Deportation Prevention Advice

[paragraphs]

Reaching out to my flist here--anyone have any ideas?

My daughter's best friend Courtney's family took in a friend of their son's. His mother died, and his father abandoned him--sent him on a bus to Courtney's mom (who had moved from Las Vegas to Minnesota, but when they lived in Las Vegas the boy mostly lived with them).

The kid just turned 16. Turns out, he would've had to have been adopted at 15...which Courtney's mom VERY much wants. They were unable to accomplish that before his birthday thanks primarily to his father (who now can't be found), and now he is facing deportation to the Philipines.

He is 16. He has no family here but Courtney's, he has no family there. And, he is gay.

Any advice on how to keep him here would be appreciated. He has a lawyer and they are trying to do anything and everything they can but our government thinks it is more important to send a 16-year-old gay young man with no family or skills to a country he hasn't been to since he was a child.

Thanks flist--I have no idea how this kid can be saved and he is terrified, beyond terrified. I am heartsick for them all.

Comments

[neifile7.livejournal.com]

Even though he has a lawyer, it might help to contact Lambda Legal Aid, which I'm sure deals with deportation issues in your region quite often, as well as with rights of minors. It's a place to start, at least.
http://www.lambdalegal.org/

My heart goes out to him and your friends.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

This. Lambda are the good guys on so many levels.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

hi-- is he in mn or nv?

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Minnesota now.

[samueljames]

I'm no help but I'll keep them in my prayers.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thank you--I will keep folks posted. They are going nuts, just nuts.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

they need to create or recreate a paper trail that proves how long the kid has been with them. Picture with dates and school records proving that the child was with them for an extended period of time. Also their senator and congressman/representative needs to be contacted PRONTO! The sooner this kid's name and situation is in front of them and their staff, the better the chances for the child to stay. Abandonment can be used to their advantage esp. if they can prove that they tried to reach the father.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I have sent that along too.

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

It's a really long shot, I think, but there might be something in trying an appeal with the United Nations. They've got a commission on human rights that does hearings for individuals whose human rights have been violated. It might be worth mentioning to the lawyer in question, since I don't know how well American law schools verse their students in international law.

That's the most I can offer, I'm afraid, and like I said, it's a real long shot :(.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thanks Vera--am sending this along too.

[aseas-words.livejournal.com]

I hope that one of the things the people above said will work out...

If not, is it possible for him to enroll in a community college and apply for a student visa?

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I am not sure they thought of that, but am sending this along too.

[snufflesdbear.livejournal.com]

deff try lambda, but also check around the local news outlets. Find one that is gay-friendly. Get ahold of their consumer service reporter. See if it can be covered that way. This is a scarey situation for him - maybe he can get something through the embassy. Because, if he is deported, he would be persecuted. How would he live???!!! I mean, if the kid is to old to be adopted, he ought to be able to choose to become a citizen.

I will keep him, and all of them, in my prayers.

(here via RM's LJ)

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

They're already marching on the local news outlet...the area seems to be gay friendly, so I don't know...


And there isn't a way for him to live there. He knows nothing about any family at all.

Thanks very much for your thoughts. These are being passed along as well.

[contrarywise]

I don't have anything to add to the excellent advice already offered, but if I think of anything, I'll definitely let you know. My thoughts and best wishes are with him and those who care for him.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thanks Mark--I'm passing the whole slew of advice and thoughts along.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

I'm signal boosting like MAD - but you might consider editing this post to add a direct email contact for folks outside of LJ to get in touch.

If there's a way, we'll find it. Hang in there.

Outfront.org

[cozzene.livejournal.com]

If you haven't already contacted them already perhaps they can offer some assistance. Attorney contact:

Phil Duran, Esq.
Staff Attorney ext. 7663
phil@outfront.org

Also:

Amy Johnson
Executive Director ext. 7660
ajohnson@outfront.org

***She used to be our attorney prior to taking her current position.

I'm thinking press involvement may be helpful.

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

This is a terrible situation. My thoughts are with this kid, and the family who loves him, and you and your daughter. *hugs*

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thank you Cats! I will take your hugs!

