Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1297 Compare Versions

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11 II
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION S. 1297
55 To provide counsel for unaccompanied children, and for other purposes.
66 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
77 APRIL3, 2025
88 Ms. H
99 IRONO(for herself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr.
1010 C
1111 OONS, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mr.
1212 F
1313 ETTERMAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. KIM, Ms. KLO-
1414 BUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr.
1515 P
1616 ADILLA, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SMITH, Mr. VAN
1717 H
1818 OLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr.
1919 W
2020 YDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
2121 to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL
2222 To provide counsel for unaccompanied children, and for other
2323 purposes.
2424 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2525 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2626 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2727 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Day in Court 4
2828 for Kids Act of 2025’’. 5
2929 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
3030 In this Act: 7
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3434 (1) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 1
3535 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 2
3636 of the United States. 3
3737 (2) U
3838 NACCOMPANIED CHILD .—The term ‘‘unac-4
3939 companied child’’ has the meaning given the term 5
4040 ‘‘unaccompanied alien child’’ in section 462(g) of the 6
4141 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)). 7
4242 SEC. 3. REFERENCES TO ALIENS. 8
4343 With respect to an individual who is not a citizen or 9
4444 national of the United States, any reference in this Act 10
4545 to a ‘‘noncitizen’’ shall be deemed to refer to an individual 11
4646 otherwise described as an ‘‘alien’’ in any Federal law, Fed-12
4747 eral regulation, or any written instrument issued by the 13
4848 executive branch of the Government. 14
4949 SEC. 4. IMPROVING IMMIGRATION COURT EFFICIENCY AND 15
5050 REDUCING COSTS BY INCREASING ACCESS 16
5151 TO LEGAL INFORMATION. 17
5252 (a) D
5353 EFINITIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Immigra-18
5454 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended 19
5555 by adding at the end the following: 20
5656 ‘‘(53) The term ‘noncitizen’ means an individual who 21
5757 is not a citizen or national of the United States. 22
5858 ‘‘(54) The term ‘unaccompanied child’ has the mean-23
5959 ing given the term ‘unaccompanied alien child’ in section 24
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6363 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 1
6464 279(g)).’’. 2
6565 (b) A
6666 PPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL INREMOVALPRO-3
6767 CEEDINGS; RIGHTTOREVIEWCERTAINDOCUMENTS IN 4
6868 R
6969 EMOVALPROCEEDINGS.—Section 240(b) of the Immi-5
7070 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)) is 6
7171 amended— 7
7272 (1) in paragraph (4)— 8
7373 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 9
7474 (A), by striking ‘‘under regulations of the At-10
7575 torney General’’ and inserting ‘‘under regula-11
7676 tions of the Attorney General, or in the case of 12
7777 an unaccompanied child, under regulations of 13
7878 the Secretary of Health and Human Services’’; 14
7979 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 15
8080 (i) by striking ‘‘, at no expense to the 16
8181 Government,’’; and 17
8282 (ii) by striking the comma at the end 18
8383 and inserting a semicolon; 19
8484 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 20
8585 and (C) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec-21
8686 tively; 22
8787 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 23
8888 the following: 24
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9292 ‘‘(B) the Attorney General, or in the case 1
9393 of an unaccompanied child, the Secretary of 2
9494 Health and Human Services, may appoint or 3
9595 provide counsel, at Government expense, to 4
9696 noncitizens in immigration proceedings; 5
9797 ‘‘(C) the noncitizen, or the noncitizen’s 6
9898 counsel, not later than 7 days after receiving a 7
9999 notice to appear under section 239(a), shall re-8
100100 ceive a complete copy of the noncitizen’s immi-9
101101 gration file (commonly known as an ‘A-file’) in 10
102102 the possession of the Department of Homeland 11
103103 Security (other than documents protected from 12
104104 disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, 13
