Washington Update
May 2003

ORR Now Oversees Unaccompanied Refugee Children; More Change Needed
By Lynette Engelhardt Stott, LIRS Director for Government Relations

On March 1, transfer of the custody and placement of unaccompanied refugee children from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) became official.

The transfer, mandated by the Homeland Security legislation passed in November, is a big step forward. Unaccompanied children found within our borders now are in the care of an agency whose mission is to protect and care for children's needs rather than an agency whose prime concern is enforcement of immigration laws.

ORR’s history of working with refugee children makes the new arrangement far more appropriate. Under the new legislation, ORR has responsibility for making placement determinations, including the use of the refugee foster care system; overseeing the infrastructure and personnel of facilities where children reside, including inspections; maintaining statistics and compiling lists of professional guardian and attorney representation. We are thankful for this new and needed transfer.

However, there are still gaps in the protection of unaccompanied refugee children. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) plans to introduce a new bill to narrow these gaps. Under the proposed legislation children will have basic protections including guardians ad litem and a structure for pro bono legal counsel. These basic provisions are essential to ensure that these children have a fair chance during their immigration proceedings.

Kids can’t wait. They need these basic protections now. We will keep you informed of further developments and let you know when and how you can best advocate to bring about more just laws to protect children.

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