After more than a year of negotiations, the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest has received $500,000 in attorneys’ fees from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as part of a settlement in a pro bono case, W.A.O. v. Jaddou. W.A.O. is a class action the Center brought on behalf of more than 750 juvenile immigrants whose petitions for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) USCIS had delayed, questioned, denied, or revoked under its illegal policy of disqualifying 18-to-21-year-old petitioners.
Lowenstein Sandler has donated these fees to the general funds of the following organizations to support their legal representation and advocacy on behalf of immigrant children:
- Kids In Need of Defense (KIND)
- New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children (NJCIC)
- Make the Road – New Jersey
- Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
- Child Advocacy Clinic at Rutgers Law School, Newark
SIJS is a form of immigration relief for children who, according to a state family court, cannot be safely reunified with one or both parents because of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or something similar. If a state court finds that it would not be in the best interest of the child to be returned to their home country, the child may apply to USCIS for SIJS and then lawful permanent residence.
In a settlement agreement, which the court approved in final form on April 20, 2022, USCIS agreed not to enforce or rely on the challenged policy to delay or deny the SIJS applications of older youth. The government also agreed to work with class members to avoid their deportation while they wait for their green cards after having been granted SIJS. In addition, the government agreed to pay $500,000 in attorneys’ fees, which Lowenstein has now donated to the nonprofit organizations identified above.
Craig Dashiell and Natalie J. Kraner also represented the plaintiffs.
About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
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