105105 United States Code);’’; and 14
106106 (E) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated, 15
107107 by striking ‘‘, and’’ and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 16
108108 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17
109109 ‘‘(8) F
110110 AILURE TO PROVIDE NONCITIZEN RE -18
111111 QUIRED DOCUMENTS .—A removal proceeding may 19
112112 not proceed until the noncitizen, or the noncitizen’s 20
113113 counsel if the noncitizen is represented— 21
114114 ‘‘(A) has received the documents required 22
115115 under paragraph (4)(C); and 23
116116 ‘‘(B) has been provided at least 10 days to 24
117117 review and assess such documents, unless the 25
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121121 noncitizen or the noncitizen’s counsel expressly 1
122122 waives such review period.’’. 2
123123 (c) C
124124 LARIFICATIONREGARDING THEAUTHORITY OF 3
125125 THEFEDERALGOVERNMENTTOAPPOINTCOUNSEL TO 4
126126 N
127127 ONCITIZENS INIMMIGRATIONPROCEEDINGS.— 5
128128 (1) I
129129 N GENERAL.—Section 292 of the Immigra-6
130130 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362) is amend-7
131131 ed to read as follows: 8
132132 ‘‘SEC. 292. RIGHT TO COUNSEL. 9
133133 ‘‘(a) I
134134 NGENERAL.—In any removal proceeding be-10
135135 fore the Attorney General, an appeal from such a removal 11
136136 proceeding, and any related matter before the Department 12
137137 of Homeland Security or a State court, an unaccompanied 13
138138 child shall have the privilege of being represented by such 14
139139 counsel as may be authorized to practice in such pro-15
140140 ceeding or matter as he or she may choose. This sub-16
141141 section shall not apply to screening proceedings described 17
142142 in section 235(b)(1)(A). 18
143143 ‘‘(b) A
144144 CCESS TOCOUNSEL FOR UNACCOMPANIED 19
145145 C
146146 HILDREN.— 20
147147 ‘‘(1) I
148148 N GENERAL.—In any removal proceeding 21
149149 before the Attorney General, an appeal from such a 22
150150 removal proceeding, and any related matter before 23
151151 the Department of Homeland Security or a State 24
152152 court, an unaccompanied child shall be represented 25
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156156 by counsel appointed or provided by the Secretary of 1
157157 Health and Human Services, at Government ex-2
158158 pense, unless the child has obtained at his or her 3
159159 own expense counsel authorized to practice in such 4
160160 proceeding or matter. 5
161161 ‘‘(2) T
162162 IMING.—The Secretary of Health and 6
163163 Human Services shall appoint or provide counsel to 7
164164 an unaccompanied child under paragraph (1) as ex-8
165165 peditiously as possible after the earlier of— 9
166166 ‘‘(A) the date on which a Notice to Appear 10
167167 for removal proceedings is issued to the unac-11
168168 companied child, regardless of whether the No-12
169169 tice to Appear has been filed with an immigra-13
170170 tion court; or 14
171171 ‘‘(B) the date on which the unaccompanied 15
172172 child is placed in the custody of the Secretary 16
173173 of Health and Human Services. 17
174174 ‘‘(3) L
175175 ENGTH OF REPRESENTATION .—An unac-18
176176 companied child shall be represented by counsel 19
177177 under paragraph (1) at every stage of the pro-20
178178 ceedings, beginning with the unaccompanied child’s 21
179179 initial appearance before an official with adjudica-22
180180 tory authority in removal proceedings or in related 23
181181 matters before the Department of Homeland Secu-24
182182 rity or a State court, through the termination of im-25
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186186 migration proceedings and resolution of any related 1
187187 matter before the Department of Homeland Security 2
188188 or a State court, even if the child attains 18 years 3
189189 of age or is reunified with a parent or legal guardian 4
190190 while the proceedings are pending. 5
191191 ‘‘(4) C
192192 ONTINUITY IN REPRESENTATION .—If 6
193193 counsel retained by an unaccompanied child at his or 7
194194 her own expense ceases representing the child for 8
195195 any reason, the Secretary of Health and Human 9
196196 Services shall ensure continued representation of the 10
197197 child by appointing or providing new counsel as ex-11
198198 peditiously as possible. 12
199199 ‘‘(5) N
200200 OTICE.—Not later than 72 hours after 13
201201 an unaccompanied child is taken into Federal cus-14
202202 tody, the child shall be notified that he or she will 15
203203 be provided with legal counsel in accordance with 16
204204 this subsection. 17
205205 ‘‘(6) W
206206 ITHIN DETENTION FACILITIES .—The 18
207207 Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that 19
208208 unaccompanied children have access to counsel in-20
