THE GATEWAY FUND

Meeting Urgent Needs. Driving Systemic Change.

A new Trump administration rule forces immigrant children and youth who survived abuse, abandonment, or neglect to pay $250 just to apply for legal protection. We launched The Gateway Fund to eliminate this financial barrier and keep the door to legal safety open for more children.

donateFor Legal Providers
A person with long dark hair sits on a rocky overlook, wrapped in an American flag and facing a warm, sunlit mountain landscape with a lake in the distance.

Bridging the Gap to Legal Protection

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is the legal pathway Congress created specifically to protect immigrant children and youth who survived severe abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Historically, youth who could not afford the petition fee could request a fee waiver. In 2025, the Trump administration ended those waivers, forcing a mandatory $250 fee on young people with no income and no safety net. Under this policy, nonpayment results in immediate rejection rather than denial, which forecloses any right to appeal. Because SIJS eligibility ends at age 21, a missed payment or rejected filing can permanently end a young person's claim to legal protection. While legal partners challenge this harmful rule in federal court and push Congress for permanent relief, mBOLDen Change is stepping in to bridge the gap to legal protection. We partner directly with nonprofit and pro bono immigration attorneys to cover filing fees upfront, ensuring an administrative fee never stands between a young person and their future.

Our Approach

How We Work

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We Listen

We start by listening — to our community partners and to the families they serve. What they know and what they've lived through set our agenda and everything that follows. It’s why we co-design our programs alongside the people and partners who live these realities every day.

An adult volunteer smiling and talking with two children carrying backpacks and school supplies while walking together through a neighborhood.

We Build and Strengthen

We roll up our sleeves alongside local partners to build what communities need—meeting urgent needs now, strengthening the organizations doing the work, and growing what works.

A diverse group of community members gathered around a table during a collaborative meeting, discussing ideas and planning with notes spread across the workspace.

We Advocate

We champion the policies and practices that allow all families to thrive. Through direct policy advocacy, public education, and authentic storytelling, we fight alongside marginalized communities to defend essential safety nets and open new doors of opportunity.

Throughout our partnership, mBOLDen Change was collaborative, thoughtful, and committed to accountability. Their team communicated clearly, provided practical guidance, and established reporting processes that balanced responsible stewardship with a genuine focus on serving families. They have been an outstanding partner to work alongside.

Solomon Kincheloe

General Manager, The City Peace Project