Recinos v. Escobar (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-029-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11986 LILIANA MARIBEL RIVERA RECINOS vs. MARIA ISABEL RECINOS ESCOBAR. Middlesex. November 5, 2015. – March 4, 2016. Present: Gants, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ. Probate Court, Jurisdiction, General equity power. Jurisdiction, Probate Court. Complaint in equity filed in the Middlesex Division of the Probate and Family Court Department on April 14, 2014. The case was heard by Patricia A. Gorman, J. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court. Elizabeth Badger for the plaintiff. Mary K. Ryan, Cynthia M. Guizzetti, & Mara O’Malley, for American Immigration Lawyers Association & others, amici curiae, submitted a brief. SPINA, J. In this case, we are asked to determine whether the Probate and Family Court Department has jurisdiction over youth between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one to make special findings that are necessary to apply for special immigrant juvenile (SIJ) status under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J) (2012). Congress created the SIJ classification to permit immigrant children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by one or both of their parents to apply for lawful permanent residence while remaining in the United States. See id.; 8 C.F.R. § 204.11 (2009). “[C]hild” under the Federal statute is defined as an unmarried person under the age of twenty-one. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(b)(1). Before an immigrant child can apply for SIJ status, she must receive the following predicate findings from a “juvenile court”:[1] (1) she is dependent on the juvenile court; (2) her reunification with one or both parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment; and (3) it is not in her best interests to return to her country of origin. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J)(i). Once these special findings are made, an application and supporting documents may be submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency.[2] An application for SIJ status must be submitted before the immigrant’s twenty-first birthday. 8 C.F.R. § 204.11. Liliana Recinos, the plaintiff, was a twenty year old,[3] unmarried immigrant attempting to apply for SIJ status. She filed a complaint in equity in April, 2014, in the Middlesex County Division of the Probate and Family Court Department. The plaintiff requested equitable and declaratory relief in the form of a decree […]