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Title IV — Training improvements

H.R. 629 · 113th Congress · Feb 13, 2013 · Lineage

IV Training improvements

Sec. 401 Training

(a)
Training of immigration judges in the executive office of immigration review— Personnel of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the State Department who are in a position to come in contact with alien victims of crime shall be trained in identifying, making determinations regarding and providing for the protection of crime victims who have or may be eligible to apply for relief under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(51), 106, 240A(b)(2), 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 1999) or section 107(b)(1)(E)(i)(II)(bb) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 710). Trainings developed under this paragraph shall include information on the range of forms of immigration relief available to help immigrant crime victims and the requirements of VAWA confidentiality 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1367). Officials to receive ongoing training include but are not limited to—
(1)
Department of Justice—
(A)
immigration judges;
(B)
the Board of Immigration Appeals; and
(C)
officials responsible for investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating VAWA confidentiality violations of section 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1367);
(2)
Department of Homeland Security—
(A)
the Administrative Appeals Unit employees;
(B)
VAWA Unit employees;
(C)
officials responsible for investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating VAWA confidentiality violations of section 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1367);
(D)
personnel involved in immigration enforcement at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol;
(E)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement trial attorneys; and
(F)
all personnel involved in managing or supervising the VAWA Unit or ICE trial attorneys; and
(3)
Department of State—
(A)
consular officials; and
(B)
officials responsible for coordination of State Department efforts regarding application for relief under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(51), 106, 240A(b)(2), 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 1999) or section 107(b)(1)(E)(i)(II)(bb) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 710).
(b)
Any training program conducted in satisfaction of the requirement of paragraph (a) has been or will be developed with input from and in collaboration nonprofit, nongovernmental experts with experience working with immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking.
(c)
Within 180 days after the effective date of this act, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the Department of State shall in consultation with the Office of Policy and Strategy of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall establish program for ongoing training described in paragraph (a) and shall craft and implement policies and protocols on the appropriate handling of cases involving victims described in or who have filed cases under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(51), 106, 240A(b)(2), 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 1999) or section 107(b)(1)(E)(i)(II)(bb) of the Trafficking Victims 14 Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 710). All policies and procedures developed pursuant to this section shall be made publically available and posted on the DHS website.
(d)
Accredited representative-Victim client privilege—
(1)
Extending State victim-advocate privilege laws to accredited representatives— It is the Sense of Congress that all States should promulgate victim-advocate privilege laws and that State victim-advocate privilege laws should be implemented in a manner that extends victim-advocate privilege to accredited representatives working for community-based organizations recognized by the Board of Immigration Appeals in the representation of victims in cases filed with the Department of Homeland Security, the Board of Immigration Appeals or immigration judges.
(2)
Regulations amended to offer accredited representative privilege— Within 180 days of enactment, the Board of Immigration Appeals shall amend 8 C.F.R. 292.1(a)(4) to extend privilege co-extensive with attorney client privilege to accredited representatives and qualified recognized organizations to whom the Board of Immigration Appeals has provided recognition or accreditation.

Sec. 402 Services for Trafficking Victims

(a)
Access to victim’s services—
(1)
Subsection 107(c) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 is amended—
(A)
by deleting paragraph (2) and replacing it with the following new paragraph:

“(2) Access to information and services—Victims and potential victims of severe forms of trafficking shall have access to information about their legal rights and shall be provided translation services. A list of victim services agencies shall be provided within 24 hours of discovery of a potential victim. Potential victims shall not be placed in any local, State, or Federal jail or detention facility unless it has clearly been ascertained that an individual is not a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons.”

(B)
in paragraph (3) by deleting “Federal law enforcement officials” and inserting “Any Federal and local law enforcement agents authorized to investigate trafficking in persons crimes”.
(2)
Section 103 of the trafficking victims protection act of 2000 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(15) the term victim services means a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that assists trafficking victims, including trafficking, battered women and sexual assault crisis centers, trafficking and battered women’s shelters, and other trafficking, sexual assault or domestic violence programs, including nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations assisting trafficking victims through the legal process.”

