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

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

k. have asked someone else (in mn) to take a look. i can't make any promises, but if i were having immigration problems, he's the one i'd call.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! (how did you find out about this? Magic of the flistworld?)

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

rm boosted the signal, and i read her.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Awesome. I shall thank her! I'm getting so many great suggestions.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

hey, email me? kalmn @ lj works. i have something i'd like to forward along, the very most important piece of which is:

"The most important thing is that the child seeks out an attorney who specializes in immigration. It is very, very different from criminal law, and while the alien has certain administrative rights, this is not "Law and Order," and Miranda does not apply. There's a free legal services list that was provided to him when he was charged. Some of those pro bono agencies are really good. One of them is Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. They can't help everyone, but they give good advice and can make referrals. Also, TVPRA is new and so are the procedures. If the attorney doesn't know what TVPRA is, find a new one."

i have no clue what tvpra is, but my friend is all excited about it.

again, email me, and i'll send along what i have.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Just pop me what you have at cparagraphs at googlemail. He does have an immigration lawyer--they went out and found someone right away--but I am passing on every little bitty bit of info I can.

Everyone has been amazing!