I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1904
To establish an Office of Children’s Services within the Department of Justice
to coordinate and implement Government actions involving unaccom-
panied alien children, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 17, 2001
Ms. LOFGREN (for herself and Mr. CANNON) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To establish an Office of Children’s Services within the De-
partment of Justice to coordinate and implement Govern-
ment actions involving unaccompanied alien children, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES IN ACT; TABLE OF
CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2001’’.
(b) REFERENCES
IN ACT.—Except as specifically
provided in this Act, whenever in this Act an amendment
or repeal is expressed as an amendment to or repeal of
a provision, the reference shall be deemed to be made to
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et
seq.).
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; references in Act; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Purposes.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I—STRUCTURAL CHANGES
Sec. 101. Establishment of the Office of Children’s Services.
Sec. 102. Establishment of Interagency Task Force on Unaccompanied Alien
Children.
Sec. 103. Effective date.
TITLE II—PAROLE, CUSTODY, RELEASE, FAMILY REUNIFICATION,
AND DETENTION
Sec. 201. Parole and custody of unaccompanied alien children.
Sec. 202. Family reunification for unaccompanied alien children with relatives
in the United States.
Sec. 203. Appropriate conditions for detention of unaccompanied alien children.
Sec. 204. Repatriated unaccompanied alien children.
Sec. 205. Establishing the age of an unaccompanied alien child.
Sec. 206. Effective date.
TITLE III—ACCESS BY UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN TO
GUARDIANS AD LITEM AND COUNSEL
Sec. 301. Right of unaccompanied children to guardians ad litem.
Sec. 302. Right of unaccompanied children to counsel.
Sec. 303. Effective date.
TITLE IV—STRENGTHENING POLICIES FOR PERMANENT
PROTECTION OF ALIEN CHILDREN
Sec. 401. Special immigrant juvenile visa.
Sec. 402. Training for officials who come into contact with alien children.
Sec. 403. Child status protection.
Sec. 404. Effective dates.
TITLE V—CHILDREN REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKERS
Sec. 501. Guidelines for Children’s Asylum Claims.
Sec. 502. Exceptions for unaccompanied alien children in asylum and refugee-
like circumstances.
Sec. 503. Unaccompanied refugee children.
TITLE VI—REPORTS TO CONGRESS
Sec. 601. General Accounting Office report.
TITLE VII—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
Sec. 701. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) recognize the special needs and cir-
cumstances unaccompanied alien children encounter
when navigating the immigration system of the
United States;
(2) establish new governmental structures to
ensure that the United States Government meets the
special needs of unaccompanied alien children;
(3) ensure that United States Government au-
thorities hold the best interests of the child para-
mount when making decisions regarding an unac-
companied alien child;
(4) establish Government policy in favor of fam-
ily reunification whenever possible and, when family
reunification is not possible, placement of unaccom-
panied alien children in foster care with qualified,
adult guardians or with voluntary agencies, rather
than placing such children in detention;
(5) provide minimum standards for custody of
unaccompanied alien children;
(6) ensure that unaccompanied alien children in
immigration proceedings have appointed counsel and
guardians ad litem, and that such counsel and
guardians ad litem have access to the child;
(7) ensure that children awaiting adjudication
of their immigration status not ‘‘age-out’’ while
awaiting processing by the Service of their petitions
and applications; and
(8) strengthen opportunities for permanent pro-
tection of such children for whom such protection is
warranted.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act:
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means
the Director of the Office.
(2) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of-
fice of Children’s Services established by section
101.
(3) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
(4) UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILD.—The term
‘‘unaccompanied alien child’’ means a child who—
(A) has no lawful immigration status in
the United States;
(B) has not attained the age of 18; and
(C) with respect to whom—
(i) there is no parent or legal guard-
ian in the United States; or
(ii) no parent or legal guardian in the
United States is available to provide care
and physical custody.
(5) VOLUNTARY
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘vol-
untary agency’’ means a private, nonprofit voluntary
agency with expertise in meeting the legal, cultural,
and psychological needs of unaccompanied alien chil-
dren.
(b) AMENDMENTS TO THE IMMIGRATION AND NA-
TIONALITY ACT.—Section 101(a) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graphs:
‘‘(50) The term ‘unaccompanied alien child’ means
a child who—
‘‘(A) has no lawful immigration status in the
United States;
‘‘(B) has not attained the age of 18; and
‘‘(C) with respect to whom—
‘‘(i) there is no parent or legal guardian in
the United States; or
‘‘(ii) no parent or legal guardian in the
United States is able to provide care and phys-
ical custody.
‘‘(51) The term ‘unaccompanied refugee children’
means persons described in paragraph (42) who—
‘‘(A) have not attained the age of 18; and
‘‘(B) with respect to whom there are no parents
or legal guardians available to provide care and
physical custody.’’.
TITLE I—STRUCTURAL CHANGES
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF CHILDREN’S
SERVICES.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within
the Department of Justice the Office of Children’s
Services. The Office shall not be an office within the
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
(2) COMPONENTS.—The Office shall include
such other components, staff, and resources as the
Attorney General may determine necessary to carry
out the purposes of this Act.
(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICE.—Under the gen-
eral authority of the Attorney General, the Office shall be
responsible for coordinating and implementing law and
policy for unaccompanied alien children who come into the
custody of the Department of Justice.
(c) DIRECTOR
OF
THE OFFICE
OF CHILDREN’S
SERVICES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be headed
by a Director of Children’s Services, who shall be
appointed by and report directly to the Attorney
General.
(2) COMPENSATION AT LEVEL IV OF EXECU-
TIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5315 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘Director of the Office of Children’s Services, De-
partment of Justice.’’.
