Castillo, O. v. Guerra, M., 312 A.3d 341

Oscar Amilcar Castillo ("Uncle") sought a specific SIJS predicate order relating to his 19-year-old nephew ("Nephew"), who entered the U.S. from Honduras at age 17.
Nephew was placed in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and later released to Uncle’s care.
Uncle and Nephew’s mother (who remained in Honduras) entered a custody agreement giving Uncle legal and physical custody.
Uncle filed an emergency custody petition and sought SIJS-related factual findings necessary for immigration relief.
The trial court found that Nephew was not legally dependent or under the custody of someone appointed by the court, but solely under an agreement between Uncle and Mother.
The lower court denied the SIJS request, finding the statutory prerequisites unmet, and Uncle appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Nephew was neglected by his mother, precluding reunification	Nephew’s mother neglected his basic needs, including hunger.	Evidence was insufficient and credibility was lacking.	Court found no sufficient basis for neglect.
Whether Nephew’s father abandoned him, precluding reunification	Father abandoned Nephew; no contact or support since infancy.	No evidence of legal dependency or court-ordered custody.	Court did not find legal grounds for abandonment.
Whether U.S. residence was in Nephew’s best interest	Nephew’s needs were not met in Honduras, so U.S. is best.	No credible, unbiased evidence about Honduras’ demographics.	No sufficient best-interest showing.
Whether Nephew met SIJS statutory eligibility	Custody agreement between Uncle and Mother is sufficient.	Nephew was not adjudicated dependent or under court-ordered custody.	Nephew is ineligible for SIJS.

Velasquez v. Miranda, 297 A.3d 837 (Pa. Super. 2023) (articulates statutory framework for SIJS predicate findings)
Osorio-Martinez v. Attorney Gen. United States of Am., 893 F.3d 153 (3d Cir. 2018) (addresses SIJS procedures and bona fide requirement)