H.S.P. VS. J.K. A-1121-12T1
A petitioner asking the Family Part to make the
findings in 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101(a)(27)(J) to enable a
juvenile to apply for special immigrant juvenile status
must show that reunification is viable with neither of the
juvenile's parents due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
It is insufficient to show only that one parent abused,
neglected, or abandoned the juvenile.
The mother, who raised the juvenile, did not willfully neglect him merely because she was financially unable to provide better care. The mother did not abandon the juvenile, given that she arranged for him to enter the United States to live with a relative, and remains in contact with him. By contrast, the father, whose whereabouts are unknown, willfully abandoned the juvenile, because he left the family before the juvenile was born, never met the teenaged juvenile, and provided no support.
Because one parent had not abused, neglected, or abandoned the juvenile, the Family Part did not err in declining to find whether it was in the juvenile's best interest to be returned to his home country. 03/27/14
