The Unaccompanied Allen Child Protection Act of 2003

THE UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILD PROTECTION ACT OF 2003 -- (Extensions of Remarks - March 08, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. ZOE LOFGREN
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2005

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, no child should be left to fend for herself in a complex immigration system that even you and I would fear. This is why today I am again introducing the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act.
It is true that in 2002 Congress transferred the care, custody, and placement of unaccompanied alien children from the Department of Justice to the Department of Health and Human Services to improve the treatment children receive when encountered at our borders. This is certainly a big step in the right direction and I commend the Department of Health and Human Services for taking important steps to improve the care and custody of these vulnerable children. But these positive actions did not end the plethora of problems unaccompanied children experience when they come into contact with our immigration authorities.

Health and Human Services inherited a system that relied upon a variety of detention facilities to house children and was given little legislative direction to implement their new responsibilities. As a result, some children from repressive regimes or abusive families continue to fend for themselves in a complex legal and sometimes punitive system, without knowledge of the English language, with no adult guidance, and with no legal counsel. Some unaccompanied children are treated in a manner that our country usually reserves for criminals, not helpless victims.

The Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act would not change the ultimate decision on what happens to the quest bychildren for permanent safe haven in America. It would ensure that while the decision-making process is underway, children are housed in a humane and civil way and that those deciding are accurately informed about the facts of each case and the law.

Consider the compelling story of Esther, a nine-year-old victim of abuse, neglect and abandonment by her parents. She escaped to the U.S. with relatives who later turned her over to immigration authorities at the age of fourteen. Esther was detained for over six months in a juvenile jail and represented by an unscrupulous attorney who failed to appear at her immigration hearing, leaving her defenseless. The immigration judge ordered Esther to leave the United States.

Well after the Homeland Security Act transferred the care and custody of unaccompanied alien children to Health and Human Services, the Associated Press reported on a ten-year-old boy from Ghana who ``immigration officials, unsure of where the boy's parents were or how he boarded the plane without travel documents, sent him to a detention center ..... while they figured out what to do with him. Three years later, he [was] still in custody.''
Another child, Malik Jarno, was detained in various adult and juvenile detention facilities for almost three years. It took several letters from over 50 members of Congress before Malik was released to a home for refugees as he continued proceedings to determine his immigration status.

It is the time to complete the positive steps we have already taken to more fully protect children who arrive in the U.S. with no parents or guardians to watch over them. The Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act will ensure minimum standards for the care and custody of unaccompanied children and require a smooth transfer of minors from the Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Health and Human Services. It will also ensure that children receive adult and legal guidance as they navigate through our complex immigration system. I urge this body to swiftly consider and pass the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act.

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