Description: Attorneys play a crucial role helping immigrant victims of domestic violence, child/elder abuse, child neglect, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking gain access to justice and the full range of services and assistance they are legally entitled to receive. This training will provide an overview of the paths to legal immigration status and access to public benefits for survivors of crime and abuse including immigrant children who have suffered child abuse, neglect of abandonment. This CLE will highlight special issues that arise in civil protection order, divorce, custody, child welfare and criminal cases when a party, child, victim, witness, or defendant is an immigrant and the roles Congress assigned state court judges in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and U visa cases.

PowerPoint Presentation

Full Training Materials List

State Justice Institute (SJI) and National Judicial Network Training Materials (March 10, 2025)

Communities of Practice

*National Judicial Network: Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts (2021 – 2025)

Peer-to-Peer Opportunities: Communities of Practice and Roundtable

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Brochures

OPS Immigration Options for Victims of Crime (January 2025)

DHS Gender Based Violence Brochure (English) (October 2022)

DHS Immigration Relief for Crime Victims

Appendix H – DHS Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Brochure

Immigration Relief Eligibility for Victims and Children

Bench Card: Identifying Victims Who May Qualify for Immigration Relief (March 9, 2022)

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Findings Pertaining to State Court Judges (December 7, 2023)

*Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Bench Book (March 31, 2018) – Table of Contents

U Visa Certification and T Visa Declaration Toolkit for Federal, State and Local Judges, Commissioners, Magistrates and Other Judicial Officers (June 17, 2021)

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Self-Petitioner Step Children

Arguijo v. USCIS (July 24, 2020) – U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit

Family Law

Bench Card: Impact of Divorce on Immigration Status (December 28, 2021)

Affidavits of Support and Enforceability Bench Card (June 13, 2024)

Family Court Bench Card on Issues that Arise in Custody Cases Involving Immigrant Parents, Children, and Crime Victims (October 13, 2013, updated November 30, 2021)

Immigrants and Protection Orders Bench Card (March 30, 2019)

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Confidentiality and Discovery

National Judicial Network Peer-to-Peer Sessions – Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Confidentiality: Criminal and Family Case Discovery (October 1 & November 12, 2024)

Public Benefits

*All State Public Benefits Chart and Interactive Public Benefits Map (2022)

Access to State-Funded Public Benefits in Pennsylvania for Survivors (updated January 3, 2025)

Pennsylvania Public Benefits Screening Chart for Immigrant Survivors and Refugees by Forms of Immigration Relief (updated January 14, 2025)

Adoption Resources: Hague Convention Adoption, Orphan Adoption Process, Family-Based Petition, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.

USCIS – What Judges Need to Know: Domestic Adoption of Foreign-Born Children in the United States (September 17, 2024)

USCIS – Fact Sheet: Adoption in U.S. Courts of Children from Hague Adoption Convention Countries

USCIS and State Department: Intercountry Adoption Process Flow Chart of Key Steps (June 6, 2023)

Chapter 06.3 – The Implications of the Hague International Child Abduction Convention: Cases and Practice