BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 41|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 41
Author: Nation (D)
Amended: 6/7/06 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/20/06
AYES: Dunn, Escutia, Kuehl
NOES: Morrow, Harman
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-26, 04/03/06 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Immigrant children
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution urges Congress to amend federal
immigration law to (1) permit appointment of an immigration
specialist for undocumented dependent children prior to
their emancipation, and (2) amend provisions allowing for
automatic citizenship of children born overseas to include
children adopted from the dependent court who are not fully
admitted for permanent residence.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to
adjudge an abused, neglected or abandoned child a dependent
child of the court, to terminate the parental rights of the
child's parents if reunification efforts fail, and to place
the child in long-term foster care, a guardianship, or
adoption.
CONTINUED
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Existing law requires that a dependent child with no
counsel be represented by appointed counsel at all
dependency proceedings, as specified. Existing law
authorizes the juvenile court to adjudge a child a ward of
the court for being habitually disobedient or truant, and
provides for the appointment of counsel to represent the
child at juvenile court proceedings.
Existing federal law provides for the granting of "special
immigrant juvenile status" to an unmarried child under 21
years of age who is present in the United States, under the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court, deemed eligible for
long-term foster care, and for whom it has been determined
that it would not be in their best interest to return to
their country of nationality or past residence. The
federal statute specifies that the Attorney General
expressly consents to the juvenile court's order serving as
a precondition to the granting of status.
Existing federal law allows a child born outside the United
States to automatically become a citizen of the United
States when at least one parent is a citizen, the child is
under 18, and the child is lawfully residing in the country
and in the custody of the citizen parent. Exiting federal
law allows adopted children to use this provision, subject
to certain limitations.
This resolution declares that "the number of unaccompanied
children taken into custody by immigration officials has
increased by nearly 30 percent, and is expected to reach an
alltime high this year."
This resolution reiterates the requirements under federal
immigration law for a grant of "special immigrant juvenile
status," and declares that if a child is not assigned an
immigration specialist prior to their emancipation, their
ability to gain legal status under the "special immigrant
juvenile status" program "become[s] practically null."
This resolution further declares that unless child welfare
and juvenile court systems ensure that eligible children
receive "special immigrant juvenile status" prior to
emancipation, they "are destined for lives in instability
and fear?""
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This resolution urges the President and Congress to protect
these children by amending federal law to permit the
assignment of an immigration specialist prior to their
emancipation.
This resolution further urges Congress to amend federal
immigration law to state that a child adopted while a
dependent of the juvenile court need not be fully admitted
for permanent residency in order to automatically become a
United States citizen, provided that certain conditions are
met.
Background
Each year, increasing numbers of undocumented immigrant
children are entering the juvenile dependency court system
and placed in long-term foster care. Those children enter
the dependency system due to abuse, neglect or abandonment,
and often remain in foster care until they emancipate.
While attempts may be made to reunify with the child's
parents, those attempts may fail due to the disappearance
of the parents, the parents return to their home country,
or their inability to provide a safe and stable home
environment for the child. Undocumented immigrant children
emancipating from foster care at age 18 are faced with the
inability to legally work in the Unites States and may be
subject to deportation.
In response to the growing problem, Congress created
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) for these
children. Upon granting of this status, an undocumented
child may apply for lawful permanent residency within the
United States. If the child is granted lawful permanent
residency status, they may lawfully work, qualify for
in-state tuition at college and apply for citizenship in
five years.
However, in order to receive a grant of SIJS, the juvenile
court must make certain findings, including that it is in
the best interest of the child to remain in this country.
Once a juvenile court terminates jurisdiction over the
child, that court can no longer make the required findings
about the child, and that child loses their eligibility for
SIJS.
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Prior Legislation
AB 1895 (Nation), 2003-04 Session . Would have required
appointment of an immigration law attorney for non-citizen
dependent children, who may pursue SIJS for the child.
Passed by the Senate on 8/24/04 with a vote of 25-12. The
bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
In his veto message, the Governor said, "I support policies
that provide children and their advocates with means to
obtain and exercise their rights, however this bill is
unnecessary. The Department of Social Services has taken
steps to minimize this potential problem for foster youth
by recently developing regulations that require a
Transitional Independent Living Plan to be completed for
each child in foster care. This plan includes a variety of
issues, including addressing immigration status. This
should enable the immigration process to be started sooner.
"Current law already requires the court to appoint an
attorney to represent the child in dependency proceedings.
Counties already have the option of appointing an attorney
to assist in resolving the immigration status of a child.
This bill will apply an overbroad solution to all counties
regardless of the individual needs of each jurisdiction."
AB 1338 (Nation), 2005-06 Session . Identical to AB 1895
(Nation) of the previous session. The bill was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/22/06)
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Family Law Section of the State Bar of California
Los Angeles Unified School District
SueCares
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"?over 400 unlawful immigra[nt] children are placed in
foster care or adoption proceedings
annually?[additionally,] no statewide guidelines are in
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place to address the immigration status of the non-citizen
children in question."
SueCares, supporter of this resolution, adds that, "?[an
undocumented] child can only obtain legal status while the
child is a dependent of the court. Unfortunately, there
are no current laws to require the assignment of an
Immigration Specialist to ensure that this will happen.
"If the child is not assigned an Immigration Specialist to
obtain SIJS prior to emancipation, there is little or no
hope of gaining legal status even though many of these
children were brought here as infants and have lived almost
their entire lives in the United States?
"Unless the child welfare and juvenile court systems ensure
that eligible undocumented children obtain lawful status as
Special Immigrant Juveniles prior to their emancipation,
these children are destined for lives of instability and
fear as outsiders in the only country many have ever
known."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Arambula, Baca, Bass, Berg, Bermudez, Calderon,
Canciamilla, Chavez, Cohn, Coto, Daucher, De La Torre,
Dymally, Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock,
Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Jones, Karnette, Klehs,
Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Matthews,
Montanez, Mullin, Nation, Nava, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza,
Parra, Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas,
Torrico, Umberg, Vargas, Wolk, Yee, Nunez
NOES: Benoit, Blakeslee, Bogh, Cogdill, DeVore, Emmerson,
Harman, Houston, Huff, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie,
Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Niello, Plescia,
Richman, Sharon Runner, Spitzer, Strickland, Tran,
Villines, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aghazarian, Chan, Chu, Haynes, Liu,
Walters
RJG:cm 6/22/06 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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