Homeland Security ActH.R. 5005November, 2002

SEC. 462. CHILDREN'S AFFAIRS.

(a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS- There are transferred to the Director of

the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health and

Human Services functions under the immigration laws of the United

States with respect to the care of unaccompanied alien children that

were vested by statute in, or performed by, the Commissioner of

Immigration and Naturalization (or any officer, employee, or component

of the Immigration and Naturalization Service) immediately before the

effective date specified in subsection (d).

(b) FUNCTIONS-

(1) IN GENERAL- Pursuant to the transfer made by subsection (a),

the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement shall be

responsible for--

(A) coordinating and implementing the care and placement of

unaccompanied alien children who are in Federal custody by

reason of their immigration status, including developing a

plan to be submitted to Congress on how to ensure that

qualified and independent legal counsel is timely appointed

to represent the interests of each such child, consistent

with the law regarding appointment of counsel that is in

effect on the date of the enactment of this Act;

(B) ensuring that the interests of the child are considered

in decisions and actions relating to the care and custody of

an unaccompanied alien child;

alien children who are in Federal custody by reason of their

immigration status;

(D) implementing the placement determinations;

(E) implementing policies with respect to the care and

placement of unaccompanied alien children;

(F) identifying a sufficient number of qualified

individuals, entities, and facilities to house unaccompanied

alien children;

(G) overseeing the infrastructure and personnel of

facilities in which unaccompanied alien children reside;

(H) reuniting unaccompanied alien children with a parent

abroad in appropriate cases;

(I) compiling, updating, and publishing at least annually a

state-by-state list of professionals or other entities

qualified to provide guardian and attorney representation

services for unaccompanied alien children;

(J) maintaining statistical information and other data on

unaccompanied alien children for whose care and placement

the Director is responsible, which shall include--

(i) biographical information, such as a child's name,

gender, date of birth, country of birth, and country of

habitual residence;

(ii) the date on which the child came into Federal

custody by reason of his or her immigration status;

(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 or released, an explanation relating to the

detention or release; and

(v) the disposition of any actions in which the child

is the subject;

(K) collecting and compiling statistical information from

the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland

Security, and the Department of State on each department's

actions relating to unaccompanied alien children; and

(L) conducting investigations and inspections of facilities

and other entities in which unaccompanied alien children

reside.

(2) COORDINATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES; NO RELEASE ON OWN

RECOGNIZANCE- In making determinations described in paragraph

(1)(C), the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement--

(A) shall consult with appropriate juvenile justice

professionals, the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and

Immigration Services, and the Assistant Secretary of the

Bureau of Border Security to ensure that such determinations

ensure that unaccompanied alien children described in such

subparagraph--

(i) are likely to appear for all hearings or

proceedings in which they are involved;

(ii) are protected from smugglers, traffickers, or

others who might seek to victimize or otherwise engage

them in criminal, harmful, or exploitive activity; and

(iii) are placed in a setting in which they are not

likely to pose a danger to themselves or others; and

(B) shall not release such children upon their own

recognizance.

(3) DUTIES WITH RESPECT TO FOSTER CARE- In carrying out the

duties described in paragraph (1)(G), the Director of the Office

of Refugee Resettlement is encouraged to use the refugee children

foster care system established pursuant to section 412(d) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(d)) for the

placement of unaccompanied alien children.

transfer the responsibility for adjudicating benefit determinations

under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) from

the authority of any official of the Department of Justice, the

Department of Homeland Security, or the Department of State.

(d) EFFECTIVE DATE- Notwithstanding section 4, this section shall take

effect on the date on which the transfer of functions specified under

section 441 takes effect.

(e) REFERENCES- With respect to any function transferred by this

section, any reference in any other Federal law, Executive order,

rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any document of or

pertaining to a component of government from which such function is

transferred--

(1) to the head of such component is deemed to refer to the

Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement; or

(2) to such component is deemed to refer to the Office of Refugee

Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human Services.

(f) OTHER TRANSITION ISSUES-

(1) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES- Except as otherwise provided by law,

a Federal official to whom a function is transferred by this

section may, for purposes of performing the function, exercise

all authorities under any other provision of law that were

available with respect to the performance of that function to the

official responsible for the performance of the function

immediately before the effective date specified in subsection

(d).

(2) SAVINGS PROVISIONS- Subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section

1512 shall apply to a transfer of functions under this section in

the same manner as such provisions apply to a transfer of

functions under this Act to the Department of Homeland Security.

(3) TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND PERSONNEL- The

personnel of the Department of Justice employed in connection

with the functions transferred by this section, and the assets,

liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balance

of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds

employed, held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made

available to, the Immigration and Naturalization Service in

connection with the functions transferred by this section,

subject to section 202 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures

Act of 1950, shall be transferred to the Director of the Office

of Refugee Resettlement for allocation to the appropriate

component of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Unexpended funds transferred pursuant to this paragraph shall be

used only for the purposes for which the funds were originally

authorized and appropriated.

(g) DEFINITIONS- As used in this section--

(1) the term `placement' means the placement of an unaccompanied

alien child in either a detention facility or an alternative to

such a facility; and

(2) the term `unaccompanied alien child' means a child who--

(A) has no lawful immigration status in the United States;

(B) has not attained 18 years of age; and

(i) there is no parent or legal guardian in the United

States; or

(ii) no parent or legal guardian in the United States

is available to provide care and physical custody.

Subtitle F--General Immigration Provisions