Abandoned Alien Child.

An abandoned, neglected or abused child who is not a citizen of the USA may be found to be a special immigrant juvenile [SIJ] which may serve as a first step in filing for citizenship in the USA. (8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(27)(J)). These children no longer need be under foster care, as was previously required, but the statute requires that reunification with “1 or both parents not be viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment.”  Appellant, who committed a misdemeanor in this country, was born in Mexico in 1999 and came to this country in 2005 with his older brother, and then lived here with his mother. The young man was abandoned by his father and has no memory of him. He said he would have no place to live and no one to provide for him if he is returned to Mexico. The juvenile court declined to make a finding the young man was an SIJ, and the Court of Appeal reversed, stating: “A state court’s role in the SIJ process is not to determine worthy candidates for citizenship, but simply to identify abused, neglected, or abandoned alien children under its jurisdiction who cannot reunify with a parent or be safely returned in their best interests to their home country.” The juvenile court was ordered to permit the young man to fill out the paper work necessary to apply to be a SIJ. (In re Israel O. (Cal. App. First Dist., Div. 3; January 16, 2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 279, [182 Cal.Rptr.3d 548].)