FREE Webinars Focusing on Immigration Issues

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is hosting a two-part webinar series exploring the complexities that arise when working with immigrant families.  The webinars are designed as a conversation and learning opportunity for child welfare personnel, legal professionals, advocates, and other community members working with immigrant populations.

Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) Status -- What Judicial Officers and Court Stakeholders Need to Know
Presented by Casey Family Programs, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and the NCJFCJ
Date: Monday, December 15, 2014
Time: 9am to 10am PST / Noon to 1pm EST
Cost: FREE
Register HERE

Eileen Matuszak of USCIS will give a brief description of SIJ status and respond to SIJ questions frequently asked by the courts. This presentation will provide an opportunity for judges to ask general SIJ questions of the federal agency responsible for administering the SIJ program. Additionally, Angie Junck of the ILRC will present information on newly enacted state laws addressing SIJ issues. Lastly, Elizabeth Thornton of Casey Family Programs will describe strategies and tools used to raise awareness of the SIJ program with state child welfare agencies and juvenile court judges. 

Immigrant Families -- How to Best Serve Them 
Presented by Casey Family Program, the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law and the NCJFCJ
Date: Thursday, December 18, 2014
Time: Noon to 1pm PST / 3pm to 4pm EST
Cost: FREE
Register HERE

Andrew Lorenzen-Strait of ICE will explain the Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities Directive  (also known as the Parental Interest Directive). Mr. Lorenzen-Strait will describe how ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices handle family court cases, as well as how courts can collaborate with ICE to help facilitate participation by parents in child welfare cases. Additionally, Kevonne Small of DOJ will discuss Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its application to dependency courts and child welfare agencies, and will discuss how court and child welfare agency responses to immigrant parents may implicate this law. Lastly, Cristina Cooper of the ABA will describe steps states can take to mitigate some of the barriers faced by immigrant families involved in the child welfare system, as well as discuss what falls under the purview of the current federal and state laws. 

Information Regarding Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors

The following was an email sent out by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service:

Dear Stakeholder:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is providing an email address for juvenile courts and child welfare professionals to submit general questions about the Special Immigrant Juvenile Program. You can also submit requests for a USCIS representative to talk to your organization about the program. The address is: USCIS-IGAOutreach@uscis.dhs.gov.

Note: Please do not submit case-specific inquiries to this email address. For inquiries about specific cases, call the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. The TTY number (for deaf or hard of hearing) is 1-800-767-1833.

Background

Some foreign-born children present in the United States may qualify for humanitarian immigration protection because they have been abused, abandoned or neglected by a parent. Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status is a classification that may allow a vulnerable child to immediately apply for status as a lawful permanent resident.

SIJ classification is unique in that specific state court findings are required in order for USCIS to determine eligibility. The juvenile court makes factual findings (based on state law) concerning the care, custody and best interests of the child.

Additional Resources

The following information and resources about SIJ status are available at www.uscis.gov:

*        Immigration Relief for Abused Children: Information for Juvenile Court Judges, Child Welfare Workers, and Others Working with Abused Children  (Brochure)

*        Special Immigrant Juvenile Status: Information for Child Welfare Workers  (Flier)

*        Special Immigrant Juvenile Status: Information for Juvenile Courts  (Flier)


Kind Regards,

USCIS Public Engagement Division

New Toolkit for Parents Separated from Children Because of Immigration Detention

In January we posted about the ICE directive regarding the parental rights of those involved with immigration enforcement actions.  Our previous post is HERE.

In order to help parents who are separated from their children due to immigration detention the Women's Refugee Commission has released a groundbreaking new publication:  Detained or Deported: What About My Children? What To Do If You Can't Be With Them.

This toolkit is designed to help immigrant parents keep their families together. It is the first-ever comprehensive, nationwide resource to help families who are caught between the immigration and child welfare systems.

The toolkit will also be a valuable resource for attorneys, advocates, family members and others who work with immigrant families. It provides critical information to ensure that family unity and children's best interests are taken into consideration in immigration, child welfare and family court decisions.

More than 5,100 children are currently in the U.S. foster care system because a parent has been detained or deported. Some parents have even lost their parental rights, and will likely never see their children again.

