SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Immigrant 
Communities from Consumer Fraud Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. LOCAL IMMIGRATION CONSUMER FRAUD INFORMA-
TION HOTLINES AND ASSISTANCE WEBSITES. 
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘PART MM—IMMIGRATION CONSUMER FRAUD 
HOTLINES AND WEBSITES 
‘‘SEC. 3031. IMMIGRATION CONSUMER FRAUD HOTLINES 
AND WEBSITES. 
‘‘(a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall make grants to States, units of local govern-
ment, or any combination thereof, in partnership with 
stakeholders, service providers, and nonprofit organiza-
tions. 
‘‘(b) MANDATORY GRANT USES.—Grant funds shall 
be expended for each of the following purposes: 
‘‘(1) IMMIGRATION CONSUMER FRAUD INFOR-
MATION WEBSITES.—To provide for the establish-
ment and operation of an immigration consumer 
fraud information and assistance website, which 
shall be a highly secure internet website that pro-
vides information and assistance to victims of immi-
gration consumer fraud. In establishing and oper-
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ating the immigration consumer fraud and assist-
ance website, the grantee shall— 
‘‘(A) use grant funds for startup and oper-
ation costs associated with establishing and op-
erating the website; 
‘‘(B) use a name or acronym as part of its 
web address that identifies the website with the 
geographic locality receiving the grant under 
subsection (a); 
‘‘(C) provide accurate information that de-
scribes the services available to immigration 
consumer fraud victims, including free or low- 
cost legal assistance; 
‘‘(D) clearly include, in all pages of the 
website, that the information presented is for 
reference purposes only and does not constitute 
as legal advice; and 
‘‘(E) must provide translation of website 
content, in languages that are consistent with 
the criteria outlined in subsection (d)(2)(E)(i) 
of this part, either with a web page interface, 
or mirrored pages. 
‘‘(2) IMMIGRATION
CONSUMER
FRAUD
HOT-
LINES.—To establish or expand an immigration con-
sumer fraud hotline to provide information and as-
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sistance to victims of immigration consumer fraud. 
In addition, grantees may, in operating with the hot-
line, work in conjunction with other local programs 
and activities that serve victims of immigration con-
sumer fraud. In establishing and operating the hot-
line, the entity shall— 
‘‘(A) contract with a carrier for the use of 
a toll-free telephone line; 
‘‘(B) employ, train and supervise personnel 
to answer incoming calls and provide assistance 
and referral services to callers on a 24-hour-a- 
day basis; 
‘‘(C) assemble and maintain a current 
database of information relating to services for 
victims of immigration consumer fraud to which 
callers throughout the United States may be re-
ferred; and 
‘‘(D) be prohibited from asking hotline 
callers about their citizenship status. 
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
shall require a grantee receiving funds under this Act to 
comply with a request lawfully made by the Department 
of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226 and 
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1357) to comply with a detainer for, or notify about the 
use of services provided under this Act by an individual. 
‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—The Attorney General may ap-
prove an application for a grant under this section only 
if such application— 
‘‘(1) contains such agreements, assurances, and 
information, be in such form, and be submitted in 
such manner, as the Attorney General shall by rule 
require; 
‘‘(2) in the case of an application for a grant 
to carry out activities described in subsection (b)(2), 
includes a complete description of the applicant’s 
plan for the operation of an immigration consumer 
fraud hotline, including descriptions of— 
‘‘(A) the training program for hotline per-
sonnel, including technology training to ensure 
that all persons affiliated with the hotline are 
able to effectively operate any technological sys-
tems used by the hotline; 
‘‘(B) the hiring criteria for hotline per-
sonnel; 
‘‘(C) the methods for the creation, mainte-
nance, and updating of a resource database; 
‘‘(D) a plan for publicizing the availability 
of the hotline; 
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‘‘(E) a plan for providing service to non- 
English speaking callers that— 
‘‘(i) is based on data from the Bureau 
of the Census and be consistent with the 
local area demographics where the immi-
gration consumer fraud hotline will oper-
ate—such plan will outline which lan-
guages are most prevalent and commonly 
requested for translation services; or 
‘‘(ii) is based on qualitative and quan-
titative observation from community serv-
ice providers offering immigration-related 
services; and 
‘‘(F) a plan for facilitating access to the 
hotline by persons with hearing impairments; 
and 
‘‘(3) in the case of an application for a grant 
to carry out activities described in subsection 
(b)(1)— 
‘‘(A) include a complete description of the 
applicant’s plan for the development, operation, 
maintenance, and updating of information and 
resources of the immigration consumer fraud 
information and assistance website; 
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