A critical immigration program designed to protect vulnerable children has been hijacked by some of the most dangerous elements crossing our borders. The Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program, meant to shield young migrants from abuse and abandonment, now counts gang members and violent offenders among its beneficiaries.

According to Daily Caller News Foundation, the SIJ classification, created under the 1990 Immigration Act, has seen a surge of petitions from criminals, including known gangbangers and individuals arrested for heinous crimes like murder and sexual assault. Over the past decade, this pathway to permanent residency has been exploited by adults over 21 and those with serious criminal records.

The numbers paint a grim picture of a system gone awry. USCIS data reveals that between 2013 and early 2025, 853 known or suspected gang members applied for SIJ status, with 519 MS-13 affiliates approved, often despite prior knowledge of their affiliations.

Shocking Approvals of Violent Offenders

Even more disturbing, at least 200 petitioners arrested for rape and child molestation were greenlit for the program since 2013. Another 120 arrested for murder saw a staggering 91% approval rate, exposing a glaring flaw in a system with no criminal bars or moral character requirements.

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, sworn in this July, didn’t mince words when addressing the mess. “The SIJ program has been something that I think USCIS has not been administering appropriately for many years,” he told the Daily Caller, hinting that worse revelations may still surface.

Edlow’s concern isn’t misplaced when you consider how easily the program’s loose eligibility rules, requiring only that applicants be under 21 and unmarried, have been gamed. A USCIS spokesperson, Matthew Tragesser, pointed out that once a loophole is spotted, “it explodes,” turning SIJ into a go-to for those with no other legal options.

Policy Failures Fuel the Exploitation

Compounding the problem, a 2021 legal settlement called the Saravia agreement has tied the agency’s hands, barring denials based on gang affiliations. This means even dangerous individuals often slip through, though they remain subject to deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Under the Biden administration, the program’s flaws were amplified with a 2022 policy granting deferred action to SIJ recipients, effectively shielding many from removal, even retroactively. Petition numbers skyrocketed from 18,440 in 2020 to 67,754 in 2024, with adults over 18 outnumbering younger applicants in Biden’s final year.

Edlow didn’t hesitate to call out the previous administration’s role, stating, “I think it did get worse under the Biden administration.” He’s right to question how a program for abused kids became a backdoor for criminal elements, reflecting a broader failure to prioritize border security over political optics.

Trump Administration Steps In

Thankfully, the Trump administration has moved swiftly to stop the bleeding. On June 6, USCIS rescinded Biden’s deferred action policy, stripping SIJ classification of its amnesty-like protections.

More relief is coming as the Saravia settlement sunsets in 2026, which will finally allow the agency to reject gang-affiliated petitioners without legal roadblocks. It’s a step toward restoring the program’s original intent, though the damage done over years of lax oversight won’t be undone overnight.

Edlow has promised a broader cleanup, not just of SIJ but of an immigration system he says was misused by the prior administration to dodge the border crisis. “Fraud was never really something that they were too concerned about,” he noted sharply, signaling a return to accountability.

Restoring Integrity to Immigration

The SIJ debacle is a textbook case of good intentions paving a path to chaos. A program meant to protect the most vulnerable has been twisted into a shield for those who pose a clear threat to public safety.

While the Trump administration’s reforms are a welcome start, they’re also a reminder of how deeply entrenched these systemic failures are. Congress must step up to rewrite ambiguous statutes and close gaps that foreign nationals have exploited with alarming ease.

Until then, Americans are left to wonder how many more loopholes remain unaddressed in an immigration framework that too often prioritizes open borders over common sense. Restoring trust in programs like SIJ isn’t just about policy tweaks; it’s about ensuring our laws don’t become tools for those who break them.