A survey of lawyers representing immigrant youth has found that these young people routinely encounter obstacles in attempting to access New York State’s family courts.
The 19-page report, Findings from a Survey of Lawyers Representing Immigrant Youth Eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in NYS Family Court, documents the challenges faced by immigrant youth, their families, and their legal counsel when accessing or attempting to access New York family courts in pursuit of the factual findings that are a prerequisite to apply to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service for an immigration benefit known as special immigrant juvenile status (SIJ).
“Special immigrant juvenile status gives some of the most vulnerable young people in our society a chance to achieve safety, stability, and permanency,” said Olga Byrne, Project Director of the Feerick Center’s Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Project. “At a time of unprecedented youth migration, it is imperative that stakeholders work together to maximize immigrant youths’ access to the courts.”
Focused on lawyers who have experience representing immigrant youth in SIJ proceedings, the study surveyed 30 practitioners, many of whom work exclusively in this practice area at organizations that have been on the cutting edge of SIJ law since the federal statutory provision was enacted in 1990. While survey respondents touted the New York family courts for generally having immigrant-friendly practices, they noted various procedural and institutional barriers to access. For example, litigants may be turned away by petition room clerks, have difficulty obtaining court-ordered fingerprints, be denied appropriate interpreter services (in the case of non-Spanish speakers), experience prolonged case-processing delays, and often are not given meaningful access to counsel in violation of professional guidelines that require court-appointed counsel to screen for SIJ eligibility and pursue such status where a claim exists.
In gathering survey responses, the Feerick Center had unique access to a network of legal experts through which it learned that, while SIJ has the potential to provide protection and stability to some of the most vulnerable members of our society, young people routinely encounter obstacles in accessing the family courts to seek the requisite factual findings.
“This work really goes to the heart of the Feerick Center’s mission: working collaboratively to improve policies and practices that affect the most vulnerable members of our society here in New York,” said Dora Galacatos, Executive Director of the Feerick Center.