This bill establishes a specialized Children's Court within the immigration court system to handle cases involving unaccompanied children under age eighteen. The Children's Court would create separate dockets and designate immigration judges with training and experience in working with children, ensuring court procedures are developmentally appropriate and trauma-informed. Judges assigned to the Children's Court would undergo mandatory training on child development, trauma, trafficking, and sensitive questioning techniques, and would not be evaluated based on case completion quotas that could pressure them to rush decisions. The legislation also restricts information sharing between the Office of Refugee Resettlement and immigration enforcement agencies without a child's consent, protecting children from having their case information used against them during deportation proceedings. The bill authorizes necessary funding for the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Health and Human Services, and requires annual reporting to Congress beginning one year after enactment on the Children's Court's compliance, case outcomes, and effectiveness, with biennial evaluations by the Government Accountability Office.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.