Safe Passage Project

K. & B. Unaccompanied Children with strong Special Immigrant Juvenile Status claims (Queens, NY)

Help an immigrant child gain legal status in the U.S. and protect them from deportation.

Posted June 6, 2025

Work & Deliverables

K. (15 years old) and B. (18 years old) are Unaccompanied Children from Mexico who currently live together with their mother and stepfamily in Queens, New York. They each have a strong SIJS case based on abandonment and neglect by their biological father (they have the same father). K. lived with their father for a brief period of time, after which he ran away fearing for his life. B. neve met or spoke to their father. K. moved to the U.S. at age 11, in 2021, and B. moved to the US at age 16, in 2023. Currently their father does not communicate with them or provide for them in any way, and they believe he may be deceased. The grandmother who previously cared for them in Mexico passed away in 2022, and the area where they lived in Mexico was filled with gang violence and crime. Both were designated as Unaccompanied Children upon their separate undocumented entries to the U.S., and issued Notices to Appear ("NTAs") in Immigration Court (B. was listed as an "arriving alien" on her NTA, while K. was listed as an alien present without admission or parole). Neither child's NTA has yet been filed with the Immigration Court, and as of 6/4/2025, neither child has any upcoming immigration hearing dates. They now live safely in their mother in Queens, where they are both attending school. The pro bono attorney for the siblings would help them to apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status before the family court and USCIS, and represent the children in their Immigration Court cases once their NTAs are filed.

Project Plan

Preparation Phase

  • Intro call with the pro bono department

Collaboration Phase

  • Details to be provided at a later date

Wrap Up

  • Details to be provided at a later date

Additional Information

  • Time Commitment: 21+ hours
  • Training Provided: Yes
  • Additional Training Details: Help an immigrant child gain legal status in the U.S. and protect them from deportation.
  • Site-Preference: Remote
  • Open to Law Students: No
  • Bar License(s) required: New York
  • Required Languages: None
  • Preferred Languages: Spanish
  • Required Legal Expertise: None
  • Preferred Legal Expertise: Family Law, Immigration
  • Mentoring Provided: Yes
  • Supervision Provided: Yes
Safe Passage Project

Safe Passage Project is a highly-focused nonprofit immigration legal services organization. We provide free lawyers to refugee and immigrant children in the NYC-area who face deportation back to life-threatening situations, despite their strong legal claim to stay in the US.

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