Ensuring access to legal pathways for immigration relief for youth placed in DCYF care
S.O.L.; M.R.G., and Legal Counsel for Youth and Children vs. Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families
Overview
Washington State is failing to fulfill its duty to provide critical support for immigrant youth in foster care.
On May 4, 2026, LCYC, with the help of Children’s Rights, McDermott Will & Schulte (MWS), and Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala (PCVA), filed a Class Action Complaint against the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) on behalf of immigrant youth placed in DCYF care. LCYC is a named organizational plaintiff alongside immigrant youth placed in Washington’s foster system.
Background
“Washington state has held itself out to be pro-immigrant, but every day immigrant youth in DCYF care face constant risk of deportation and losing their chance to apply for legal status due to DCYF’s inaction.
It’s only by luck and chance that a small number of these young people get connected to organizations like LCYC who can help them access immigration relief and prevent their deportation. Immigrant youth deserve better from the state and the systems that are supposed to protect them.”
This lawsuit comes after many years of administrative advocacy with DCYF. For years, LCYC and partners like Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Kids in Need of Defense advocated before DCYF, across multiple administrations, to ask them to identify immigrant youth in their care and refer them to immigration legal services. DCYF continues to deny their responsibility to immigrant youth in their care. We have seen the consequences firsthand: missed opportunities to secure immigration relief, deportation orders without support, or the best case scenario – rushing to file relief in the last few days before the youth turns 21.
Nearly all immigrant children and youth without legal status in DCYF’s custody are eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification. Congress created SIJ classification in 1990 to provide humanitarian protection for abused, neglected, or abandoned child immigrants, including those eligible for long-term foster care, and a pathway for them to obtain lawful permanent residence (“LPR”) status and United States citizenship.
Securing SIJ can be the difference between safety and stability in the U.S. and being deported to a place of danger or a country they have never known. The benefits outweigh almost every risk the department perceives they are placing the child in by identifying their presence in the system. At a time when immigrant communities are being attacked left and right, we need our state agencies to be proactive in ensuring their safety, health and permanency.
LCYC’s Team
Rhea Yo, Executive Director
Chach Duarte White, Director of Legal Services
Roxana Gomez, Director of Policy & Systemic Advocacy
Taylor Faranda, Supervising Immigration Attorney
Legal Documents
In The News
Lawsuit says DCYF failed immigrant foster youth at risk of deportation
KING 5, May 5, 2026
Press Release: Advocates Sue Washington Over Failure To Provide Critical Immigration Services
Children’s Rights, May 4, 2026
For media inquiries, please contact Emily Meltzer, Director of Development & Communications: emily@lcycwa.org. As this case moves through the courts, this page will be updated. Please also subscribe to our systemic advocacy newsletter for alerts.