Detained and deported parents retain the legal right to make decisions about what happens to their children, even if children are temporarily out of their care. However, practically speaking, logistical barriers, a lack of coordination between the immigration and child welfare systems, and a lack of awareness of undocumented parents' rights can make it extremely difficult to put families back together once the immigration and child welfare systems are involved.

Detained or Deported: What about my children? guides parents and those who work with them through the steps they need to take to keep children from entering the child welfare system, locate children in that system, comply with a child welfare case plan, participate in family court and make arrangements for children at the conclusion of a parent's immigration case. It includes information on how to get a lawyer and how to stay in touch with children.

Detained or Deported: What about my children? has been approved by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for placement in all detention facilities that hold adults for more than 72 hours. 

You can get a copy of the toolkit on the website of the Women's Refugee Commission or download an Interactive Version or a Print Version.

Parental Interests in Immigration Enforcement Activities

On August 23, 2013, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released Directive 11064.1 on the topic of Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities.  If you represent a parent that is involved with ICE and/or deportation proceedings, you may want to familiarize yourself with this directive.

Dawn Marie Rubio, our Juvenile Court Administrator, recently sent a memo to the judges, trial court executives and the clerks of the court addressing the main points of the ICE directive.  Her insights are below.

You can also download a copy of Ms. Rubio's memo and the ICE Directive HERE.

Re:                  ICE Directive 11064.1, Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities

                                     

Parent attorneys should be aware of the attached directive issued by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] because of its implications for child welfare proceedings.

The ICE directive defines a "proceeding in which a family or dependency court or child welfare agency adjudicates or enforces the rights of parents or minor children through the determination or modification of parenting plans, child custody, visitation, or support, or the distribution of property or other legal obligations in the context of parental rights."  The directive is applicable to alien parents or legal guardians who: (1) are the primary caretakers of minor children regardless of the children's citizenship, (2) who have a direct interest in a family court or child welfare proceeding, and (3) whose minor children are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.  The stated policy is that "ICE personnel should ensure that the agency's immigration enforcement activities do not unnecessarily disrupt the parental rights of both alien parents and legal guardians of minor children."

The directive includes requirements for ICE to:

·                 Designate a person in each field office to serve as the point of contact on all issues related to parental rights in that given area;

·                 Hold detained parents or legal guardians in detention facilities that are reasonably close to where their children are living and to the location of the family court or child welfare proceedings whenever possible;

·                 Facilitate the ability of detained parents or legal guardians to participate in family court and child welfare proceedings that affect their parental rights, if a parent provides evidence of a hearing and facilitation of their participation does not pose an undue logistical burden to ICE or raise safety or security concerns;

·                 Facilitate the ability of detained parents or legal guardians to participate in family court and child welfare proceedings through video or teleconferencing when in-person participation is not possible;

·                 Facilitate visits between detained parents or legal guardians and their children when a parent or guardian can demonstrate that such visits are required as a precondition for family reunification;

·                 Accommodate, to the extent practicable, the efforts of detained parents or legal guardians with final orders of removal to make arrangements for their children, such as, joining them in their country of removal or arranging for a guardian so their children may remain in the U.S.;

·                 Provide detained parents or legal guardians, or their legal counsel of other representatives with sufficient notice of deportation, when such notice does not raise a security concern, so that travel arrangements may be made for the children of the detained parents or legal guardians;

·                 Coordinate, to the extent practicable, the access of detained parents or legal guardians to legal counsel, consulates and consular officials, courts, and family members in the weeks prior to deportation, in order to execute signed documents, including powers of attorney, guardianship agreements, passport applications, and the purchase airline tickets; and

·                 Consider, on a case-by-case basis, facilitating the temporary return of detained parents or legal guardians to participate in a hearing related to termination of their parental rights or legal guardianship rights if the family court has determined that their physical presence at the hearing is required.

The name and contact information for the local ICE Parental Rights Coordinator is:

Robert Cordero

Assistant Field Office Director

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Enforcement and Removal Operations

Salt Lake City Field Office

(o) 801-886-7414 (c) 801-502-2868

Finally, a few links to the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations outreach website that may be helpful to you regarding this issue.

http://www.ice.gov/about/offices/enforcement-removal-operations/ero-outreach/

http://www.ice.gov/about/offices/enforcement-removal-operations/ero-outreach/contact.htm