Advocates challenge Korean law threatening migrant parents with deportation

Seok Won-jeong, director of the Association for Migrant Workers’ Human Rights, speaks during a press conference calling for an extension of stay for parents of migrant youth raised in Korea, in front of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in Jung District, central Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Park Ung

For nearly two decades, she built a life in Korea, raising five children as a single mother. Now, the Korean government says her time has run out — simply because her youngest child has grown up.

The 56-year-old Nigerian woman, whose identity has been withheld for her protection, is the latest face of a rigid immigration rule in Korea. Under current policy, undocumented migrant parents are granted a precarious legal reprieve only as long as their children are minors. Once those children turn 19 or graduate from high school, the protection dissolves, often forcing parents into a devastating choice: leave their families behind or face deportation.

On Wednesday, a coalition of advocacy groups, including the Association for Migrant Workers’ Human Rights, filed a formal complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK). They are urging a revision of the Immigration Act, which currently lacks specific residency protections for the families of migrant youth raised in the country. Without such reforms, advocates say, the Ministry of Justice’s temporary measures remain a "ticking clock" that prioritizes bureaucratic deadlines over family unity.

The current Immigration Act contains no separate provisions governing the residency of migrant children and their parents, leaving the Justice Ministry’s temporary measures as the only recourse.

In 2019, the Nigerian woman’s older son, then 23, was detained in an immigration crackdown while working at a factory. He later sued to overturn his deportation order — and won.

In 2021, the Justice Ministry introduced a policy — following recommendations from the NHRCK and calls from rights groups — to grant conditional legal status to undocumented children born and raised in Korea.

The following year, the ministry eased the criteria after criticism that the eligibility rules were too strict. The original policy limited relief to children born in Korea who had lived here for at least 15 years and were enrolled in middle or high school or had already graduated.

Under the justice ministry’s latest plan, announced in April last year and open for applications through March 2028, eligible youth fall into two categories.

The first covers those born in Korea or who entered before age 6. They must have lived in the country for at least six years and be enrolled in elementary, middle or high school, or have graduated from high school when applying.

The second applies to those who entered after age 6. They must have lived in Korea for at least seven years and meet the same school requirements.

But parents can remain only until their child graduates from high school or turns 19, and must leave afterward. Those who stay face deportation and reentry bans.

A justice ministry official told The Korea Times the cutoff was set at 19, the age of adulthood, because the law no longer recognizes parents and children as having a legally interdependent relationship once a child reaches that age.

Ko Gi-bok, right, head of the migrant rights group 1218 For All, files a petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea calling for policy changes to extend the stay of parents of migrant youth raised in Korea, in Jung District, central Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Park Ung

Civic groups say the policy forces families apart once children become adults and is overly harsh.

“This policy assumes a teenager who needed their parents’ care until yesterday can suddenly live alone starting today,” said Ko Gi-bok, head of the migrant rights group 1218 For All.

Ko said many youths who gained legal status under the policy have gone on to college, but as foreign nationals, they often cannot access student loans or scholarships.

“They must cover tuition and living costs on limited part-time work,” Ko said, adding that supporting themselves is difficult without their parents’ help.

Ko added that many of their parents spent decades of their most productive years in Korea raising their children, only to lose their social networks back home and face serious hardship if forced to return.

Lee Young, head of the Namyangju Migrant Welfare Center in Gyeonggi Province, said civil law sets no clear standard on the right to family unity after age 18, but the constitutional right to family life applies to everyone.

“The derived right to family unity is even more important for foreign youth whose personal and social networks in Korea are fragile,” Lee added, warning that forced removals can cause deeper harm to family unity.