[durayan.livejournal.com]

Here is a somewhat useful article: http://www.cundyandmartin.com/immigration/family/immigration-status-abandoned-children.php

It seems to me that the most practical course would be to get something initiated under the Minnesota Child Protective Services folks. I know that sounds absurd and scary, and I must qualify that by saying I don't know jack about MN CPS, but whereas Immigration is likely to treat him as an unaccompanied minor, and attempt to repatriate him, CPS might intervene on the fact that his mother died and his only living parent has abandoned him. As a ward of the state, he would have access to a different path to legal residency, which is essential if he wishes to stay here, and ever have a decent job. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status is a beautiful thing.

I can't speak, however, to whether MN CPS would act if his current caregivers were willing to keep him (you can always say, yes, we want him, but we can't enroll him in school consent for medical care, etc...)or if they did, if they'd allow him to remain in your friend's home. And then, you'd still need to make sure that someone had it on their radar screen to pursue SIJS. As in jump up and down about it.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

More awesomeness! Thank you!!!

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

i have no advice as this is not anywhere near my area, but i will keep him and the family in my thoughts - i hope it gets sorted soon and he can stay

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Kel!

[humming-along.livejournal.com]

http://www.immigrationequality.org/

These are good folks, I've had several conversations with them over the years about me and Mars' situation.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Oh Logan, thank you!!!!

I often wondered how that is going for you guys (not the place here I know) but you two are in my thoughts. I have passed this on too.

My daughter is amazed at how many wonderful suggestions have landed in her mailbox.

[weirdquark]

Here via rm:

They could look into his becoming an emancipated minor -- a quick google search says you need parental consent if you're in Minnesota, so if his father can't be found that might not be an option, but it might be worth checking whether the requirement can be waived since his father can't be found. (I also don't know if not being a citizen makes a difference here, and unless one of his parents was a citizen, there's nothing he can do there until he's eighteen.)

Other than that, I have no ideas that you haven't already gotten, but contacting Lambda Legal and creating a paper trail about the abandonment both sound like good ideas to me. Good luck to him! I hope things work out.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thank you thank you, yet another email passed on.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

What was the parents' legal status?

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. I'll have to ask about that.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

Also here via rm and I have reposted in my own LJ and encouraged my flist to repost as well.

The ACLU considers immigrant's rights to be one of their key issues. http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights

I have a friend who has worked on high profile immigration and humanitarian refugee and political asylum cases before. She is very busy, but I will see if she has any ideas.

This might be a stretch--but what about Amnesty International?

I think it would also be a very good idea to set up a blog or a website with photos and information. Never underestimate the power of public relations and a well told story.

[shane-mayhem.livejournal.com]

x-posting this to several queer comms I'm on.

I'm definitely keeping the kiddo in my thoughts.

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

Strategies he and the lawyer could try:

Getting him into school somewhere and applying for a student visa
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1268.html#need

Does he have a passport from the Phillipines? Or anywhere?

Demonstrating that he has a well-founded fear of persection because he is gay and asking for aslyum http://www.shusterman.com/toc-asyl.html

There's precedent for that

http://www.immigrationequality.org/template.php?pageid=3

But is being gay bad enough in the Phillipines for this to kick in?

Marrying a U.S. Citizen. Problematic since he's gay and gay marriage is not recognized federally, plus since the age of consent to marriage is not under 18 in any state, he would need parental consent, which brings him back to the same find the dad dilemma.

Get an influential magazine to profile him and his dilemma -- perhaps the New York Times Magazine?Something read by people who could offer more help -- and people the government doesn't want to be embarassed in front of.

In case he has to go there, at least temporarily, while this is being worked on:

Contacting gay rights groups in the Phillipines to try to arrange a friendly host and/or foster family for him there if necessary. I would be a lot more comfortable if this could be done by people they know personally and can vouch for, but if not, at least it would be some kind of safety net.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_Philippines

Arrange a place for him a an English-speaking boarding high school in the Phillipines.

http://clintsnotes.i.ph/blogs/clintsnotes/2009/07/29/top-international-school-in-the-philippines/

Start a Livejournal fundraising auction and a paypal donation button --to defray legal costs, but also to buy calling cards, plane tickets, etc. in the event that he doesn't win right away.

What a mess. I will be crossing my fingers for him.

[shane-mayhem.livejournal.com]

I got this:

"immigration equality would be a good organization to contact (immigrationequality.org) - they may know if there's any possibility of trying to get him asylum (here's an article about someone from the philippines getting asylum based on sexual orientation: http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=28912)."

I hope this helps, too! :-/

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

YES! It ALL is helping. I am so amazed by how everyone has reached out to help, even if it is just to say hey, I hope everything ends up okay.

passing this on too. Thank you Shane!

