[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E383]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILD PROTECTION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                            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 by children 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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