2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

DOJ's Chicago immigration court ordered removal of six unaccompanied minors with pending SIJS applications

On August 26, 2026, an immigration judge presiding over Chicago's downtown immigration court ordered the removal of six unaccompanied immigrant children, ages 12 to 17, despite each having a pending Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) application -- a status Congress created to protect immigrant children who were abused, abandoned, or neglected. Advocates said the court has, since June 2026, been requiring these children to appear every two weeks instead of the periodic check-ins historically used while SIJS applications are pending, and a DOJ spokesperson defended the accelerated pace as needed to reduce the immigration court's case backlog.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Chicago, Illinois

Abuses documented

Actors

On August 26, 2026, an immigration judge presiding virtually over Chicago's downtown immigration court ordered the removal of six unaccompanied immigrant children, ages 12 to 17, despite each having a pending Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) application -- a status Congress created to protect immigrant children who had been abused, abandoned, or neglected. The hearings, held in a courtroom closed to cameras on the 15th floor of a downtown office building, were witnessed by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, and Illinois state lawmakers including State Sen. Cristina Castro. The judge did not appear in person, presiding instead by video.

Congress created SIJS in 1990 to give a path to a green card to immigrant children in the United States without a parent able to care for them. Laura Smith, executive director of the Children's Legal Center, which represents the children, said that until June 2026 a pending SIJS application meant termination of removal proceedings and only occasional court check-ins; the government has since begun requiring these children to appear in court every two weeks instead. Two other children Smith represents, whose SIJS applications had already been approved, were ordered removed in a similar hearing in July 2026.

In a written statement, a Department of Justice spokesperson said "reducing the immigration court backlog remains one of the highest priorities for this administration" and said the prior administration had "intentionally turned a blind eye" to unvetted unaccompanied children. Asked separately about the removals, the Department of Homeland Security pointed to a June press release alleging SIJS is vulnerable to fraud. Smith said none of the children ordered removed August 26 have criminal records. Advocates said they plan to appeal the removal orders to the Board of Immigration Appeals and, if that fails, to seek an emergency stay from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Why we recorded this

Congress created Special Immigrant Juvenile Status specifically to shield abused, abandoned, or neglected immigrant children from removal while their applications are pending. A Chicago immigration court ordered six such children, ages 12 to 17, removed before their pending SIJS applications were resolved -- reversing what advocates describe as a longstanding practice of pausing removal proceedings during SIJS review -- and placed them on an accelerated docket with hearings every two weeks instead of the periodic check-ins previously used. This archive records the ruling because bypassing a statutory child-protection safeguard undermines the due process Congress built into the immigration system for the children it was designed to protect.

Sources

  1. Lawmakers, advocates say Chicago immigration court violated due process for minors handed removal orders — WBEZ Chicago primary accessed August 27, 2026
  2. Chicago immigration judge orders removal of 6 kids as green card applications remain pending — ABC7 Chicago (WLS) primary accessed August 27, 2026
  3. More vulnerable immigrant children face deportation after Chicago court hearing — NBC Chicago primary accessed August 27, 2026

See also