BIA Amicus Invitation 2016-0609 (September 1 2016) Board of Immigration Appeals, NIWAP, Crowell and Moring. NIWAP and The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service submitted this amicus brief to the Board of Immigration Appeals discussing the brain development and neuroscience of how having experienced or witnessed trauma impacts the brain development of children and adolescents. The brief argues that in cases of child asylum applicants’ waivers of the one-year deadline based on extraordinary circumstances must be presumed for children under the age of 21. The brain science also supports waivers of the deadline for older youth in their 20s who can demonstrate based by a totality of the circumstances of their case and the impact of the trauma they suffered on their lives that they meet the extraordinarily circumstances test.

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• The Board Should Consider Psychological and Neurobiological Data in Determining the Definition of “Minor” for 8 C.F.R. § 1208.4(a)(5)(ii)……………7
• Recent Neuroscience Research Shows that Brain Development Continues Into the Mid-20s……………….11
• Asylum Seekers Who Have Been Exposed to Violence and Trauma As Children or Adolescents Are Likely to be Developmentally Delayed.
• Asylum-Seeking Children, Including Those Who Arrive in the U.S. as Unaccompanied Children or Adolescents, Are Victims of Trauma………………13

O.M.G. et al v. Wolf et al. (March 30 2020) U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. NIWAP Inc. coordinated a national team of law professors and recruited the law firm of Winston Strum to help draft and develop this declaration that discusses the dangers for children in DHS family detention centers, the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and provides an excellent overview with social science research data support of the impact of trauma for immigrant children in their neurobiological, cognitive, and psychological development and children’s health and well-being. Leslye E. Orloff assisted in drafting and editing the brief.

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• A dangerous outbreak of the highly contagious COVID-19 disease injuring petitioners and FRC staff is inevitable unless petitioners are immediately released from detention……..2
• COVID-19 is a Dangerous, Highly Contagious Disease, and Individual and Community Public Health Practices are Critical to Preventing its Transmission………………….2
• Detained children present unique risks that only immediate release can mitigate…….13
• Children are Uniquely Vulnerable to Acute Illness from COVID-19. ……..13
• Petitioners’ remedy of release is substantially better for public health than the status quo……18
• Petitioners will be Significantly Less Likely to Become Sick if Released…………………………………….21