Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ January 16, 2020 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A19A2019. JEDVI MARIELA ORTIZ MORALES v. LUCIO ORTIZ PEREZ. Jedvi Mariela Ortiz Morales (“Morales”) appeals from two orders issued by the Superior Court of Dekalb County after she was granted temporary custody of her two minor siblings. In her uncontested appeal, she contends that the trial court failed to make required findings of fact relevant to the children’s immigration status. For the reasons stated below, we DISMISS this appeal for lack of jurisdiction. On May 14, 2018, Morales filed a Verified Petition seeking custody of her two minor siblings, who are citizens of Guatemala. In the Petition, Morales represented that the children’s mother is deceased, and their father, Lucio Ortiz Perez (the “father”) lives in Guatemala. In 2016, the children left the father’s home to live with their aunt in Guatemala. Several months later, they entered the United States, where they were taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They were released to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, with whom they resided for approximately one month before being released into Morales’s custody on November 1, 2016. The children have lived with Morales since that time. Morales’s petition asserted that the father was neglectful, and the children’s step-mother was allowed to mistreat them, which is why they left the home to live with their aunt and later with Morales. Further, the father had made no effort to visit or contact the children since they came to the United States. Accordingly, Morales asked the court to award her sole custody of the children. Additionally, Morales asked the court to make specific factual findings that: (1) reunification with the father is not possible; and (2) it is not in the children’s best interest to be returned to Guatemala. A translated copy of the petition was delivered to the father, who acknowledged receipt of the petition, waived service, waived any objections to the petition, waived his right to trial on the petition, and consented to the relief sought by Morales. The case was set for a final hearing in November 2018. However, the trial court sua sponte removed the case from the calendar and stayed the action, citing deficiencies in the petition. One week later, Morales filed an affidavit curing these deficiencies and asking that the trial court again set the case for a final hearing. Rather than setting another hearing, the court lifted the stay and entered an order on January 17, 2019, granting temporary custody of the children to Morales. The court also recognized that the children were the subject of removal proceedings before a federal immigration court. Accordingly, as the disposition of the immigration proceeding would be dispositive of the children’s ability to remain in the United States, the court administratively closed the case until after the immigration proceedings were complete. The court made no additional findings regarding reunification with the father, or whether it would be in ...
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