Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 122.djvu/5102

This page needs to be proofread.

12 2 STA T .5079PUBLIC LA W 110 –4 57 —DE C.2 3, 200 8as s e ss m e nt s fro ma p propr i ate F e d era l,S tate, and lo c al la w enforcement and immi g ration data b ases .(4)LEGALORI E NT ATION P RE S ENTATIONS. —Th e Secretar y of H ealth and H u man Ser v ices shall cooperate with the Ex ecutive O ffice for I mmigration R eview to ensure that custodians receive legal orientation presentations provided through the Legal Ori - entation P rogram administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review. A t a minimum, such presentations shall address the custodian ’ s responsibility to attempt to ensure the child’s appearance at all immigration proceedings and to protect the child from mistreatment, exploitation, and traffic k ing. ( 5 )A C CESS TO CO U NSEL.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable and consistent with section 29 2 of the Immigration and N ation- ality Act ( 8U .S. C . 136 2), that all unaccompanied alien children who are or have been in the custody of the Secretary or the Secretary of Homeland Security, and who are not described in subsection (a)(2)(A), have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings or matters and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking. To the greatest extent practicable, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall make every effort to utili z e the services of pro bono counsel who agree to provide representation to such children without charge. (6) C H IL D AD V OCATES.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to appoint independent child advocates for child trafficking victims and other vulnerable unaccompanied alien children. A child advocate shall be pro- vided access to materials necessary to effectively advocate for the best interest of the child. The child advocate shall not be compelled to testify or provide evidence in any proceeding concerning any information or opinion received from the child in the course of serving as a child advocate. The child advocate shall be presumed to be acting in good faith and be immune from civil and criminal liability for lawful conduct of duties as described in this provision. (d) PER M ANENT PROTECTION F OR CERTAIN AT-RIS K CHILDREN.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1 0 1(a)(2 7 )( J ) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘ ‘State and who has been deemed eligible by that court for long-term foster care due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment

’’ and inserting ‘‘State, or an individual or entity appointed by a State or j uvenile court located in the United States, and whose reunification with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under State law;’’; and ( B ) in clause (iii)— (i) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘the Attorney G eneral expressly consents to the dependency order serving as a precondition to the grant of special immigrant juvenile status;’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of Homeland Security consents to the grant of special immigrant juvenile status,’’; and (ii) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘in the actual or constructive custody of the Attorney General unless