209209 side all detention, holding, and border facilities. 21
210210 ‘‘(c) P
211211 ROBONOREPRESENTATION.— 22
212212 ‘‘(1) I
213213 N GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 23
214214 practicable, the Secretary of Health and Human 24
215215 Services shall make every effort to use the services 25
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219219 of competent counsel who agree to provide represen-1
220220 tation to such children under subsection (b) without 2
221221 charge to the child. 3
222222 ‘‘(2) D
223223 EVELOPMENT OF NECESSARY INFRA -4
224224 STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS .—The Secretary of 5
225225 Health and Human Services shall establish the nec-6
226226 essary infrastructure and systems for the appro-7
227227 priate identification, recruitment, training, and over-8
228228 sight of counsel available to provide assistance and 9
229229 representation to unaccompanied children under sub-10
230230 section (b) without charge to the child. 11
231231 ‘‘(d) M
232232 ODELGUIDELINES ONLEGALREPRESENTA-12
233233 TION OFCHILDREN.— 13
234234 ‘‘(1) D
235235 EVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES .—The Di-14
236236 rector of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, in con-15
237237 sultation with the Director of the Executive Office 16
238238 for Immigration Review, the Secretary of Homeland 17
239239 Security, and nongovernmental stakeholders with 18
240240 relevant expertise in providing immigration-related 19
241241 legal services to children, shall develop model guide-20
242242 lines for the legal representation of unaccompanied 21
243243 children in immigration proceedings, which shall be 22
244244 based on— 23
245245 ‘‘(A) the 2018 report of the American Bar 24
246246 Association entitled ‘Standards for the Custody, 25
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250250 Placement and Care; Legal Representation; and 1
251251 Adjudication of Unaccompanied Alien Children 2
252252 in the United States’; 3
253253 ‘‘(B) the American Bar Association Model 4
254254 Rules of Professional Conduct; and 5
255255 ‘‘(C) any other source the Director of the 6
256256 Office of Refugee Resettlement considers appro-7
257257 priate. 8
258258 ‘‘(2) P
259259 URPOSE OF GUIDELINES .—The guide-9
260260 lines developed under paragraph (1) shall be de-10
261261 signed to help protect each child from any individual 11
262262 suspected of involvement in any criminal, harmful, 12
263263 or exploitative activity associated with the smuggling 13
264264 or trafficking of children, while ensuring the fairness 14
265265 of the immigration proceeding in which the child is 15
266266 involved. 16
267267 ‘‘(e) D
268268 UTIES OFCOUNSEL.—The duties of counsel 17
269269 appointed or provided under this section shall include— 18
270270 ‘‘(1) representing the unaccompanied alien child 19
271271 concerned— 20
272272 ‘‘(A) in all proceedings and matters relat-21
273273 ing to the immigration status of the child; and 22
274274 ‘‘(B) with respect to any other action in-23
275275 volving the Department of Homeland Security; 24
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279279 ‘‘(2) appearing in person for each of the 1
280280 child’s— 2
281281 ‘‘(A) individual merits hearings and master 3
282282 calendar hearings before the Executive Office 4
283283 for Immigration Review; and 5
284284 ‘‘(B) interviews involving the Department 6
285285 of Homeland Security; 7
286286 ‘‘(3) owing the same duties of undivided loyalty, 8
287287 confidentiality, and competent representation to the 9
288288 child as is due to an adult client; 10
289289 ‘‘(4) advocating for the child’s legal interests, 11
290290 as directed by the child’s express wishes; 12
291291 ‘‘(5) in the case of a child who does not express 13
292292 the objectives of representation, or is found incom-14
293293 petent, referring the child for the appointment of an 15
294294 independent child advocate, as described in section 16
295295 235(c)(6) of the William Wilberforce Trafficking 17
296296 Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 18
297297 U.S.C. 1232(c)(6)); and 19
298298 ‘‘(6) carrying out other such duties as may be 20
299299 prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human 21
300300 Services or the Director of the Executive Office for 22
301301 Immigration Review. 23
302302 ‘‘(f) S
303303 AVINGSPROVISION.—Nothing in this section 24
304304 may be construed to supersede— 25
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308308 ‘‘(1) any duties, responsibilities, disciplinary, or 1
309309 ethical responsibilities an attorney may have to his 2
310310 or her client under State law; 3
311311 ‘‘(2) the admission requirements under State 4
