WINNFIELD, LOUISIANA — Alabama state police detained Elder Chavez in December after he was stopped for driving 15 mph over the speed limit without a license. Chavez, an unaccompanied minor who had been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, is now held at the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana.

Immigration authorities granted Chavez Special Immigrant Juvenile Status after he migrated alone to the United States at age 14. He was abandoned by his parents in Honduras as a toddler. At the time of his detention, Chavez had legal counsel assisting him in pursuing permanent residency. His sister, Mayuri Chavez, lives in Alabama.

The Trump administration rolled back policies that provided immigrant minors with access to legal counsel and relief from deportation while they pursued permission to permanently stay in the country. An analysis of ICE data found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained and removed unaccompanied minors at a rate approximately three times higher than during the final years of the first Trump presidency. A separate analysis of court data showed immigration courts issued more than 10,000 removal and voluntary departure orders for immigrant minors each month, a rate nearly four times higher than during Trump's last term.

The Trump administration cited a July 2025 government report stating that 19,000 Special Immigrant Juvenile Status petitioners had criminal arrest records since 2013. The analysis of ICE data indicated that the majority of unaccompanied minors removed in the previous year had no criminal history in the United States. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status protects immigrants under 21 who prove in family court they were abused, neglected, or abandoned by at least one parent in their home countries.