Special Immigrant Juvenile Law Triggered by Abuse, Neglect or Abandonment by One Parent (Not Both)

In a full-fledged opinion by Justice Roman, the Second Department determined that in order to qualify for the special immigrant juvenile provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 USC 1101), which provides a gateway to permanent residency for undocumented children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned, the juvenile need only demonstrate that reunification with one (not both) of his or her parents “is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under State law…”:

…Susy established that reunification with her father was not viable due to abandonment (see 8 USC § 1101[a][27][J][i]…). The Family Court, as evidenced by its comments at the hearing, denied Susy’s application for a special findings order on the ground that the viability of reunification with Susy’s mother rendered Susy ineligible for SIJS. However, we disagree with the Family Court’s interpretation of the reunification component of the statute.

“To interpret a statute, we first look to its plain language, as that represents the most compelling evidence of the Legislature’s intent” … . Under the plain language of the statute, to be eligible for SIJS, a court must find that “reunification with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under State law” (8 USC § 1101[a][27][J][i] [emphasis added]). We interpret the “1 or both” language to provide SIJS eligibility where reunification with just one parent is not viable as a result of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar State law basis… .  Matter of Marcelina M-Gv Israel S, 2013 NY Slip Op 06868, 2nd Dept 10-23-13