Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and the Integration of Central American Unaccompanied Minors

Although research has advanced our understanding of immigrant integration, understanding how this integration occurs in concert with or in contrast to legal processing remains unexplored. Drawing on ethnographic research of the lived experiences of Central American unaccompanied minors, this analysis focuses on how special immigrant juvenile (SIJ) status affects the initial integration of unaccompanied minors into the key social institutions of the home, school, and work. I argue that the integration effects of SIJ status are two-pronged. The first involves the effects of the process and structure of legal relief, in this case, through a bifurcated system of local (family court) and federal governance (immigration court and federal agencies). The second encompasses the collateral effects on the unaccompanied minor’s social networks and relationships.