| Kids Can't
Wait for Justice
Support S1129 and Protect Unaccompanied
Children
UPDATE (Posted October 15)
Victory in the Senate!
LIRS applauds the Senate for passing the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2003 (S.1129). After nearly three years of coordinated advocacy efforts by LIRS and partner agencies, the bill finally made its way to the Senate floor on Monday October 11, passing by unanimous consent!
Thank you to Lutherans and other friends across the nation for helping pass this bill with your letters and calls and thank you to Sen. Dianne Feinstein for your commitment to getting this bill passed!
Next Action Steps
- It is important that you let your senators know how pleased you are with the passage of S.1129. Please call the Congressional switchboard at 202/224-3121and ask to speak with your senator’s office and thank them for passing S.1129, The Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act.
- The challenge now is to get the House version of the Children’s Bill (H.R.3361) passed. If that happens soon, it could be signed by the president and passed into law this year! You can have a voice to help these orphans and refugees, some of the least among us. Write to your representative and urge him or her to co-sponsor The Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2003 (H.R.3361). Mention that the bill already passed in the Senate and now needs support in the House. Read LIRS's Action Alert (112KB PDF*) for more information on writing to your representative.
These measures will help ensure that the Children’s Bill is finally passed by this108th Congress. Newcomer children have been waiting too long for our government to pass these reforms. “Let the weak and the orphan have justice” (Psalm 82:2-4). Let newcomer children be cared for the way we care for our own.
*Click here if you have trouble opening PDF files. |
Background 
On May 21, 2003, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S.1129, The Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2003. On October 21, 2003, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16) introduced the House version of the bill, H.R.3361.
As you may recall, we previously worked toward passage of the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2001, legislation which sought to reform the treatment of unaccompanied children. In December 2003 Congress passed the Homeland Security Act which folded in important provisions of the children’s legislation. Specifically, the provisions transferred responsibility for care and placement of newcomer children from the immigration authorities to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department for Health and Human Services. This is an important step forward in protecting these children, but much needs to be done in order to fully reform the way these vulnerable children are treated.
S.1129/H.R.3361 builds upon the provisions passed in the Homeland Security Act by providing a structure for pro-bono counsel so children do not have to navigate the judicial system alone and allowing the appointment of guardians ad litem—adults trained in child welfare who ensure that children's best interests are taken into account during legal proceedings. It would ensure that unaccompanied children are housed in shelters or in foster care if their own families are unable to care for them. For situations when detention is absolutely necessary, the bill would establish minimum standards of care.
Children need special protection and care when they arrive on our shores. Many children who arrive in the United States unaccompanied are fleeing human rights abuses in their own countries. The U.S. asylum system is incredibly complex. Children need lawyers and guardians ad litem to ensure that their asylum claims are heard fairly and provide for their best interest. Kids can’t wait. And we can’t wait to welcome the stranger and support S.1129/H.R.3361, the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2003.
Related Documents
Letter Supporting Malik Jarno
LIRS signed onto a December 19, 2003, letter to the Department of Homeland Security seeking the release of Malik Jarno, a Guinean orphan with diminished mental capacity who has been detained for almost three years while his asylum case is pending. Malik was 16 when first taken into custody.
The letter was coordinated by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and addressed to Under Secretary for Border Transporation and Security Asa Hutchinson. View the letter in PDF* format.
New Report Addresses Age Determination
A publication by Physicians for Human Rights and The Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture is critical of bone and dental methodologies used by immigration officials to determine age. These tests are often inaccurate, with the result that minor children are sometimes detained with adults...sometimes even in American adult prisons.
Download From Persecution to Prison: The Health Consequences of Detention for Asylum Seekers (PDF file*) from the Physicians for Human Rights website.
*Click here if you have trouble opening PDF files.
Page updated October 15,
2004
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