Bianka M. v. Superior Court of L. A. Cnty.

*414 INTRODUCTION

Petitioner Bianka M. 1 is a 13-year old girl from Honduras who entered the United States without documentation in 2013. After a brief detention by federal immigration authorities, Bianka resettled in Los Angeles where she now lives with her mother. Bianka's mother and her alleged biological father, Jorge, never married. Jorge currently resides in Honduras.

Bianka hopes to avoid deportation by obtaining "special immigrant juvenile" (SIJ) status-a classification created by Congress to provide special immigration protection to undocumented, unaccompanied children entering the United States who have been the victims of parental abuse, neglect, abandonment or some similar circumstance. ( 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(27)(J) (SIJ statute).) When applying for SIJ status, a child must attach an order from a state court containing three specific factual findings: (1) the child is in the *415 custody of a court appointed agency, guardian or other individual; (2) the child cannot reunify with one or both parents due to abuse, neglect, abandonment or other similar basis under state law; and (3) it is not in the child's best interest to return to her home country or her parents' home…