FAMILY COURT SHOULD HAVE MADE NEGLECT FINDING ALLOWING JUVENILE TO PETITION FOR SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS (SJIS).
The Second Department determined Family Court should have made the findings necessary for the juvenile to apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SJIS). Father’s domestic violence in the presence of the juvenile and one act of excessive corporal punishment constituted neglect and reunification with the father was, therefore, not viable:
… [A] “special immigrant” is a resident alien who, inter alia, is under 21 years of age, is unmarried, and has been legally committed to, or placed under the custody of, an individual appointed by a state or juvenile court. Additionally, for a juvenile to qualify for SIJS, a court must find that reunification of the juvenile with one or both of the juvenile’s parents is not viable due to parental abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under state law … , and that it would not be in the juvenile’s best interests to be returned to his or her native country or country of last habitual residence … . * * *
Acts of domestic violence in the presence of children may establish neglect … . Further, “[n]eglect may be established by even a single incident of excessive corporal punishment” … .
Here, the father’s conduct constituted neglect, which established that his reunification with the child is not viable. Matter of Ena S.Y. (Martha R.Y.–Antonio S.), 2016 NY Slip Op 04229, 2nd Dept 6-1-16
FAMILY LAW (FAMILY COURT SHOULD HAVE MADE NEGLECT FINDING ALLOWING JUVENILE TO PETITION FOR SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS (SJIS))/IMMIGRATION LAW (FAMILY COURT SHOULD HAVE MADE NEGLECT FINDING ALLOWING JUVENILE TO PETITION FOR SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS (SJIS))/SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS (SJIS) (FAMILY COURT SHOULD HAVE MADE NEGLECT FINDING ALLOWING JUVENILE TO PETITION FOR SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS (SJIS))