In partnership with the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), CVLS volunteers help clients with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases. SIJS is a unique form of immigration relief available to children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent in their home country. Obtaining SIJS is a two-step process. The first step involves the filing of a family law case so that a state court can enter an order making findings of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. CVLS supervises volunteers on these family law cases while NIJC handles the immigration portion.
Benjamin Levine, an associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, recently represented G. in a custody case. G. is the mother of two young children, M. and N., whose father passed away a few years ago. Although Ben had no prior experience in family law, he expertly handled the case, arguing that M. and N. were abandoned by their father when he passed away. The family law judge agreed and entered an order with the necessary SIJS findings.
From here, NIJC will take over to represent M. and N. in their immigration case. Ben’s work on this case enabled M. and N. to apply for SIJS and put them on the first step toward a pathway to citizenship. We’d like to thank Ben for his work on this case and NIJC for its partnership with us on these important cases.
