(a) Transfer of Functions.--There are transferred to the
Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the
Department of Health and Human Services functions under the
immigration laws of the United States with respect to the care
of unaccompanied alien children that were vested by statute in,
or performed by, the Commissioner of Immigration and
Naturalization (or any officer, employee, or component of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service) immediately before the
effective date specified in subsection (d).
(b) Functions.--
(1) In general.--Pursuant to the transfer made by
subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Refugee
Resettlement shall be responsible for--
(A) coordinating and implementing the care
and placement of unaccompanied alien children
who are in Federal custody by reason of their
immigration status, including developing a plan
to be submitted to Congress on how to ensure
that qualified and independent legal counsel is
timely appointed to represent the interests of
each such child, consistent with the law
regarding appointment of counsel that is in
effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act;
(B) ensuring that the interests of the
child are considered in decisions and actions
relating to the care and custody of an
unaccompanied alien child;
(C) making placement determinations for all
unaccompanied alien children who are in Federal
custody by reason of their immigration status;
(D) implementing the placement
determinations;
(E) implementing policies with respect to
the care and placement of unaccompanied alien
children;
(F) identifying a sufficient number of
qualified individuals, entities, and facilities
to house unaccompanied alien children;
(G) overseeing the infrastructure and
personnel of facilities in which unaccompanied
alien children reside;
(H) reuniting unaccompanied alien children
with a parent abroad in appropriate cases;
(I) compiling, updating, and publishing at
least annually a state-by-state list of
professionals or other entities qualified to
provide guardian and attorney representation
services for unaccompanied alien children;
(J) maintaining statistical information and
other data on unaccompanied alien children for
whose care and placement the Director is
responsible, which shall include--
(i) biographical information, such
as a child's name, gender, date of
birth, country of birth, and country of
habitual residence;
(ii) the date on which the child
came into Federal custody by reason of
his or her immigration status;
(iii) information relating to the
child's placement, removal, or release
from each facility in which the child
has resided;
(iv) in any case in which the child
is placed in detention or released, an
explanation relating to the detention
or release; and
(v) the disposition of any actions
in which the child is the subject;
(K) collecting and compiling statistical
information from the Department of Justice, the
Department of Homeland Security, and the
Department of State on each department's
actions relating to unaccompanied alien
children; and
(L) conducting investigations and
inspections of facilities and other entities in
which unaccompanied alien children reside.
(2) Coordination with other entities; no release on
own recognizance.--In making determinations described
in paragraph (1)(C), the Director of the Office of
Refugee Resettlement--
(A) shall consult with appropriate juvenile
justice professionals, the Director of the
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services,
and the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of
Border Security to ensure that such
determinations ensure that unaccompanied alien
children described in such subparagraph--
(i) are likely to appear for all
hearings or proceedings in which they
are involved;
(ii) are protected from smugglers,
traffickers, or others who might seek
to victimize or otherwise engage them
in criminal, harmful, or exploitive
activity; and
(iii) are placed in a setting in
which they are not likely to pose a
danger to themselves or others; and
(B) shall not release such children upon
their own recognizance.
(3) Duties with respect to foster care.--In
carrying out the duties described in paragraph (1)(G),
the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is
encouraged to use the refugee children foster care
system established pursuant to section 412(d) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(d)) for
the placement of unaccompanied alien children.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to transfer the responsibility for adjudicating
benefit determinations under the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) from the authority of any official
of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland
Security, or the Department of State.
(d) Effective Date.--Notwithstanding section 4, this
section shall take effect on the date on which the transfer of
functions specified under section 441 takes effect.
(e) References.--With respect to any function transferred
by this section, any reference in any other Federal law,
Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of authority,
or any document of or pertaining to a component of government
from which such function is transferred--
(1) to the head of such component is deemed to
refer to the Director of the Office of Refugee
Resettlement; or
(2) to such component is deemed to refer to the
Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of
Health and Human Services.
(f) Other Transition Issues.--
(1) Exercise of authorities.--Except as otherwise
provided by law, a Federal official to whom a function
is transferred by this section may, for purposes of
performing the function, exercise all authorities under
any other provision of law that were available with
respect to the performance of that function to the
official responsible for the performance of the
function immediately before the effective date
specified in subsection (d).
(2) Savings provisions.--Subsections (a), (b), and
(c) of section 1512 shall apply to a transfer of
functions under this section in the same manner as such
provisions apply to a transfer of functions under this
Act to the Department of Homeland Security.
(3) Transfer and allocation of appropriations and
personnel.--The personnel of the Department of Justice
employed in connection with the functions transferred
by this section, and the assets, liabilities,
contracts, property, records, and unexpended balance of
appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other
funds employed, held, used, arising from, available to,
or to be made available to, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service in connection with the functions
transferred by this section, subject to section 202 of
the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, shall
be transferred to the Director of the Office of Refugee
Resettlement for allocation to the appropriate
component of the Department of Health and Human
Services. Unexpended funds transferred pursuant to this
paragraph shall be used only for the purposes for which
the funds were originally authorized and appropriated.
(g) Definitions.--As used in this section--
(1) the term ``placement'' means the placement of
an unaccompanied alien child in either a detention
facility or an alternative to such a facility; and
(2) the term ``unaccompanied alien child'' means a
child who--
(A) has no lawful immigration status in the
United States;
(B) has not attained 18 years of age; and
(C) with respect to whom--
(i) there is no parent or legal
guardian in the United States; or
(ii) no parent or legal guardian in
the United States is available to
provide care and physical custody.