National Immigration Project and End SIJS Backlog Coalition Launch SIJS Habeas Project to Free Detained Youth
The National Immigration Project and the End SIJS Backlog Coalition launched the SIJS Habeas Project, a national effort to win the release of young people with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) in ICE detention. The Project is now accepting case referrals from anywhere in the country and recruiting pro bono attorneys to file federal habeas petitions for SIJS youth in ICE custody, with trainings beginning later this week.
The SIJS Habeas Project matches detained SIJS youth with pro bono lawyers, then trains and mentors those lawyers through habeas corpus litigation in federal court. Staff also advise attorneys already working on these cases and, in some cases, take on representation themselves. Coalition advocates and youth leaders track arrests of SIJS youth around the country, and what they find shapes the Project's legal strategy. The Project has been informally placing cases since September and has already found representation for several detained SIJS youth and advised more than a dozen attorneys working on similar cases. With new staff and a finalized intake process, the Project can now take referrals directly and bring on new volunteers.
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