In 2008, the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act expanded the definition of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) to allow undocumented immigrant youth to petition for legal status based on abuse, neglect, or abandonment by one or both parents. The interpretation of the "one or both parents" language has been a source of controversy in juvenile courts across the country. This webinar will examine legal developments on one-parent SIJS claims, share trends in USCIS filings involving a one-parent SIJS claim, and share strategies for successfully submitting these applications.

Presenter: Angie Junck, ILRC Supervising Attorney

Angie is a supervising attorney at the ILRC. She joined the ILRC in 2005 as a New Voices fellow. She specializes in the immigration consequences of crime and delinquency, immigration enforcement, and immigrant youth issues. She is a co-author of several ILRC publications including, Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit: The Impact of Crimes under California and Other State Laws, Remedies and Strategies for Permanent Resident Clients, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Other Immigration Options for Children & Youth. She helps coordinate two national collaboratives that address the intersection of the immigration and criminal justice systems—the Defending Immigrants Project, a collaborative devoted to protecting the rights of immigrants accused of crimes by providing advocacy and support within the criminal justice system and the Immigrant Justice Network, a collaborative to eliminate unjust immigration penalties for immigrants and end the criminalization of immigrant communities. She sits on the American Bar Association's Immigration Commission and is the co-chair of the Immigration Committee of the ABA's Criminal Justice Section. Prior to joining the ILRC, she worked on post-conviction relief for immigrants at the Law Offices of Norton Tooby and advocated on behalf of incarcerated survivors of domestic violence as the co-coordinator of Free Battered Women and a member of the Habeas Project. She is a proficient Spanish speaker.