Matter of Nelson A. G.-L. (Maria Y. G. S.)


Matter of Nelson A. G.-L. (Maria Y. G. S.) (2018 NY Slip Op 00289) Matter of Nelson A. G.-L. (Maria Y. G. S.) 2018 NY Slip Op 00289 Decided on January 17, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided on January 17, 2018 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department LEONARD B. AUSTIN, J.P. SANDRA L. SGROI SYLVIA O. HINDS-RADIX ANGELA G. IANNACCI, JJ. 2017-07468 (Docket No. G-20692-16) [*1]In the Matter of Nelson A. G.-L. (Anonymous). andMaria Y. G. S., appellant. Immigration Legal Services of Long Island, Inc., Water Mill, NY (Carlos Piovanetti and Patricia Weiss of counsel), for appellant. Laurette Mulry, Central Islip, NY (John B. Belmonte of counsel), attorney for the child. DECISION & ORDER Appeal from an order of the Family Court, Suffolk County (George F. Harkin, J.), dated July 31, 2017. The order, insofar as appealed from, after a hearing, denied the petitioner's motion for the issuance of an order, inter alia, making specific findings so as to enable the subject child to petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for special immigrant juvenile status pursuant to 8 USC § 1101(a)(27)(J). ORDERED that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the facts, without costs or disbursements, the petitioner's motion for the issuance of an order, inter alia, making specific findings so as to enable the subject child to petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for special immigrant juvenile status pursuant to 8 USC § 1101(a)(27)(J) is granted, and it is found that reunification of the subject child with his parents is not viable due to parental neglect and abandonment. In December 2016, Maria Y. G. S. (hereinafter the petitioner) filed a petition pursuant to Family Court Act article 6 to be appointed as guardian of Nelson A. G.-L. (hereinafter the child), a native of El Salvador, for the purpose of obtaining an order declaring that the child was dependent on the Family Court and making specific findings that he was unmarried and under 21 years of age, that reunification with one or both of his parents is not viable due to parental neglect and abandonment, and that it would not be in his best interests to be returned to his previous country of nationality and last habitual residence, so as to enable the child to petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (hereinafter USCIS) for special immigrant juvenile status (hereinafter SIJS) pursuant to 8 USC § 1101(a)(27)(J). Thereafter, the petitioner moved for the issuance of an order making the requisite declaration and specific findings so as to enable the child to petition for SIJS. In an order dated July 31, 2017, made after a hearing, the court, inter alia, denied the petitioner's motion on the basis that, although the child was under 21, unmarried, and dependent on ...

Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals