In the Matter of the Welfare of: A.S., Juvenile, Minn.Ct.App., 7/5/2016. A.S. was born in Mexico. To avoid beatings and other "punishments" at the hands of both his parents and grandparents back in Mexico he came to the United States and moved to Minnesota. At age 17 he was cited for underage drinking and driving, a juvenile traffic offense. The juvenile court stayed adjudication and placed A.S.on probation for up to twelve months on certain conditions.
A.S. moved for findings that would allow him to apply for "special immigrant juvenile" status. SIJ status provides a means for abused, neglected and abandoned immigrant youth to obtain lawful permanent residence and a path to citizenship under federal law. A requirement is a state court finding that the immigrant either has been "declared dependent on a juvenile court" or has been "committed to, or placed under the custody of" a state agency or department or an individual or entity "appointed by a [s]tate or juvenile court. The juvenile court declined to make such findings, concluding that merely being placed on probation does not meet the requirement that the immigrant be "dependent on a juvenile court." Nor does it mean that the immigrant has been committed to or placed under the custody of a state agency, in this case the probation department.
The court of appeals affirms the juvenile court's decision. A.S. gets caught in the trap created by the exclusion of "juvenile traffic offenses" from the definition of "delinquent child." The juvenile court never placed A.S. in foster care or in a similar setting, nor was A.S. placed in a guardianship. Without any real guidance on identifying which dispositions may result in "dependency on a juvenile court" the court just says this isn't one of those instances.
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