TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on Sep 26, 2023

The Tennessee foster parents of three immigrant children and a Memphis-based advocacy group have filed suit against the Department of Children's Services for failing to support their immigration needs, reports the Tennessean. The suit claims the state allowed youth in their custody to "age out" of the system without taking advantage of the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status program available to minors. The plaintiffs include a 15-year-old girl abandoned by her parents in Guatemala. DCS investigated her living situation last year, and she was removed from a relative's home after she became pregnant. She is now in a foster home, attending high school and raising her baby, the lawsuit states. Without legal status, she is at risk for deportation, though she wishes to stay in the U.S. with her child, a U.S. citizen.