Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Children in California

Members of Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, which has led the fight to protect hundreds of immigrant children in California: (L-R) Sara Van Hofwegen, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney; Mary Tanagho Ross, Staff Attorney; and Daniel Sanchez, Paralegal.

Federal law provides humanitarian relief to immigrant children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one or both parents. This form of relief, called Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (“SIJS”), provides a pathway to residency for children who meet the eligibility requirements.

However, in early 2018, the federal government imposed a new eligibility requirement and unlawfully denied immigrant children’s petitions for relief by refusing to recognize the authority of some California juvenile courts to make the findings necessary to obtain SIJS status. This change was implemented without notice or public announcement.

In response, Public Counsel; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP; and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCR) filed a class action lawsuit in federal court on behalf of hundreds of immigrant children between the ages of 18 and 20 who California state courts had determined had suffered parental abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and whom they had placed under the guardianship of loving caretakers.

Plaintiffs secured a critical win when a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the government’s efforts to implement the new policy and enjoining the government from denying SIJS to any child based on its new policy. Judge Nathanael Cousins held that the government’s justifications in support of its policy change were “lacking” and some of its reasoning was “flawed.” He concluded that the Plaintiffs were “likely to succeed” in blocking the policy at the conclusion of the case.

The ruling provides security to hundreds of immigrant children across California who faced months of anxiety over the potential risk of deportation and separation from the guardians who care for them. Fortunately, this ruling is a proclamation that even the federal government has to follow the law and adhere to legal protections for vulnerable immigrant children.

For young immigrants who have survived abuse or abandonment by a parent, a form of immigration relief called Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) has long been available. In 2015, Public Counsel and pro bono partners helped Bryan (not a class member) secure SIJS and a year later he was able to obtain permanent residency.