Legal Momentum Stands Up for Immigrant Women and Children in Nebraska Custody Case

WASHINGTON DC – Legal Momentum—the nation's oldest legal defense and education fund dedicated to advancing the rights of women and girls—is standing up for the rights and wellbeing of immigrant women and their children, by filing a friend-of-the court brief in support of Maria Luis, an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant whose case came before the Supreme Court of Nebraska on April 27.

Maria Luis, is a Quiche-speaking Guatemalan woman whose children were taken away from her by Nebraska child protective services when she failed to take her baby to a follow up medical visit. When Luis’ daughter was diagnosed with a respiratory infection the health care provider failed to obtain an interpreter who spoke Quiche and instead instructed her in Spanish on her child’s future care. Luis was subsequently detained by immigration authorities and removed from the United States.  

While in detention and later from Guatemala Maria Luis took significant steps to reunite with her children.  However, because Nebraska child protective services and the Nebraska courts repeatedly failed to communicate with her and provide her a case reunification plan in the only language she could understand – Quiche – she was unable to succeed in having her children returned to her and her parental rights were terminated.  “Leslye Orloff, director of Legal Momentum’s Immigrant Women Program, and Jeff Kirkpatrick of Lincoln, one of Luis’ lawyers, say Nebraska officials shirked their responsibility to communicate effectively with Luis through an interpreter,” stated the Associated Press (AP).

 

Legal Momentum argued in the amicus brief that the Nebraska Courts courts denied Luis her fundamental constitutional right to care and custody of her children without providing her a meaningful opportunity to participate fully in the state actions and court proceedings that led to termination of her parental rights.  The court assumed that it was in the children’s best interest to live in foster care in the United States rather than be raised by their mother in Guatemala.

 

 “Anything short of the Nebraska Supreme Court overturning the lower court’s ruling would set harmful precedent that denies fundamental due process to immigrant parents trying to maintain custody of their children in the family law system“ stated Soraya Fata, Staff Attorney for Legal Momentum’s Immigrant Women Program, who contributed to the Amicus filed on Legal Momentum’s behalf.

 

Legal Momentum’s Immigrant Women Program is the national expert on the rights and services available to immigrant victims of domestic and other violence. It shares this expertise through comprehensive materials and trainings for lawyers and advocates nationwide, and leads advocacy for legal protections, social services, and economic justice for immigrant women. For more info: http://www.legalmomentum.org/our-work/immigrant-women-program/