Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Atlantic and Maryland Reporters. Users are requested to notify the Clerk of the Court of any formal errors so that corrections may be made before the bound volumes go to press. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS No. 16-FM-991 E.P.L., APPELLANT, V. J.L.-A., APPELLEE. Appeal from the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (DRB-1013-16) (Hon. Michael K. O‟Keefe, Trial Judge) (Submitted December 12, 2017 Decided August 9, 2018) Randy J. Prebula, Sean Marotta, and Laura N. Ferguson were on brief, for appellant. No brief was filed on behalf of appellee. Before BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Chief Judge, EASTERLY, Associate Judge, and FERREN, Senior Judge. EASTERLY, Associate Judge: E.P.L.1 (hereinafter “M.L.P.‟s mother”) appeals from a Superior Court order declining to make the requisite findings for 1 “As is customary in appeals involving juvenile matters, we use here the initials of the minor and the parties.” J.U. v. J.C.P.C., 176 A.3d 136, 138 n.1 (D.C. 2018). 2 her daughter M.L.P. to qualify for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS or SIJ status) pursuant to 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101 (a)(27)(J) and 8 C.F.R. § 204.11 (c)(1), (2). Specifically, she challenges the court‟s asserted inability under the requisite SIJS criteria to find both that reunification of M.L.P. with her biological father is not viable due to abandonment, and that it is not in the best interest of M.L.P. to return to her country of origin, Guatemala. M.L.P.‟s father has never contested M.L.P.‟s mother‟s arguments.2 We agree with M.L.P.‟s mother that, on the record before us, such findings are mandated. See J.U. v. J.C.P.C., 176 A.3d 136, 138 (D.C. 2018) (likewise concluding that SIJS findings were mandated on the record established in Superior Court). I. M.L.P. was born in Guatemala in October 2009. It is unclear if her father ever lived with her, but it is undisputed that he left Guatemala when she was six months old and did not see her again until 2016, when the court proceedings that 2 M.L.P.‟s father, J.L.-A. (hereinafter “M.L.P.‟s father”) appeared pro se in the Superior Court, but has not joined this appeal. M.L.P.‟s mother attempted to serve her brief on him, but it was returned marked “return to sender, unable to forward,” and he did not respond to this court‟s scheduling order giving him the timeframe within which to file a brief. 3 are the subject of this appeal began. M.L.P.‟s mother left Guatemala in 2012 and travelled to the United States, placing M.L.P. in the care of her sister, M.L.P.‟s aunt, until M.L.P.‟s mother could afford to pay for her sister to bring M.L.P. to the United States. M.L.P. illegally entered the United States in 2014 and was taken into custody by the United States Customs and Border Protection Agents. Mother and daughter were reunited after M.L.P.‟s mother was designated M.L.P.‟s sponsor by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Refugee Resettlement. In March 2016, M.L.P.‟s mother filed a complaint for sole custody of M.L.P., and a ...
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