(3) DUTIES.—The Director shall be responsible
for—
(A) ensuring that the best interests of the
child are held paramount in any immigration
proceeding or action involving an unaccom-
panied alien child;
(B) making custody, release, and detention
determinations for all unaccompanied alien chil-
dren apprehended by the Attorney General or
who otherwise come into the custody of the De-
partment of Justice (in consultation with juve-
nile justice professionals, where appropriate);
(C) implementing the custody, release, and
detention determinations made by the Office;
(D) implementing, in consultation with the
voluntary agencies, policies with respect to the
care and detention of unaccompanied alien chil-
dren;
(E) chairing the Interagency Task Force
on Unaccompanied Alien Children established
in section 103;
(F) identifying a sufficient number of
qualified persons, entities, and facilities to
house unaccompanied alien children in accord-
ance with sections 202 and 203;
(G) overseeing the persons, entities, and
facilities described in sections 202 and 203 to
ensure their compliance with such provisions;
(H) compiling, updating, and publishing on
a quarterly basis a State-by-State list of profes-
sionals or other entities qualified to contract
with the Office to provide the services described
in sections 301 and 302;
(I) maintaining statistical information and
other data on unaccompanied alien children in
the Office’s custody and care, and reporting
quarterly to the Judiciary Committees of the
House of Representatives and Senate on such
data, including with respect to each unaccom-
panied alien child—
(i) biographical information such as
the child’s name, gender, date of birth,
country of birth, and country of habitual
residence;
(ii) the date on which the child came
into the custody of the Department of Jus-
tice;
(iii) information relating to the child’s
placement, removal, or release from each
facility in which the child has resided;
(iv) in any case in which the child is
placed in detention, an explanation relating
to the detention; and
(v) information relating to the disposi-
tion of any actions in which the child is the
subject;
(J) collecting and compiling statistical in-
formation from the Service, including Border
Patrol and inspections officers, on the unaccom-
panied alien children with whom they come into
contact; and
(K) conducting investigations and inspec-
tions of facilities and other entities in which un-
accompanied alien children reside.
(4) DUTIES WITH RESPECT TO FOSTER CARE.—
In carrying out the duties described in paragraph
(3)(F), the Director shall assess the extent to which
the refugee children foster care system utilized pur-
suant to section 412(d)(2) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act can feasibly be expanded for the
placement of unaccompanied alien children.
(5) POWERS.—In carrying out the duties speci-
fied in paragraph (3), the Director shall have the
power to—
(A) contract with service providers to per-
form the services described in sections 202,
203, 301, and 302; and
(B) compel compliance with the terms and
conditions set forth in section 203, including
the power to terminate the contracts of pro-
viders that are not in compliance with such con-
ditions and reassign any unaccompanied alien
child to a similar facility that is in compliance
with such section.
(d) NO EFFECT ON INS, EOIR, AND DEPARTMENT
OF STATE ADJUDICATORY RESPONSIBILITIES.—Nothing
in this Act may be construed to transfer the responsibility
for adjudicating benefit determinations under the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act from the authority of any offi-
cial of the Service, the Executive Office of Immigration
Review of the Department of Justice, or the Department
of State.
SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE
ON UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an Inter-
agency Task Force on Unaccompanied Alien Children.
(b) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall consist of
the following members:
(1) The Deputy Attorney General.
(2) The Commissioner of Immigration and Nat-
uralization.
(3) The Assistant Secretary of State for Popu-
lation, Refugees, and Migration.
(4) The Director of the Office of Refugee Re-
settlement of the Department of Health and Human
Services.
(5) The Director.
(6) Such other officials in the executive branch
of Government as may be designated by the Presi-
dent.
(c) CHAIRMAN.—The Task Force shall be chaired by
the Deputy Attorney General.
(d) ACTIVITIES OF THE TASK FORCE.—In consulta-
tion with nongovernmental organizations, the Task Force
shall—
(1) coordinate the implementation of this Act;
(2) measure and evaluate the progress of the
United States in treating unaccompanied alien chil-
dren in United States custody; and
(3) expand interagency procedures to collect
and organize data, including significant research and
resource information on the needs and treatment of
unaccompanied alien children in the custody of the
United States Government.
SEC. 103. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This title shall take effect 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act.
TITLE 
II—PAROLE, 
CUSTODY,
RELEASE, FAMILY REUNIFI-
CATION, AND DETENTION
SEC. 201. PAROLE AND CUSTODY OF UNACCOMPANIED
ALIEN CHILDREN.
(a) PAROLE
OF
UNACCOMPANIED
ALIEN
CHIL-
DREN.—Notwithstanding section 241(a)(5) of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act, an unaccompanied alien child
ally thereafter, the Director shall submit a report to the
Judiciary Committees of the House of Representatives and
Senate on the treatment of unaccompanied alien children
ordered removed from the United States under section
240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Such report
shall include at a minimum the following information:
(1) The number of alien children ordered re-
moved and the number of alien children actually re-
moved from the United States;
(2) The type of immigration relief sought and
denied to such alien children.
(3) The nationalities, ages, and gender of such
alien children.
(4) The procedures used to effect the removal
of alien children from the United States.
(5) Steps taken to ensure that alien children re-
moved to their countries of origin are returned safe-
ly and humanely.
SEC. 205. ESTABLISHING THE AGE OF AN UNACCOMPANIED
ALIEN CHILD.
The Director shall develop procedures that permit the
presentation and consideration of a variety of forms of evi-
dence, including testimony of a child and other persons,
to determine an unaccompanied alien child’s age for pur-
poses of placement, custody, parole, and detention. Such