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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 991
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING AC CESS TO LEGAL COUNSE L FOR
CHILDREN IN IMMIGRATION REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Eligible respondent" means an individual who (A) is the subject 2
of a removal proceeding at the Connecticut Executive Office for 3
Immigration Review, and (B) at the time such proceeding commenced 4
was (i) an unaccompanied minor, or (ii) under the age of eighteen with 5
no lawful immigration status in the United States and in the custody of 6
the federal Department of Health and Human Services; and 7
(2) "Unaccompanied minor" has the same meaning as 8
"unaccompanied alien child", as defined in 6 USC 279(g). 9
(b) The Judicial Branch shall establish and administer, within 10
available appropriations, a legal aid program that shall provide grants 11
to federally tax-exempt charitable organizations to provide legal 12
counsel to an eligible respondent. Such grants shall be used to provide 13
legal counsel to an eligible respondent for the following purposes: (1) 14
Representation in proceedings related to a removal proceeding taking 15
place at the Connecticut Executive Office for Immigration Review; (2) 16
family reunification or placement with a sponsor, if the eligible 17
respondent is detained by federal officials; or (3) applying for 18 Substitute Bill No. 991
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temporary or permanent status. 19
(c) For the fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2019, and each 20
succeeding fiscal year thereafter, the Office of the Attorney General, 21
utilizing transfer invoices, shall remit eight hundred thousand dollars 22
to the Judicial Branch from moneys received by the Office of the 23
Attorney General in connection with the settlement of any lawsuit to 24
which the state is a party. Moneys remitted to the Judicial Branch shall 25
be used for the provision of legal counsel to eligible respondents, as 26
provided in subsection (b) of this section. 27
(d) Not later than December 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, the 28
Judicial Branch shall submit, in accordance with section 11-4a of the 29
general statutes, a report concerning the grants made in the previous 30
fiscal year under the program established pursuant to subsection (b) of 31
this section to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 32
having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary. The report shall 33
include, for each recipient of a grant: (1) The amount of money 34
received under the program, (2) the number of eligible respondents for 35
whom the recipient provided legal counsel, (3) the number of cases 36
opened, (4) the number of cases disposed of, (5) the number of family 37
reunifications or placements with a sponsor that were assisted by the 38
program, and (6) the number of eligible respondents who achieved 39
temporary and permanent status with assistance from the program. 40
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force to 41
study (1) the unmet legal needs of indigent state residents subject to a 42
removal proceeding at the Connecticut Executive Office for 43
Immigration Review, and (2) the mechanisms available in the state to 44
deliver and pay for legal representation for such indigent state 45
residents. 46
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 47
(1) The chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General 48
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary, or 49 Substitute Bill No. 991
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their designees; 50
(2) The Chief Public Defender, or the Chief Public Defender's 51
designee; 52
(3) The executive director of Connecticut Legal Services, or the 53
executive director's designee; 54
(4) The executive director of Greater Hartford Legal Aid, or the 55
executive director's designee; and 56
(5) The executive director of the New Haven Legal Assistance 57
Association, or the executive director's designee. 58
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1) of 59
subsection (b) of this section may be a member of the General 60
Assembly. 61
(d) All appointments to the task force shall be made not later than 62
thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be 63
filled by the appointing authority. 64
(e) The chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General 65
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary, or 66
their designees, shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 67
among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 68
the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than 69
sixty days after the effective date of this section. 70
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 71
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the 72
judiciary shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 73
(g) Not later than December 31, 2020, the task force shall submit a 74
report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing 75
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 76
relating to the judiciary, in accordance with the provisions of section 77 Substitute Bill No. 991
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11-4a of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date 78
that it submits such report or December 31, 2020, whichever is later. 79
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(a)(1)(B), "is or was" was changed to "was" for accuracy
and in Section 1(a)(1)(B)(i), "accompanied minor" was changed to
"unaccompanied minor" for consistency with the defined term.
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.