Boyz to Men: How to Draft Declarations for Cases Involving Teenage Boys Who Survived Trauma

This presentation was part of day 2 of the 5th Annual Symposium.

Particularly in asylum cases, developing declarations to support the case is a critical step in the legal case. Many unaccompanied children coming to the United States are boys. Therefore, this presentation will help advocates improve their abilities to work with unaccompanied boys to write effective declarations that can be a key piece of evidence in their legal case. Teenage boys fleeing violence and instability often grow up in communities that emphasize toughness and minimize vulnerability. These conditions generally result in boys feeling timid or ashamed to discuss traumatic experiences. In cases where an immigration advocate describes this trauma in a declaration to qualify for legal relief, such as an asylum case or potentially to support a SIJS case, the declaration becomes a window into the boy’s life and an essential opportunity to frame the experience as an advocate. This presentation will emphasize how to approach conversations with boys on their traumatic experiences, and how to organize and draft declarations that illustrate a boy’s journey from trauma survivor to empowered individual.