THE RECORD SUPPORTED AN ORDER MAKING SPECIAL FINDINGS TO ALLOW A JUVENILE TO PETITION FOR SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS (SIJS) TO AVOID DEPORTATION TO GUATEMALA (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, reversing Surrogate’s Court, determined the petition for an order making special findings to allow a juvenile to petition for special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) such that the child can remain in the US and avoid deportation to Guatemala:

The child simultaneously moved for the issuance of an order making special findings that, among other things, the child’s reunification with his parents is not viable due to parental neglect, abandonment, or abuse, and it would not be in his best interests to be returned to Guatemala, his previous country of nationality and last habitual residence. Although Surrogate’s Court granted the guardianship petition, following a subsequent hearing, the Surrogate issued the order on appeal denying the child’s motion for an order making the requisite declaration and special findings on the basis that the child presented “no credible testimony . . . of abuse, abandonment or neglect or that reunification with one or both of his parents is not viable.” * * *

… [T]he evidence established that the child is under the age of 21, unmarried, and a resident alien physically present in the United States and, inasmuch as the Surrogate appointed the child’s brother as his guardian, the child has been legally committed to or placed under the custody of an individual appointed by a juvenile court located in the United States within the meaning of 8 USC § 1101 (a) (27) (J) (i) … .

… [W]e conclude that reunification of the child with his parents is not viable due to parental neglect (see generally Family Ct Act § 1012 [f] [i]). The record demonstrates that the child’s parents did not provide the child with medical care, even after he sustained a serious injury … , encouraged the child to drop out of school and work on the family farm at the age of 15 … , failed to protect the child from gang violence in Guatemala … . … [I]t would not be in the best interests of the child to return to Guatemala, his previous country of nationality and country of last habitual residence … . Matter of Juarez, 2026 NY Slip Op 01686, Fourth Dept 3-20-26