Irell & Manella Secures Permanent Residency for Child Trafficking Victim

LOS ANGELES, CA, October 31, 2010

Irell & Manella LLP has successfully obtained lawful permanent residency for a young Chinese girl who was a victim of child trafficking.

Irell attorneys Adam Goldberg, Trevor Stockinger and Mike Strub worked with attorney Sandy Chung and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that arranges for pro bono representation for children facing removal proceedings, to help the victim obtain a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status visa. This visa allows juvenile abuse victims who have entered the U.S. without inspection to apply for relief from deportation, and further allows the recipient to apply for permanent resident status, which the Irell team ultimately obtained for the client.

The victim is now living safely with foster parents beyond the reach of the human smugglers who brought her into the country and threatened her with enslavement and death if she did not do what she was told. (Due to the nature of the case and the safety of the victim, her name will not be disclosed.) The Irell team also obtained special benefits given by the U.S. government to victims of child trafficking, including financial support and a variety of educational and psychological services.
"Many children in immigration court face these proceedings alone, unable to speak English, unaware of their legal rights and scared for their lives," said Goldberg, an associate in the Los Angeles office of Irell who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. "Our client is now here legally, may work and apply for citizenship after five years, and can stop fearing for her safety. It is gratifying to know that we have helped make a difference in this girl's life."

Goldberg, who majored in East Asian Studies at Brown University, handled multiple hearings on this matter in federal Immigration Court and California Superior Court. His practice has included patent litigation for a Taiwanese company and an internal investigation requiring the interviews in Mandarin of key witnesses in Shanghai, China. He attended UCLA Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the UCLA Law Review, and clerked on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to KIND, more than 8,000 children come to the United States each year without a parent or legal guardian as unaccompanied children and are placed into federal custody. While many of these children are fleeing severe abuse or persecution, others are victims of trafficking who would be potentially facing a life of forced prostitution or other illicit activities. For more information about KIND, visit http://www.supportkind.org.
About Irell & Manella LLP

Irell & Manella LLP is a full-service law firm with offices in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, CA. Founded in 1941, Irell is nationally recognized for its intellectual property, litigation, insurance, corporate and tax practices. Irell's clients include Fortune 500 corporations, universities, and leading-edge entrepreneurial companies. For more information, please visit http://www.irell.com.