Among the bills that passed the General Assembly this week is one aiming to help immigrant children who were brought into this country illegally and have been abandoned, abused or neglected.

House Bill No. 5185, raised by the Committee on Children, will change the legal definition of “minor child” for those who qualify for U.S. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, a 28-year-old program.

The program deals only with undocumented children or young adults who are under the jurisdiction of a court in some way, whether that’s because the court terminated the parental rights of the child or because the court appointed a guardian for the child. Its purpose is to allow the children — who likely would be in danger if deported — to attend school and have a path to lawful permanent residency in the United States.

The idea of House Bill No. 5185 is to close a gap created by Connecticut law. Under the federal rules, immigrants can apply to the program until they’re 21 years old. But in Connecticut, they can do so only until they’re 18.

It works like this: To get the process started, an immigrant hoping to apply to the federal program first must get approval from a Connecticut probate court. There, he or she presents evidence of eligibility for the program, including proof that he or she is not married, has suffered abuse, won’t be reunited with his or her parents and is a court dependent.

Speaking by phone Friday, state Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, said in many cases, people here have been denied the opportunity to apply solely because they’re 18 or older and can’t meet the court dependent requirement.

If Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signs the bill, that will no longer be the case beginning July 1. The new definition of “minor child” for these cases will include unmarried people under the age of 21 who are dependent on a caregiver or have consented to getting a guardian.

Urban, who co-chairs the Committee on Children, pointed out that the bill won’t cost Connecticut any money and doesn’t change the definition of “minor child” for anything else.

At a February public hearing, many public and private groups spoke in support of the provision, including the Office of the Chief Public Defender.

In her testimony, Chief Public Defender Christine Perra Rapillo said her office has seen firsthand that undocumented immigrant children are the least likely to seek help when they’re victims of crime. She said the bill would help those children.

Eighteen-year-old Deybis Carcamos also spoke at the hearing. He said his father and mother left Honduras for the United States when he was young, leaving him with a great-grandmother who soon had a stroke and could not care for him. With his siblings living with other relatives, Carcamos saw no option other than to cross the border and join a grandmother who was living in Connecticut.

It was a long process, he testified, but that grandmother recently became his legal guardian, allowing him to try for special immigrant status.

“All I want to do is finish high school, become a plumber and find work to give back to my grandmother and all the good people God has put in my way,” he said. “Without this law other kids like me will not have the same opportunity. Please think of them when you vote on this law.”

Urban said hearing from immigrants like Carcamos made her even more adamant to see the bill become law.

“You want an amazing bunch of kids?” she asked. “I’ll show you an amazing bunch. They’re all going to college pursuing things we need. These kids want to be engineers, physical therapists, doctors. They get where they came from and where they are.” 

Urban said the Judiciary Committee has tried in the past to forward a similar bill to no avail. She said she sought and obtained permission from them this year to give it a try in the children’s committee.

Along the way, Urban said legislators expressed various concerns, including about whether 18-, 19- and 20-year-old undocumented immigrants might now flock to Connecticut.

Urban said many other states already have provisions that align with the federal guidelines, so there’s no reason to believe immigrants would go out of their way to choose Connecticut over the others.

The bill passed the House with only four no votes April 18, but came down to the wire Wednesday, the last day of the 2018 regular session.

It ultimately passed the Senate unopposed at 9:24 p.m.

“When it got out of committee, there was some pushback because of what’s going on with immigration in this country,” Urban said. “Some people were like, 'Do they get more money, do they get more this or that?'

“No,” she continued. “They don’t get more anything. What they get is an opportunity to apply for a federal program that has been there for 28 years.”

l.boyle@theday.com