6 U.S.C. § 279 — Children’s affairs

(a) All functions that used to belong to the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization for caring for unaccompanied alien children are transferred to the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at Health and Human Services. (b) The Director must: (1) coordinate and carry out the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children held by the federal government because of their immigration status. This includes creating a plan for Congress on how to make sure each child gets a qualified, independent lawyer, following the legal-counsel rules in effect as of November 25, 2002. (A)–(L) The Director must also: make sure a child's interests are considered in decisions about their care and custody; decide where each child is placed; carry out those placement decisions; set placement policies; find enough qualified people, organizations, and facilities to house the children; oversee the buildings and staff at those facilities; reunite children with a parent abroad when appropriate; publish an annual state-by-state list of qualified guardians and lawyers for these children; keep detailed records on each child — including their name, gender, birth date, country of birth and residence, when they entered federal custody, what happened at each facility, an explanation if the child is detained or released, and how their case turned out; collect similar data from the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and State Department; and inspect and investigate the facilities and other entities housing these children, including regular follow-up visits. (2) When deciding where to place a child, the Director must consult with juvenile justice experts and immigration officials to make sure the child is likely to show up for hearings, is protected from smugglers and traffickers, and is placed somewhere they won't be a danger to themselves or others. The Director cannot release a child on their own recognizance (without supervision). (3) The Director is encouraged to use the existing refugee children foster care system for placing these children. (4) Nothing here requires posting a bond to release a child to a qualified sponsor. (c) This section does not change who decides immigration benefit applications — that stays with Justice, Homeland Security, or State, as it already was. (d) This section takes effect on the same date as a related transfer of functions described elsewhere in the law creating the Department of Homeland Security. (e) Wherever another federal law, order, rule, or document refers to the old office or its head in connection with this transferred function, that reference now means the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, or the Office of Refugee Resettlement itself. (f) Transition rules: (1) An official who now handles a transferred function can use whatever legal authority the previous official had to do that job. (2) Certain savings provisions about transfers of functions apply here the same way they apply to other transfers into the Department of Homeland Security. (3) Justice Department staff, funds, contracts, and records connected to this work move to the Director for use within Health and Human Services; transferred money can only be spent for its original purpose. (g) Definitions: "Placement" means putting a child in a detention facility or an alternative to one. An "unaccompanied alien child" is a child with no lawful immigration status, under 18, who has no parent or legal guardian in the United States, or whose parent or guardian in the U.S. isn't available to care for them.