SIJS is a humanitarian protection which results in lawful status for children and youth who have been abandoned, abused, neglected or had similar harsh experiences recognized by state law. It is the only lifeline for tens of thousands of eligible young people already in the United States.
The SIJS process is a hybrid bridging the intersection between state law and federal immigration law. The process begins by obtaining a state juvenile court order finding the abuse. This is called a predicate order.
The Predicate Order Resource Center is a repository of information with curated content and tools to educate, guide and empower advocates doing predicate order work.
A unique state-by-state analysis of age-out provisions is a quick reference tool which allows advocates to easily determine whether there may be juvenile court jurisdiction and to begin forming case strategy. This was developed in partnership with the Cornell Law School Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic.
Complex ethical issues arise frequently for advocates representing migrant children in state court proceedings. Common Ethical Issues Representing Immigrant Children in Juvenile Court is a handbook created for the Predicate Order Resource Center. This unique publication looks at common rules of ethics and uses illustrative hypotheticals to raise key questions and analyze using the relevant rules. Authored by Theo Liebmann, Clinical Professor and Executive Director of the Freedman Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, this is an invaluable tool for lawyers doing predicate order work.
The Flores Settlement is the law regulating the release of children from government detention and how they must be treated until then. It is very important AND very complicated. Cartoonist Tom Chalkley partnered with Project Lifeline to create this explainer to help everyone understand it.
The goal of the Predicate Order Resource Center and this page is to provide advocates with easy access to publications and other resources to be used as a starting place for research and further investigation. It is not a substitute for independent thought, research and, if applicable, obtaining legal advice.