Young Center’s History
The Young Center was founded in Chicago in 2004. Named after Young Zheng, one of the first children we served, the organization’s charge was to develop a program to advocate for the best interests of unaccompanied immigrant children—even though US immigration law does not recognize children as distinct from adults.
The program started small. Attorneys and social workers with experience in children’s rights and immigration law supervised bilingual volunteers—Child Advocates—who spoke the children’s languages. They met with the children while they were detained, accompanied them to immigration court and advocated for their best interests every step of the way.
In 2008, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. One short paragraph provides for the appointment of Child Advocates whose role is to advocate for the child’s best interests, the first mention of the best interests standard for immigrant children.
In 2009, the Young Center opened an office in Harlingen, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border. Judges, detention staff, attorneys, even ICE officials began asking for Child Advocates.
In 2013 Congress amended the law providing for expansion of the Child Advocate program. Today the Young Center has offices in Houston, San Antonio Phoenix, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, Harlingen, and Chicago.
Who is Young Zheng?
Young Zheng Sullivan was only 14 years old when his father sent him away, alone, to the United States. Born a second child in the Fujian Province of China, where the government heavily taxes families with more than one child, Young was seen as a burden. After his mother died, his father and stepmother paid a group of human traffickers, the “Snakeheads,” to smuggle Young to the United States. Unbeknownst to Young, his family only paid the Snakeheads a few thousand dollars. They expected Young to work around the clock to pay off the remainder of the smuggling fee—$65,000.
We met Young after he had been apprehended by immigration officials while entering the country. Though his deportation to China—where the Snakeheads threatened his and his family’s life—seemed inevitable, we found an attorney to help Young fight his case. For years, Young and his legal team battled in courts from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to Texas family court. In 2008, the government finally granted Young Special Immigrant Juvenile status, allowing him to remain in the United States. He went to college, then graduate school, and became a U.S. citizen. Today, Young serves as a member of the Advisory Board of our Houston office.
Our Founder
Maria Woltjen founded the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights in 2004 to advocate for the rights and best interests of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children facing deportation. At the time, there was nothing like the role of a Child Advocate for children in immigration proceedings. Without guaranteed access to counsel to represent their wishes and no one to fight for their best interests, children often faced the byzantine immigration system all by themselves. Today, the Young Center is a national organization with nearly 100 staff members in 10 offices across the country. Her organization has protected the rights and best interests of thousands of unaccompanied and separated children from more than 80 countries across the world.