,” a release from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said last month.
The immigration agency published a report identifying national security vulnerabilities in the Special Immigrant Juvenile program, which is normally reserved for abandoned minors.
The program, which dates back to 1990, allows young illegals who can’t be reunited with one or both parents because of abandonment, abuse, or neglect to apply for this special classification. It also paves the way for them to obtain residency and citizenship.
Unfortunately, it seems that over the past several years, dangerous individuals have been flooding the program with applications due to its lax standards.
The full report examined over 300,000 illegal aliens and their Special Immigrant Juvenile petitions filed from the beginning of fiscal year 2013 through February 2025.
It found that more than half of the petitioners for 2024 were over the age of 18. It also found that many of them had entered the United States without inspection and “came from countries identified as posing national security concerns, demonstrating the lax screening and vetting and anti-fraud policies of the Biden Administration.”
Some petitioners also lied about their age and identity, “including falsifying their name, date of birth, and country of citizenship.”
The worst part was that they identified 853 known or suspected gang members who filed petitions, and many were approved.
Among the more than 600 MS-13 gang members who were greenlit under the program, 70 had been charged with federal racketeering offenses and others were charged with violent crimes inside the United States.
“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.”
Back in June, the agency rescinded the “policy of categorically considering deferred action for special immigrant juveniles.” The Trump administration is also looking to shore up cracks in the program.
Currently, however, “there are no criminal bars or good moral character requirements for SIJ petition approval.” That needs to be fixed immediately.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow told the Daily Caller News Foundation that there’s probably even more fraud that they haven’t even discovered yet.
“Unfortunately, I do expect to uncover more,” Edlow said. “The SIJ program has been something that I think USCIS has not been administering appropriately for many years.”
The report showed how filings for the SIJ petition skyrocketed under Biden. During the last year of Trump’s first term back in 2020, there were a total of 18,440 applications. By 2024 — after Biden’s immigration crisis — the number had ballooned to 67,754.
“I think it did get worse under the Biden administration,” Edlow added. “And yes, it has been a pathway that has been exploited by criminal aliens and some gangbangers.”
This is Biden’s legacy: allowing hardened criminals to hide behind a program meant for children so they can gain access to the country and harm our national interests.
This kind of abuse and endangerment is what pushed the public over the edge into supporting Trump’s mass deportations plan in the first place. Maybe if there hadn’t been so much blatant criminality and brutality, the voters would have rejected Trump or gone another way.
But the reality is that the situation had gotten so out of control, a total crackdown wasn’t just prudent, it was America’s only option.
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