§ 279 — Children’s Affairs

(a) 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). (1) 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 November 25, 2002; (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; (C) making placement determinations for all unaccompanied 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, including regular follow-up visits to such facilities, placements, and other entities, to assess the continued suitability of such placements. (2) 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) In carrying out the duties described in paragraph (1), 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. (4) Nothing in paragraph (2)(B) may be construed to require that a bond be posted for an unaccompanied alien child who is released to a qualified sponsor. (c) Nothing in this section may be construed to 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) this section shall take effect on the date on which the transfer of functions specified under section 251 of this title takes effect. (e) 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. (1) 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) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 552 of this title 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 chapter to the Department of Homeland Security. (3) 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 1531 of title 31, 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) 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 (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 available to provide care and physical custody.