Jennifer (15 yo), unaccompanied child from Ecuador, strong Special Immigrant Juvenile Status claim (Queens, NY)

Jennifer is a 15-year-old girl from Ecuador who came to the U.S. in April 2020. Jennifer and her mother suffered years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Jennifer’s father, a violent alcoholic, in Ecuador. This abuse led her mother to flee to the United States out of fear for her life when Jennifer was 6 years old. After her mother left, Jennifer was raised by her grandmother, aunt, and uncle, but her father continued to threaten and attack her family members, to the point where her family in Ecuador felt it would be safer for all of them if Jennifer went to live with her mother in the U.S. Jennifer was designated an Unaccompanied Alien Child (“UAC”) upon her entry to the U.S., but she has yet to be scheduled for her first hearing in Immigration Court. She now lives safely with her mother in Queens, where she is enrolled in 10th grade. She has a strong claim for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status on the basis of her father’s abuse, abandonment and neglect. The Safe Passage Project pro bono attorney would help Jennifer apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in Queens County Family Court. "