Leslie H. v. Superior Court of Orange Cnty.
Decision Date | 28 February 2014 |
Docket Number | G049127 |
Citation | 224 Cal.App.4th 340,168 Cal.Rptr.3d 729 |
Court | California Court of Appeals |
Parties | LESLIE H., Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of Orange County, Respondent, The People, Real Party in Interest. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
See 10 Witkin, Summary of Cal. Law (10th ed. 2005) Parent and Child, § 4A.
Original proceedings; petition for a writ of mandate to challenge an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Gregory W. Jones, Judge. Petition granted. (Super. Ct. No. DL042745)
University of California, Irvine School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic and Sameer M. Ashar; Public Counsel and Kristen Jackson, for Petitioner.
No appearance for respondent.
Rachel Prandini for Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc., Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project; Jennifer Nagda and Maria Woltjen, pro hac vice, for Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights at the University of Chicago, as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioner.
Sixteen-year-old Leslie H. petitions for unopposed writ relief after the juvenile court denied her request to make the necessary factual findings to enable her to apply to federal officials for classification as an abused, neglected, or abandoned special immigrant juvenile (SIJ) under title 8 United States Code section 1101(a)(27)(J) ( ) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The juvenile court concluded Leslie's delinquency adjudication as a ward of the court (Welf. & Inst., § 602), commitment for 120 days to juvenile hall, and eventual release on supervised probation did not suffice under the SIJ statute to identify her as a child in dependent, committed, or custodial care. The juvenile court similarly found her delinquency status disqualifying on an unrelated SIJ factual question—the viability of parental reunification—and rejected Leslie's claim she could not return to her abusive mother and absent father. On a third SIJ factor, whether the minor's best interests include repatriation, the juvenile court again found Leslie's delinquency status disqualifying. Although Leslie had no one to return to in Mexico other than her abusive mother or her father who abandoned her, the court based its best interests conclusion on its observation that immigrant parents sometimes “send their children back to Mexico to get them out of the negative environment that has placed them in the juvenile court.”
In 1990, Congress enacted the SIJ statute to open a path for abused, neglected, and abandoned undocumented minors to become lawful permanent residents. (In re Y.M. (2012) 207 Cal.App.4th 892, 910, 144 Cal.Rptr.3d 54.) “Rather than being deported along with abusive or neglectful parents, or deported to parents who had abandoned them once in the United States, such children may seek special status to remain in the United States.” (Yeboah v. Department of Justice (3d Cir.2003) 345 F.3d 216, 221.) “SIJ status allows a juvenile immigrant to remain in the United States and seek lawful permanent resident status if federal authorities conclude that [certain] statutory conditions are met.” (In re Interest of Erick M. (2012) 284 Neb. 340, 820 N.W.2d 639, 641.) A minor who obtains SIJ status may apply after five years to become a naturalized citizen. (Zheng v. Pogash (S.D.Texas 2006) 416 F.Supp.2d 550, 554 [ ].)
As we explain, the juvenile court's policy conclusions about the general unsuitability of juvenile wards for potential immigration status adjustments were misplaced under the SIJ statute. The statute commits to a juvenile court only the limited, factfinding role of identifying abused, neglected, or abandoned alien children under its jurisdiction who cannot reunify with a parent or be safely returned to their home country. The evidence does not support the juvenile court's conclusions on these questions. To the contrary, the evidence overwhelmingly supports Leslie's request for the necessary findings to enable her to file her SIJ application with the appropriate federal authorities. The juvenile court could not reasonably deny her request, and we therefore grant her writ relief to vacate the juvenile court's order and substitute a new and different order sustaining the relevant SIJ factual findings.
Garden Grove police officers arrested Leslie in April 2013 after she and two teenage girlfriends attempted to steal two alcoholic beverages and some cigars from a liquor store. The store clerk confronted the girls, who knocked him to the ground, and assaulted him. In the ensuing melee outside the store, Leslie reportedly grabbed a shoe from a neighboring store display and struck the clerk in the face. At her juvenile court adjudication in May 2013, Leslie entered a plea admitting guilt to assault with force likely to produce bodily injury and second degree commercial burglary, and the juvenile court declared her a ward of the court and committed her to juvenile hall for 120 days, with probation terms and supervision upon her release.
In July 2013, Leslie's public defender objected on grounds of confidentiality in juvenile proceedings to the release of any information concerning Leslie to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. When the juvenile court overruled the objection, Leslie filed a request for the court to make the findings necessary under section 1101(a)(27)(J) for her to apply to federal authorities for SIJ status. The court scheduled a hearing in August 2013. Leslie and her grandmother, Sonia V., with whom Leslie lived in Orange County for the last 10 years, submitted declarations and testified.
Grandmother explained Leslie first lived with her as an infant when her mother brought her to the United States when she was nine months old. Mother was unemployed, irresponsible, and a heavy drinker who did not care for Leslie properly. She left Leslie home alone without feeding her, and Leslie's father was largely absent, using drugs and carousing all night. Leslie returned to Mexico when she was about four or five years old. Grandmother received disturbing telephone calls from Leslie that mother continued drinking, leaving her alone at night, sometimes tied to a chair, and that mother hit Leslie often. Leslie begged for her grandmother to rescue her. When Leslie was seven years old, mother returned Leslie to grandmother's care because grandmother threatened to stop sending money to mother. Upon Leslie's return, grandmother immediately noticed Leslie's gaunt, malnourished features. She was no longer happy or energetic, and she suffered nightmares, ate little, cried easily, and was afraid to leave grandmother's side.
Leslie testified she did not hear from her mother again after mother deposited her at grandmother's home. Mother never sent any money for her care, nor attempted to communicate with her in any form. In Mexico, mother had abused and neglected her, punching her, slapping her, and hitting her with cables. Mother sometimes terrorized her by striking her with scalding metal spoons, which she boiled to inflict greater pain. Mother was an alcoholic and a drug addict, and Leslie frequently saw her smoke out of a can. Mother gave Leslie alcohol to make her stop crying, frequently left Leslie alone in the apartment at night, and left her with strangers for weeks at a time.
Leslie only recalled meeting her father once, when she was about five years old, and she never lived with him in Mexico or the United States. He never attempted to contact her or send money for her care, and Leslie believed he was incarcerated somewhere in Mexico. Leslie's older brother had lived with grandmother temporarily, but was deported following his arrest for domestic violence and violation of his bail conditions. He made no effort to contact Leslie or send money for her care, and neither Leslie nor grandmother knew his whereabouts.
At the August hearing on Leslie's petition for SIJ findings, the juvenile court reiterated, The court concluded that if it found Leslie met the factual criteria under section 1101(a)(27)(J) for federal officials to consider adjusting her immigration status,
Leslie's attorney objected that other criteria had to be met, pointing out SIJ applicants must present evidence they were abused, neglected, or abandoned and cannot safely reunify with their parents. Another factor requires evidence repatriation would not be in the child's best interest. The attorney also expressed confidence federal authorities could weed out applications submitted with improper “motivation ... to create [immigration] eligibility,” and she observed, “no ethical immigration attorney could file a case with [the] immigration service if the whole purpose ... was to make someone eligible for immigration benefits.” The juvenile court, however, was not persuaded, labeling potential SIJ eligibility for a juvenile ward “an absurd result, ... inconsistent with Congress' intent....”
The juvenile court similarly rejected Leslie's other requested SIJ findings. The court did not address...
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