In re N.M. CA1/2

BACKGROUND

N.M. was born in Pakistan, to parents who eventually came to live in Afghanistan where his father still remains.1 N.M. and his mother emigrated to the United States in 2011 when N.M. was thirteen, and are presently here legally, seeking asylum. When they

1 We state the facts in the light most favorable to the judgment.

1 arrived, N.M. spoke no English, didn’t fit in with other kids and faced ridicule. At first they lived with relatives in Southern California, and later moved to Northern California. At the time of N.M.’s offense, he and his mother were living with his older sister and her five-year-old son, in his sister’s federally subsidized, low-income housing in San Ramon. His sister, a full-time college student on financial aid, supported all four of them solely out of her $500/month earnings as a part-time librarian. N.M. and his mother are ineligible for public benefits. On November 23, 2015, at about 10:00 a.m., N.M. was arrested with two other youths driving a stolen car. He admitted to police that he and his friends had stolen it; he also admitted they vandalized it with spray paint. All three were issued juvenile citations and released to their parents. The…