Resources
Publication Date
09/04/2025
On April 15, 2025, the ILRC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for USCIS records regarding the SIJS Deferred Action Policy. When the government failed to respond in a timely manner, we filed suit. This resource includes all documents we have received from USCIS as a result of the FOIA request, as well as a short summary of the request and results.
Resources
Publication Date
09/18/2025
This practice advisory provides information about recently implemented fee increases at USCIS and EOIR. These fee increases are a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” also known as HR1. This advisory explores what we know and what we still don’t know about the fees, how to pay them, and potential future changes.
Resources
Publication Date
05/01/2012
Highlighting Changes Implemented by the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act (03/2009): These are materials from our March 2009 webinar which highlighted important new changes implemented by the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act of 2008 (signed into law on December 23, 2008) to the eligibility requirements for filing a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petition. Expert practitioners provided strategies to overcome challenges posed in obtaining SIJS, including obtaining juvenile court orders from dependency, delinquency, and probate courts and obtaining specific consent to apply for SIJS while a child is in federal custody. If you are interested in participating in this webinar if held in the future please email seminars@ilrc.org.
Resources
Publication Date
11/19/2010
Immigration Benchbook for Juvenile and Family Courts, Updated July 2010 (PDF, 2010) This is a national benchbook for juvenile and family court judges on various immigration related issues including: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, adoption, VAWA, U Visas, divorce, child custody, immigration consequences of delinquency and crime, and immigration enforcement.
Resources
Publication Date
05/09/2022
A reference sheet on the immigration consequences of delinquency and diagnostic questions for noncitizen youth: determining potential avenues for legal status.
Resources
Publication Date
07/08/2014
This op-ed on Unaccompanied Alien Children was written by one of our summer law interns, Kathleen Kavanagh. In recent months, we’ve seen an unprecedented jump in child arrivals mostly from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The Official Border Patrol statistics show that over 47,000 unaccompanied minors have already been apprehended in the first eight months of fiscal year 2014.Read the entire article below.
Resources
Publication Date
08/26/2014
In 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a Parental Interests Directive to provide federal guidelines regarding immigration enforcement against parents and legal guardians. The Directive emphasizes that ICE should respect an immigrant parent’s rights and responsibilities, and seeks to ensure that “immigration enforcement activities do not unnecessarily disrupt” parental rights. This resource summarizes the key provisions of the Directive and provides tips to those working within the dependency system on how to best ensure an immigrant parent can meaningfully participate in the dependency proceedings.
Resources
Publication Date
08/26/2014
On September 30, 2012, the state of California enacted the Reuniting Immigrant Families Act (“SB 1064”). SB 1064 is the nation’s first law addressing the reunification barriers faced by many immigrant families involved with the child welfare system. The law clarifies that maintaining children’s ties to their families remains the priority despite barriers imposed by immigration status, including immigration detention and deportation.
Resources
Publication Date
09/10/2014
This chart is a compilation of resources for advocates working with Unaccompanied Immigrant Children (“UAC”) and includes general resources for working with and representing the UAC population, immigration options for UACS, laws affecting UACs, overview of the immigration detention and deportation process for immigrant children, and legal know your rights for children.
Resources
Publication Date
09/09/2014
Visual map of what may happen to immigrant children in the immigration system including apprehension, detention, immigration court, and deportation.
Resources
Publication Date
10/30/2014
SB 873 appropriates $3M to provide legal representation for Unaccompanied Minors in removal proceedings. The law also eliminates any ambiguity that California Superior Courts, including family courts, have jurisdiction to make the findings necessary for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (“SIJS”). This fact sheet outlines how the law benefits Unaccompanied Minors, including practice tips for how advocates can leverage the law to improve practice in state court for SIJS petitions.
Resources
Publication Date
03/12/2015
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status is a unique, hybrid form of immigration relief that requires the involvement of state courts before a child is eligible to apply for a special immigrant juvenile visa with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services. This guide includes an overview of the process of requesting SIJS findings in different types of state courts in California, providing answers to common questions about this process as well as practice pointers for different types of proceedings in California.
Resources
Publication Date
03/12/2015
Advocates may find that some state court judges are unfamiliar with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), or uncomfortable with their role in helping an individual access a form of federal immigration relief. This resource is intended to help advocates address the concerns of state courts with respect to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status petitions.
Resources
Publication Date
03/12/2015
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases, involving a claim of abuse, abandonment or neglect against one parent while the child resides with the non-offending parent, are commonly referred to as one-parent cases. These cases, though permissible under the plain language of the statute as well as federal agency interpretation, have proved challenging particularly at the state court phase of the application process and at times before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that adjudicates SIJS petitions. This advisory is intended to be a primer for practitioners to help them successfully advocate for SIJS where one-parent SIJS claims are involved.
Resources
Publication Date
10/12/2015
This practice advisory describes the recent increase in RFEs and NOIDs in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases, in which USCIS is requesting documents from the underlying state court proceedings. The advisory details arguments against disclosing state court documents and information to USCIS, and provides guidance on setting up your SIJS petitions for success from the outset.
Resources
Publication Date
02/14/2022
In recent years, California’s appellate courts have provided guidance on the state court’s role in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases. The following decisions clarify many of the common questions that these cases present in state courts, including one-parent SIJS, notice and service issues, and the role of the state court.
Resources
Publication Date
02/03/2016
California recently enacted ten new laws to ensure liberty and access to justice for immigrants in our state. Two of those laws impact immigrant youth in particular:
Resources
Publication Date
02/22/2016
After a record number of unaccompanied children came to the United States in 2014, the U.S. is again responding to a new influx of children and families from Central America. This one-page resource sheet for individuals interacting with unaccompanied children in the U.S. can be used to help children get connected with legal, educational, medical, mental health, and faith-based services.
Resources
Publication Date
04/15/2016
In this practice advisory developed in consultation with the staff of the Judicial Council of California, we answer common questions about basic procedural and substantive issues that may arise in family court custody cases when SIJS findings are being requested.
Resources
Publication Date
10/02/2025
This resource is a comprehensive client intake form meant to assist practitioners in screening for immigration relief options and assessing red flags. Accompanying the intake form are notes to assist practitioners in spotting issues and relief options as well as a summary of common forms of relief. This sample client intake form is generic, to screen for general relief since the goal at the screening stage is not to make a final determination of eligibility but to assess pathways for relief.