In re Christian C. CA1/1

Filed 1/22/15 In re Christian C. CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

In re CHRISTIAN C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. CHRISTIAN C., A142082 Defendant and Appellant. (Alameda County Super. Ct. No. SJ13021657-03)

Appellant Christian C. was adjudged a ward of the juvenile court. During the pendency of delinquency proceedings, he asked the juvenile court to make factual findings that would qualify him for special immigrant juvenile (SIJ) status under federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J); hereafter section 1101(a)(27)(J) or the SIJ statute). The juvenile court declined the request. In this abbreviated opinion,1 we follow the recent decision of In re Israel O. (Jan. 16, 2015, A142080) __ Cal.App.4th __ [2015 WL 227892], 2 reverse the juvenile court’s order, and remand for further proceedings.

1 Because this appeal may be resolved by relying on a published opinion and does not require a reexamination or restatement of the opinion’s principles or rules, we resolve this cause by abbreviated form of opinion as permitted by California Standards of Judicial Administration, section 8.1(2). 2 The opinion may be found at <http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/ A142080.PDF>.

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I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Christian was born in Mexico and moved to the United States in 2005, when he was eight years old. Since then, he has lived with his mother in San Leandro. Christian’s father lives in Mexico, but they have never had a significant relationship, and Christian does not have many memories of him. His father has never supported him physically, financially, or emotionally, and Christian has had only minimal phone contact with him. Christian’s father has expressed no interest in providing for Christian, and if Christian were returned to Mexico he would have no home to go to, and he would be “totally unsupervised.” Christian came to the attention of the juvenile court when he was 16 and a wardship petition was filed against him on October 1, 2013, alleging he committed battery against his mother and punched holes in the wall at their home. Christian admitted an allegation that he committed misdemeanor vandalism (Pen. Code, § 594, subd. (b)(2)(A)), he was adjudged a ward of the court, and the juvenile court placed him on probation and released him to the care of his mother. Christian was accused of committing various other violations, and his wardship was continued several times. On February 19, 2014, Christian filed a request that the juvenile court make factual findings to enable him to file for SIJ status. The SIJ statute is part of the Immigration Act of 1990 and sets forth a procedure for classifying certain aliens as special immigrants who have been declared dependents of a juvenile court. (In re Israel O., supra, __ Cal.App.4th __ [2015 WL 227892].) Division Five of this court recently summarized the history of the SIJ statute and its applicability in state-court juvenile proceedings when it considered the identical issue in the case of Christian’s younger brother Israel O., and we quote the opinion at length: “ ‘Congress created this classification [of aliens] to protect abused, neglected, and abandoned unaccompanied minors through a process that allows them to become permanent legal residents. [Citation.] . . . A minor who obtains SIJ status may become a naturalized United States