Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act”.
Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act
A BILL
To amend section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Attorney General to appoint counsel for unaccompanied alien children and aliens with serious mental disabilities, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Appointment of counsel in certain cases
Appointment of counsel for unaccompanied alien children and aliens with a serious mental disability— Section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362) is amended—
by inserting “(a)” before “In any”;
by striking “(at no expense to the Government)”;
by striking “he shall” and inserting “the person shall”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), the Government is not required to provide counsel to aliens under subsection (a).
“(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Attorney General shall appoint counsel, at the expense of the Government if necessary (to the extent provided in appropriations Acts), to represent an alien in a removal proceeding who—
“(1) has been determined by the Secretary to be an unaccompanied alien child (as defined in section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))); or
“(2) is incompetent to represent himself or herself due to a serious mental disability that would be included in section 3(1) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102(1)).”
Funding— There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the amendments made by this section.