In Re Henrry P. B. - P.

Summary

The court held that a Probate Court retains statutory authority to make special immigrant juvenile status findings when the petition was filed while the child was under eighteen, even if the child turns eighteen before the proceedings conclude. It reasoned that the statute is ambiguous, and that its text, purpose, legislative history, and relationship to federal law do not condition the court’s authority on completing the proceeding before the child’s eighteenth birthday. The judgment was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings.