One girl from Guatemala, now 18 years old and finishing high school, entered the U.S. alone in 2023 without a legal guardian. Another girl, also from Guatemala, now 17 years old, also came to the U.S. alone to look for her mother. Now, both teens are in the custody of Washington’s foster care system and claim, in a lawsuit, that the state has failed to provide adequate immigration support to help them avoid the risk of deportation.

The class action suit against Washington’s Department of Children Youth and Families says the state needs to do more to identify and assist immigrant youth who may be eligible for legal status. The lawsuit estimates that more than 100 undocumented youth in the state’s care may qualify for additional help.

“Every immigrant youth deserves to be screened, at the very least, for eligibility for legal services that can help them on their pathway to citizenship,” said Rhea Yo, executive director for Legal Counsel for Youth and Families, which is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “Youth in foster care are almost always eligible for immigration relief, but have lacked access to that relief because of DCYF’s inaction.”

Undocumented children in foster care can apply for what’s called a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification, which is available to youth who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent. If granted, the youth may later qualify for lawful permanent residency.

According to Yo, “ Washington state, even though they hold themselves out to be pro-immigrant, significantly lags behind other states who already have policies, practices and procedures” to provide more proactive legal help for unaccompanied immigrant minors. Yo points to Tennessee in particular as a more proactive state.

“We must step up, DCYF must step up, and do what they say they stand for,” she said.

A spokesperson for the state agency, Nancy Guiterrez, said in a statement that the agency believes the claims asserted by the Legal Counsel for Youth and Families lack merit.

“DCYF takes the welfare of every child in its care seriously, including the unique needs of immigrant youth,” Gutierrez said.

After President Donald Trump began his nationwide mass deportation campaign — DCYF was one of the state agencies tasked by Gov. Bob Ferguson to form a rapid response team to “support children facing separation.”

In the lead-up to the lawsuit, legal advocates and the state’s foster care system had been exchanging letters about appropriate levels of legal support for undocumented youth.

In a letter dated Aug. 26 of last year, DCYF Secretary Tara Senn wrote that her department is not legally obligated to proactively obtain immigration status for children and young adults in state foster care. She also pointed to other priorities for these children who are separated from their families.

“Based on best practices and policy, the Washington state Legislature has instructed that family units should remain intact or be reunified unless doing so would harm a child’s welfare,” she said. “At times, reunification may take place outside the United States, according to the circumstance and the best interest of the child and guided by parental interests.”

“But to be clear,” she wrote in another part of the letter, “DCYF does not deny foreign-born children and young adults in its care and custody the opportunity to seek legal status in the United States.”

Advocates see this as the state agency shrugging off the task of getting foster care youth potential legal status. They argue that planning early to get unaccompanied children legal status is part of the state’s legal obligation to youth in its care.

In that same letter Senn wrote there are ways that children can get immigration legal help, but the child and their guardians have to bring it up first.

It’s only when young adults enter ages 18-21, and enroll into Extended Foster Care where “the goal is the successful transition to adulthood.” At that point, the state agency screens young adults and refers them with their consent to legal immigration help.

Senn wrote in that same letter between January to August 2025 54 foster youth in Washington ages 18-21 turned down the help because they got legal help from another resource.

Of the two teens who brought the suit, only one has started the process for Special Immigrant Juvenile classification. The lawsuit alleges that the state hasn’t been moving her case along fast enough. With immigration court backlogs often dragging cases out for years, advocates are concerned that teenagers won’t have their case reviewed before it’s too late.

“If you are a kid in foster care and you don’t get screened… you might lose the opportunity to get relief because you can age out at 21,” Yo said.

At that point, undocumented immigrants would be susceptible to arrest and deportation.

Gustavo Segrero Álvarez is a reporter with KUOW. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/18/undocumented-foster-care-washington-state/