Immigrant Youth

We will review how the CSPA protects certain family-based beneficiaries of immigrant visa petitions and how to calculate the CSPA age. We will also review when the Visa Bulletin is involved, and when and how visa regression affects the CSPA age. Finally, we will touch on the rules regarding recapturing priority dates, discuss strategies for clients in danger of “aging out” who may not be protected by CSPA, and address a recent USCIS policy update pertaining to CSPA.

This webinar will provide an introduction to special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) - a unique path to immigration status for young people under the age of 21. We will provide an overview of the legal requirements and process of seeking SIJS and SIJS-based adjustment of status, all the way from state juvenile court to adjustment of status.

Level: Intermediate

Eligibility for special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) requires the involvement of a state juvenile court. This webinar will go over what needs to be included in a successful SIJS state court predicate order, looking at guidance contained in the USCIS Policy Manual and the new SIJS regulations. We will then take a more detailed look at successful state court orders in both California and Texas as a way to see this guidance in action.

Presenters
Rachel Prandini - Staff Attorney, ILRC

Rachel is one of ILRC’s staff attorneys based in San Francisco. Rachel focuses on immigrant youth issues, including unaccompanied minors and immigrant youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Rachel provides technical assistance and trainings to immigration and state court attorneys, social workers, and judges. She works on statewide and national policy that affects the rights of immigrant youth and is frequently consulted for her expertise in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Rachel co-authored the ILRC’s publication Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Other Immigration Options for Children and Youth.

Prior to joining the ILRC, Rachel represented detained and released unaccompanied minors in removal defense and led a project focusing on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status at Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project in Los Angeles. While at Esperanza, Rachel also performed "Know Your Rights" work in southern California immigration detention centers for minors. Previously, Rachel worked as an associate at Paul Hastings, LLP and volunteered as a Child Advocate for unaccompanied minors.

Rachel earned her law degree from the University of California at Davis, where she was a member of the Immigration Law Clinic and worked on complex deportation defense cases and detention issues. She received her undergraduate degree from Westmont College, where she double-majored in philosophy and political science. Rachel is admitted to the bar in California. She is conversant in Spanish.

Dalia Castillo-Granados - Co-Founder and Director, Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA)

Dalia Castillo-Granados is the co-founder and director of the Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA), a project of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration. Dalia is a frequent speaker on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and led the effort at the ABA to advocate for deferred action for SIJS youth stuck in the visa backlog. Prior to working at CILA, Dalia was a senior attorney at Kids in Need of Defense, a staff attorney at Tahirih Justice Center, a clinical supervising attorney at the University of Houston’s Immigration Clinic, and a Greenberg Traurig, LLP Equal Justice Works fellow at Catholic Charities’ Cabrini Center. Throughout her career, Dalia has represented hundreds of children in their immigration proceedings and before Texas state courts.

This webinar will cover forms of relief and issues for children and youth, beyond asylum and SIJS, such as CSPA, 245(i), recapturing priority dates, selected inadmissibility issues and other children’s issues. It will give practitioners who are already well versed in UC asylum and SIJS cases an overview of these other forms of relief and the challenges inherent to representing children, in order to identify alternatives for youth and young adult clients and recognize potential problems and pitfalls.

As changes continue to unfold with the DACA program and many immigrant youth have been left out of the program, it is important that immigrant youth are being screened and informed of all immigration options. Immigration law provides a path for individuals to obtain lawful permanent residence through employment-based (EB) “preference immigrant” categories, but it is often an unfamiliar area for many practicing immigration law. This webinar will focus on screening for EB options, the process for applying for an EB visa, and obtaining a green card. Presenters will also give information on resources available for those who are interested in learning more about the process and partnering with agencies already working in this area of law.

This webinar will review the legal requirements and practical steps for seeking SIJS-based adjustment of status before EOIR. The presenters will assume prior familiarity with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.