EXCLUSIVE — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that thousands of illegal aliens — many of them sex criminals, murderers and known members of brutal gangs — have abused a program meant to protect at-risk minors in order to gain entry into the United States.
A report from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) first obtained by Fox News Digital reveals the extent to which the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program is riddled with fraud, and oftentimes exploited by the worst-of-the-worst criminals to gain legal status into the country.
The program recipients are offered legal permanent resident status and eventually naturalization. It was created to offer a safe haven to children of illegal immigrants who have been victims of abuse, neglect or abandonment.
USCIS’ Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate uncovered more than a decade’s worth of abuse of the program from fiscal years 2013 through 2025.
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Among illegal alien entrants who took advantage of the program, at least 120 had arrest records for murder. Another 200 approved SIJ petitioners were convicted of sex offenses, and more than 500 were known or suspected members of the brutal Salvadoran street gang MS-13, which has pervaded communities across the U.S.
High-profile cases of SIJ abuse by criminals include a New York MS-13 leader who pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection to eight murders in which he was involved.
Another illegal alien entrant had a long history of gang activity in Massachusetts and allegedly participated in a drive-by shooting that killed two and wounded five others. His petition for SIJ status was approved in 2023, after the deadly shooting occurred.
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Four MS-13 gang members in Virginia who were approved for the SIJ program were indicted for racketeering in 2023 and 2024 for their alleged participation in multiple murders, including the killing of a 19-year-old woman who was allegedly slain for insulting the gang on social media.
Jessica Vaughan is the Director of Police Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. She told Fox News Digital that there are few guardrails for ensuring that SIJ applicants are actually facing dire circumstances.
She explained that SIJ is one of the only federal immigration programs that relies on state judges — in this case family court judges — to determine eligibility under federal law.
The program rarely functions as intended, she said.
“Many people are under the impression that the people benefiting from this program are children who don’t have responsible parents when that is not the case,” she said. “The typical scenario is the representative of the applicant comes before a state judge requesting this order of dependency.”
Those representatives are usually attorneys, some of whom make a living processing SIJ petitions. All they have to do is present an affidavit swearing on behalf of the petitioner that they face dire circumstances and have nowhere else to go other than the custody of a neglectful or abusive parent.
“The best thing would be for Congress to tighten up the law on eligibility criteria,” Vaughan said. “Check if [the petitioner] suffered trauma from abuse at the hands of a parent, and is in state custody and has no opportunity to return to their home country.”
She also warned that USCIS, which processes the applications, has no access to juvenile criminal records of petitioners and urged lawmakers to add a provision allowing the agency to check criminal backgrounds.
James Percival, general counsel for DHS, said fault lies with state courts who approve the petitions, often without knowing who is being granted SIJ status or even having a hearing to find out.
“While the SIJ program advances important congressional objectives, it is at significant risk of fraud,” Percival said in a statement on abuse of the program. “Frequently, there is no underlying child protective services or similar investigation into the child’s circumstances. Instead, aliens who wish to remain in the United States forever can obtain these orders without meaningfully demonstrating that they meet the requirements because judges are unaware of the need to vet the claims.”
“The failure of state court judges to police the requirements of the SIJ process leads to tangible harm. It allows criminals, gang members, and even suspected terrorists to obtain lawful status while eroding trust and diverting resources away from genuinely vulnerable children.”
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