Settlement OK’d for abused immigrant youths’ legal relief

A federal judge has tentatively approved a settlement guaranteeing abused, neglected and abandoned young people from countries outside of the United States can petition for legal protections and immigrant relief in California.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins of the Northern District on Wednesday approved the preliminary agreement to allow petitioners under the age of 21 to have their requests for Special Immigrant Juvenile status re-adjudicated, court records show. The petitions were initially denied last year after the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services changed its policy to deny such petitions from going through the California probate court, claiming the state's system was ill-equipped to make the necessary determinations, according to court records. Under California law, Special Immigrant Juvenile status cases begin in front of an immigration judge but require the state court to rule on whether a minor has suffered from parental abuse.

A team from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, and Public Counsel filed a class action on behalf of the denied petitioners seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Last October, Cousins halted the policy change, finding "USCIS's justifications for this requirement are lacking," court records show. J.L. v. Cuccinelli, 18-CV04914 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 14, 2018).

In addition to the denied petitioners, those youths who have yet to file petitions will be allowed to do so despite the policy change. Individuals in the process of removal proceedings within 60 days of their effective date will also have their petitions re-adjudicated, according to the agreement.

"This agreement successfully ends over a year of litigation on behalf of immigrant youth who had been refused equal access to the humanitarian relief that they are entitled to under the law," Manatt lead attorney Sirena Castillo said in a statement.

-- Glenn Jeffers