Lisa Crosby, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP in Washington, DC would consider herself a seasoned regulatory attorney accustomed to dealing with arcane agency regulations, but like most of KIND's volunteer attorneys, had never tackled the immigration system, which can appear to be a legal and bureaucratic maze when an attorney has never faced it. When Lisa began representing Marco*, he was one week short of losing eligibility to petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).[1]But Lisa wasn't deterred, even though her practice area is international trade. Instead, she turned to KIND's pro bono coordinators for guidance.

Fleeing severe abuse from a family member, Marco sought refuge in the United States when he was only fourteen years old. When Marco was 17 years old, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated deportation proceedings against him. ICE transferred Marcos to Georgia and later Virginia. He was ultimately detained in a facility within driving distance to Lisa's office.

An SIJ case is a multi-step process. First, Lisa had to obtain a court order from a juvenile court which stated that it would not be in Marco's best interests to be returned to his home country.

Once the order was received, Lisa filed for SIJ status before the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It took over one year to adjudicate the SIJ status petition. Once this occurred, Marco had the opportunity to apply for permanent residency (PR). Again, it took a long time - several months - for the PR application to be adjudicated, and had it not been for Lisa's request that USCIS expedite his green card application, Marco likely would still be in a state of limbo and homeless. "The barriers to effective legal counsel were astounding. I could not imagine going through this process alone," Lisa said.

Though Lisa was Marco's attorney, she was not alone in her efforts to help her client. Once released, Lisa and her team worked to find Marcos a place to stay, clothes and toiletries. Rebecca Troth, Sidley Austin's Pro Bono Counsel, located a family that took Marco in for a period of time. Marco was also able to take English classes at a church that Lisa's secretary, Kathy Murray, located. "I have discovered that with situations like these [unaccompanied minors in immigration proceedings] need more than just legal services," Lisa noted.

Today, Marco is in a transitional program at a youth center. The program is designed to help him develop skills necessary to live independently. Lisa has urged him to take advantage of the time he has to learn English, study and continue his education. Marco is grateful for Lisa and her teammates at Sidley Austin, and aspires to work hard, be successful, and to be self-sufficient.

*Name changed to protect the child's identity

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[1] Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is a special provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act which allows certain qualifying minors to petition for immigration status. This provision is reserved for those aliens under 21 years of age who have been declared dependent on a juvenile court due to abuse, abandonment or neglect or placed under the custody of a government agency, who are eligible for long-term foster care and in whose best interest it is not to return to their home country.