California high court rules for immigrant kids in visa fight

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The California Supreme Court has made it easier for some immigrant children who are abused or abandoned by a parent to seek a U.S. visa to avoid deportation.

The justices ruled unanimously Thursday that state judges could not require the children to drag an absentee parent into court in their legal fight as part of the visa application. Immigration rights advocates had warned that such a requirement would make it nearly impossible for the children to try to avoid deportation.

It was not immediately clear how many children the ruling would affect.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in court documents that the case affected a “substantial portion” of the thousands of children who have fled to the U.S. from Central America and Mexico and settled in California.