312312 law; or 5
313313 ‘‘(3) any other State law pertaining to the ad-6
314314 mission to the practice of law in a particular juris-7
315315 diction.’’. 8
316316 (2) R
317317 ULEMAKING.—The Secretary of Health 9
318318 and Human Services shall promulgate regulations to 10
319319 implement section 292 of the Immigration and Na-11
320320 tionality Act, as added by paragraph (1), in accord-12
321321 ance with the requirements set forth in section 13
322322 3006A of title 18, United States Code. 14
323323 SEC. 5. ACCESS BY COUNSEL TO DEPARTMENT OF HOME-15
324324 LAND SECURITY FACILITIES. 16
325325 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide ac-17
326326 cess to counsel for all noncitizens detained in— 18
327327 (1) a facility under the supervision of U.S. Im-19
328328 migration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Cus-20
329329 toms and Border Protection; or 21
330330 (2) a private facility that contracts with the De-22
331331 partment of Homeland Security to house, detain, or 23
332332 hold noncitizens. 24
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336336 SEC. 6. REPORT ON ACCESS TO COUNSEL. 1
337337 (a) R
338338 EPORT.—Not later than December 31 of each 2
339339 year, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in con-3
340340 sultation with the Attorney General, shall prepare and 4
341341 submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 5
342342 Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 6
343343 of Representatives regarding the extent to which the Sec-7
344344 retary has provided counsel for unaccompanied children 8
345345 as described in subsection (b) of section 292 of the Immi-9
346346 gration and Nationality Act, as amended by section 4(c). 10
347347 (b) C
348348 ONTENTS.—Each report submitted under para-11
349349 graph (a) shall include, for the immediately preceding 1- 12
350350 year period— 13
351351 (1) the number and percentage of unaccom-14
352352 panied children described in subsection (b) of section 15
353353 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 16
354354 amended by section 4(c), who were represented by 17
355355 counsel, including information specifying— 18
356356 (A) the stage of the legal process at which 19
357357 representation of each such child commenced; 20
358358 (B) whether each such child was in govern-21
359359 ment custody on the date on which such rep-22
360360 resentation commenced; and 23
361361 (C) the nationality and ages of such chil-24
362362 dren; 25
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366366 (2) the number and percentage of children who 1
367367 received Know Your Rights presentations or legal 2
368368 screenings, including the nationality and ages of 3
369369 such children; and 4
370370 (3) a description of the mechanisms used under 5
371371 subsection (b) of section 292 of the Immigration and 6
372372 Nationality Act, as added by section 4(c), for identi-7
373373 fying, recruiting, and training pro bono counsel to 8
374374 represent unaccompanied children. 9
375375 SEC. 7. MOTIONS TO REOPEN. 10
376376 Section 240(c)(7)(C) of the Immigration and Nation-11
377377 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(7)(C)) is amended by adding 12
378378 at the end the following: 13
379379 ‘‘(v) S
380380 PECIAL RULE FOR UNACCOM -14
381381 PANIED CHILDREN ENTITLED TO APPOINT -15
382382 MENT OF COUNSEL .—If the Secretary of 16
383383 Health and Human Services fails to ap-17
384384 point or provide counsel for an unaccom-18
385385 panied child under section 292(b)— 19
386386 ‘‘(I) the limitations under this 20
387387 paragraph with respect to the filing of 21
388388 a motion to reopen by such child shall 22
389389 not apply; and 23
390390 ‘‘(II) the filing of such a motion 24
391391 shall stay the removal of the child.’’. 25
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395395 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1
396396 (a) I
397397 NGENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-2
398398 priated to the Office of Refugee Resettlement such sums 3
399399 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 4
400400 (b) B
401401 UDGETARYEFFECTS.—The budgetary effects of 5
402402 this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory 6
403403 Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by ref-7
404404 erence to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects 8
405405 of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for print-9
406406 ing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the 10
407407 Senate Budget Committee, provided that such statement 11
408408 has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 12
409409 Æ
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