The Immigrant Child Advocacy Project (ICAP) is pleased to annouce our new name:  The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.  The new name reflects the scope and breadth of the organization’s work, and it pays tribute to one of the organization’s first clients, Young Zheng. 

Young Zheng was just 14 years old when his father sent him to the United States; he had no idea he would be personally responsible for a $60,000 debt to his Chinese traffickers, known as snakeheads.  At the airport, Young was apprehended by immigration authorities and spent the next 18 months in immigration detention.  During this time, Young was represented by an attorney in New York who refused to take his calls. 

ICAP was assigned as his Child Advocate, and successfully fought for his release from federal custody to the care of his uncle.  While living with his uncle, Young dutifully appeared before government officials as instructed.  Yet months later, he was summoned to an immigration office, where he was handcuffed, shackled and told he would be deported to China.  His Child Advocate tried contacting his lawyer, who refused to do additional work without more compensation. At the airport, a desperate Young smashed his head into a wall, knocking himself unconscious. His Child Advocate later learned that Young’s father had told him he would be better off dying in the U.S. than putting the family in danger by returning to China. Young could not be flown to China since he required medical treatment, but after hospitalization, he was placed in jail. He was only 16 years old.

ICAP fought strenuously against Young’s deportation to China and advocated for his release from jail. Young eventually fired his New York attorney and ICAP found him new attorneys who helped him obtain a visa and eventually become a lawful permanent resident. Today, Young is a college student in the United States and he has graciously lent his name to this organization.

The children come to the United States without their parents, from all corners of the world: Central America, Mexico, China, India, Romania, Somalia. They’re fleeing political upheaval, extreme poverty, child labor and abusive homes. In some cases they’ve come to be reunited with family members who preceded them here. The children are trafficked into the U.S., transported by hired smugglers, or make the dangerous journeys on their own. Sometimes they’re too young to understand why they’ve been sent to the United States.

In 2010, more than 8,000 unaccompanied immigrant children were taken into custody by U.S. immigration authorities. They were caught at the borders and at the airports, and then sent to shelters throughout the country where their stay can range from a month to as long as a year.

Through the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, multilingual law students, social work students and lay volunteers are trained to serve as friends of the child or Child Advocates. Their role is to figure out what brought the children to the United States and advocate on their behalf. The Advocates get to know the children, help sort out their stories and help identify their eligibility for asylum or special protective visas. The Advocates help ensure the best interest - safety and well-being - of these vulnerable children, whether they are eligible to remain in the United States, or return to their home country.

The Center
The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights (Young Center) is a human service and policy advocacy program dedicated to advocating for the best interest - safety and well-being - of immigrant and refugee children who are alone in the United States. We’re working to develop a national network of Child Advocates for unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children and to promote consideration of best interest in all decisions affecting unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children in the United States.