[alba17.livejournal.com]

This is a terrible situation, but I'm afraid it's not uncommon for people to be deported back to a country in which they've never really lived after living in the US for decades. I don't know anything about getting legal status for children abandoned by their parents, and I haven't been involved in immigration law for a long time, but these would be my questions if this boy came to me for advice:

1) How long has the boy been in the US?
2) What was his parents' immigration status? (illegal, I assume) How long were they in the US and how did they enter? Were they under deportation orders? Was there any possibility of applying for political asylum for them, assuming they had no other legal status in the US?
3) Is there any history of abuse or neglect prior to the father abandoning him?
4) I would research applying for asylum for him, but I don't know how realistic that is. I've only dealt with political and religious asylum, and never for a child - when I was practicing this kind of law, they didn't give asylum to gay people simply for being gay. I don't know what the law is now. Asylum claims for children who haven't really lived in the country they're being deported to strike me as problematic, since usually you have to prove an individualized fear of persecution. But I don't really know anything about asylum for kids.

There might be special immigration provisions for these kinds of situations, where a child has been abandoned by parents, that I don't know about. One of the comments above indicated this. Hopefully his lawyer is investigating all the possible defenses to deportation and will contact your congressperson and Senator. (It's an immigration lawyer, right? If not, they should contact the American Immigration Lawyers Association to get a referral.)

Welcome to the crazy world of American immigration law.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thanks Alba darling--I am passing all this on, every little bit. There's much I don't know about the situation (like how old he was when they came here).

There IS history of neglect--the mother apparently left them both long before she died, and the father came into and left over 2-3 years. Sigh.

I didn't know you were a lawyer! *straightens up*

Thanks for everything!

[zestfive.livejournal.com]

another LJ-er directed here from rm

I know nothing about this but here's some additional suggested links:

The Immigration Law Center of Minnesota (http://www.immigrantlawcentermn.org//)

Look at the resources link

Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network blog (http://immigrantfreedomnetwork.wordpress.com/)

Center for Human Rights (http://www.centerforhumanrights.org/)
A non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, CA, that focuses on the human rights and domestic civil rights of insular minorities including immigrants, refugees, children, and indigenous peoples. They have several websites that can be accessed from the one linked on this page concerning aspects of immigration such as legalization for undocumented immigrants, protections for immigrant victims of domestic violence, and issues concerning unaccompanied minors.

Justice for Immigrants - Minnesota (http://www.jfimn.org/index.html)

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - Migration and Refugee Services (http://www.usccb.org/mrs/cshome.shtml)
this is specific to their children's services

More from that site read this here (http://www.usccb.org/mrs/childorr.shtml")

[thaddeusfavour.livejournal.com]

No advice, but I'll boost the signal to my flist and hope it helps. Sounds like folks are coming up with some excellent ideas. I'm hoping for the best.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I am moved and humbled by all the helpful advice offered. I've passed it all on, and hope to hear that something is going to work.

Thank you Thad!

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I have no advice, but I wish them all the best. What a totally mixed-up, fightening situation. I hope he gets the support and help he needs. Please keep us up to date.

[falcons-honour.livejournal.com]

Here via thaddeusfavour.

Number one, I'm neither American nor a lawyer and working on what I hope is common sense here, so this may be a long shot or indeed impossible. However, the first thought that sprang to my mind after reading that 16 is too old to be adopted was: 'Doesn't that suggest that 16 is old enough to apply for citizenship in his own right?' If he's been in the US for over five years (I believe it's five, based on some research I once did for a character who needed a green card), he may be able to get citizenship himself. As stated, though, I'm not exactly a legal professional, so do look into it before going after false hope.

Failing that, could he apply for asylum based on the fact he would be persecuted if he was sent back home? That might at least buy him some time.

I do wish the kid and Courtney's family all the very best of luck, and will keep them in my thoughts.

[stealth-rose.livejournal.com]

Saw this linked on a friend's journal and I wanted to see if anyone's touched base with local news re: human interest story? Particularly as it's the holidays, they might really grab onto the story, and it being in the spotlight would help get the word out, potentially access resources you wouldn't ordinarily, and well. Spotlight and attention on the matter makes it much harder to quickly shove it under the rug and out of sight.

[catelynn.livejournal.com]

Contact Al Franken's office