Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

ENROLLED ORIGINAL

                                          A RESOLUTION

                                                25-526

                    IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

                                             June 11, 2024

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend Chapter 3 of Title 13

       of the District of Columbia Official Code to provide that publication may be substituted

       for personal service of process for appointments of a vulnerable youth guardian in certain

       circumstances; and to amend Chapter 23 of Title 16 of the District of Columbia Official

       Code to authorize the Family Division of the Superior Court to appoint, modify, and

       terminate a new class of legal guardianship for vulnerable youth.

        RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

resolution may be cited as the “Vulnerable Youth Guardianship Protection Emergency

Declaration Resolution of 2024”.

    Sec. 2 (a) Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (“SIJS”) is a special humanitarian visa

established by the federal government covering abused, neglected, or abandoned immigrant

youth under age 21. If approved, those granted SIJS are authorized to work, maintain a Social

Security Number, receive assistance for housing and education, and eventually apply for lawful

permanent residency, making SIJS an important legal lifeline for vulnerable immigrant youth,

especially undocumented immigrant youth.

        (b) Under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J), to apply for a SIJS visa, an applicant must be an

unmarried noncitizen under 21 years of age, be presently residing in the United States, and

possess a juvenile court order from a state court. The court order must find that:

                (1) The petitioner is dependent on the court or under custody of a state agency,

department, or court-appointed guardian;

                (2) The petitioner has suffered from abuse, neglect, abandonment, or other related

reason that makes reunification with the petitioner’s parents impossible; and

                (3) It is in the best interest of the petitioner not to return to the previous country of

nationality or the country of the last habitual residence of the petitioner or of the petitioner’s

parents.

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         (c) Despite the intended reach of this humanitarian visa, a number of eligible immigrant

youth in the District may be unable to access these critical protections due to an inconsistency

between District law and federal law. Under current District law, the Superior Court of the

District of Columbia lacks authority over unmarried noncitizens who are at least 18 but younger

than 21 that would be consistent with federal SIJS petition requirements. Specifically, the court

does not have authority over these youth except in certain extremely limited circumstances, such

as the youth being under the care of the Child and Family Service Agency or being legally found

to have been subjected to neglect.

         (d) Because the court’s authority over unmarried noncitizens who are at least age 18 but

younger than 21 is limited, the court has no legal mechanism to issue the orders necessary to

allow a number of eligible youth to apply for SIJS, even though federally SIJS petitioners are

allowed to petition until the age of 21. The court also lacks the necessary authority to appoint

guardians to unmarried noncitizens who are at least age 18 but younger than 21, which can be a

necessary component of the SIJS petition. This lack of authority prevents many immigrant youth

in the District (and in particular undocumented immigrant youth) who have suffered from abuse,

abandonment, or neglect from obtaining relief from that past mistreatment by accessing these

critical federal protections as intended.

         (e) There is a pressing need to address the lack of access to federal protections and lack

of accessible guardianship appointments for immigrant youth, one of the District’s most

vulnerable populations. Child welfare organizations, advocacy groups, and experts testified at the

Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety’s June 8, 2023, hearing on the Vulnerable Youth

Guardianship Protection Amendment Act of 2023, as introduced on January 19, 2023 (Bill 25-

44) (“permanent bill”), that immigrant youth without the critical supports of guardianship are

especially vulnerable to abuses such as human trafficking and housing insecurity. SIJS visas

allow for the material benefits of access to employment, the procurement of a Social Security

number, healthcare, assistance with housing and education, and eventually the possibility of

applying for lawful permanent residency. The stability and safety that SIJS affords immigrant

youth also fosters their emotional, psychological, and physical well-being by providing them

with a stable and supportive schooling environment, community, and household. With the

protections of a court appointed guardian, youth will not be forced to move from their friends

and communities to other jurisdictions to try to access SIJS protections. SIJS thus importantly

shields immigrant youth from emotional and psychological suffering, exploitation and abuse,

involvement in illegal activity, material instability, and housing insecurity. Advocates testified

that they must turn away several youths on a monthly basis because of this ongoing

misalignment in District and federal law and that even eligible youth close to the cutoff age of 18

find it difficult to obtain a pro bono attorney with the expertise to rapidly prepare and file the

necessary legal documents.

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        (f) It is estimated that more than one third of unaccompanied immigrant youth coming to

the United States have already reached 17 years of age, meaning that when these youth arrive in

the District they are already on the verge of aging out of Superior Court authority should they

wish to seek federal relief under SIJS while residing in the District. This misalignment between

the District and federal law means that, absent Council action, a class of vulnerable District

immigrant youth will be unable to seek legal relief afforded to them by federal law and will be

unable to seek the care and support of a guardianship appointment while living in the District.

        (g) On September 19, 2023, the Council passed the Vulnerable Youth Guardianship

Protection Temporary Amendment Act of 2023, effective November 28, 2023 (D.C. Law 25-91;

70 DCR 13754) (“temporary law”), which will expire on July 10, 2024. The permanent version

of the temporary law is currently undergoing congressional review. This emergency legislation is

necessary to fill the gap between the expiration of the temporary law and the effective date of the

permanent act.

        (h) This emergency bill mirrors the permanent version of the bill in incorporating minor

technical changes and one substantive change not included in the expiring temporary law,

namely the elimination of fees for filing guardianship petitions.

        Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute

emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Vulnerable Youth Guardianship

Protection Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single reading.

       Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.

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