Following his journey from a village in Mexico to South Philly, law students from the Penn Law Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic successfully advocated for their adolescent client in both Family Court and Immigration.
At age 13, their client left an abusive home in Mexico, traveling across countries and states on his own and ending up in Philadelphia with no immediate family or relatives to care for him. Almost four years later, he first met with our team of 3L students and a graduate level social work student, and the Clinic decided to take his case.
The students worked collaboratively to investigate, counsel, and advocate for their adolescent client with the dual goals of providing him with stability in Philadelphia and legal status in the United States. The students successfully argued their motions in Family Court so that the client’s mentors could be legally appointed as his guardians and he could be eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, thereby allowing him to become a legal permanent resident.The students’ work culminated this spring with a successful interview with Immigration where his application to be a legal permanent resident was approved.