In re Parentage of Ervin C.-R., 2020 IL App (2d) 200236

- Case citation and parties
In re Parentage of Ervin C.-R., 2020 IL App (2d) 200236 (Sept. 30, 2020). Petitioner-Appellant: Enriqueta A. R.-L.; Respondent-Appellee: Jasinto Santos C.-L.

- Key legal issues
1. Whether a state parentage court must find a child is “dependent” (in the sense of foster placement or appointment of a guardian) before making Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) predicate findings.
2. Whether abandonment (or other grounds) supporting SIJ findings can be established where only one parent has abandoned the child or cannot be located.
3. The scope of Illinois’s new SIJ statutory provisions (750 ILCS 46/613.5) as a predicate for USCIS SIJ applications.

- Holding/outcome
Reversed and remanded. The appellate court held the trial court erred in refusing SIJ findings. A parentage court’s order allocating custody/decision-making can satisfy the “dependent” requirement, and abandonment may be found where one parent has failed to maintain a reasonable degree of responsibility or cannot be reasonably located.

- Significant legal reasoning (condensed)
• Dependency: The court rejected the trial court’s interpretation that “dependency” requires long-term foster placement or appointment of a guardian. Under federal law and the Illinois SIJ statute (750 ILCS 46/613.5(c)(1)(A)-(B)), a “juvenile court” is any state court making judicial determinations about a child’s custody and care (8 C.F.R. § 204.11(a)). An order assigning sole decision-making responsibility and parenting time constitutes such a judicial determination and therefore satisfies the dependency predicate.
• Abandonment/reunification: The Illinois statute expressly defines “abandonment” to include failure to maintain reasonable interest or inability to be reasonably located. The court follows precedent (In re Estate of Nina L.) and the federal SIJ framework that reunification need not be viable with both parents—a nonviable reunification with one parent suffices.
• Procedural: SIJ findings by state court are a predicate for USCIS; USCIS independently determines SIJ classification.

- Practice implications for attorneys
• Seek SIJ findings in parentage proceedings where courts are being asked to allocate custody/decision-making; you need not wait for foster placement or guardian appointment.
• Document abandonment per the statutory definitions (failure to support/maintain contact; inability to locate). Declarations by the child and affidavit evidence can be sufficient.
• Emphasize that state SIJ findings are limited to the statutory predicates—USCIS conducts a separate merits review.
• Be prepared to rebut trial-court misconceptions that an SIJ order must alter existing custodial relationships. Use the statute (750 ILCS 46/613.5) and 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J) to show modern, broad dependency/abandonment criteria.