(3)
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b)
Conforming amendments for public and assisted housing— Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a) is amended—
(1)
by amending subsection (a) to read as such subsection would have read if the amendments to such subsection made by section 3(b) of Public Law 106–504 were made to such subsection rather than to section 214(a) of the Housing Community Development Act of 1980;
(2)
in subsection (a), as amended by paragraph (1) of this subsection—
(A)
in paragraph (6), by striking “or” at the end;
(B)
by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8); and
(C)
by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph:

“(7) a qualified alien, as such term is defined in section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641); or”

(3)
in subsection (c)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “(6)” and inserting “(8)”; and
(B)
in paragraph (2)(A), in the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting “(other than a qualified alien, as such term is defined in section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641)” after “any alien”.
(c)
Improving Access to Benefits for Immigrant Victims—
(1)
In general— The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Secretary of Department of Agriculture and the and Secretary of the Department of Education, shall develop an information pamphlet, as described in paragraph (2), on legal rights for immigrant victims to access public benefits and distribute and make such pamphlet available as described in paragraph (5). In preparing such materials, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consult with nongovernmental organizations with expertise on the legal rights to public benefits access for immigrant victims of battery, extreme cruelty, sexual assault, and other crimes.
(2)
Information pamphlet— The information pamphlet developed under paragraph (1) shall include information on the following:
(A)
Definition of Qualified Immigrants eligible for Federal public benefits.
(B)
Housing rights of qualified immigrant.
(C)
Federal- and State-funded housing programs open to all immigrants including emergency shelter and transitional housing for up to two years.
(D)
Qualified immigrant access to post-secondary financial aid, grants and loans.
(E)
Qualified immigrant access to Federal means tested public benefits including access to—
(i)
Medicaid;
(ii)
Medicaid and SCHIP for qualified immigrant children and pregnant women;
(iii)
food stamps;
(iv)
food stamps for qualified immigrant children;
(v)
SSI;
(vi)
TANF;
(vii)
child care; and
(viii)
foster care/adoption assistance, child support services.
(F)
Legal rights of immigrants to access programs, resources and services that are—
(i)
necessary to protect life and safety;
(ii)
medical assistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act;
(iii)
short-term, non-cash, in-kind emergency disaster relief;
(iv)
public health assistance for immunizations and treatment for symptoms of communicable diseases;
(v)
programs for housing or community development assistance or financial assistance administered by the secretary of HUD;
(vi)
HHS HRSA funded health care programs; and
(vii)
State-funded benefits.
(G)
Resources through which victims can obtain referrals to programs in their community and/or State that provide advocacy, social services, legal services and other supportive services to immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, elder abuse or crime victims.
(3)
Translation— In order to best serve the language groups having the greatest concentration of immigrants seeking public benefits, the information pamphlet developed under paragraph (1) shall, subject to subparagraph (B), be translated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services into foreign languages that at a minimum include the top 15 languages of legal permanent residents and shall be responsible for reviewing these languages every 5 years and adding additional languages accordingly such other languages as the Secretary of State, in the Secretary’s discretion, may specify.
(4)
Availability and distribution— The information pamphlet developed under paragraph (1) shall be made available and distributed as follows:
(A)
The Federal agencies described in subparagraph (C) shall distribute the pamphlet developed under subparagraph (1) to all—
(i)
agency grantees;
(ii)
State agencies responsible for granting Federal public benefits; and
(iii)
public housing authorities.
(B)
Posting on Federal Websites— The pamphlet developed under paragraph (1) shall be accessibly posted on the Websites of each of the Federal Government agencies listed in subparagraph (C).
(C)
Responsible Federal agencies—
(i)
Department of Health and Human Services;
(ii)
Department of Agriculture;
(iii)
Department of Housing and Urban Development;
(iv)
Department of Education; and
(v)
Department of Homeland Security.
(5)
Deadline for pamphlet development and distribution— The pamphlet developed under paragraph (1) shall be distributed and made available (including in the languages specified under paragraph (4)) not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d)
Effective date— The amendments made by this section apply to applications for public benefits and public benefits provided on or after the date of the enactment of this Act without regard to whether regulations to carry out such amendments are implemented.

Sec. 403 Encouraging Custody determinations and VAWA Confidentiality protections in State courts

Subtitle J of title IV of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14043 et seq.) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (2) of section 41002, by inserting “(including under 8 U.S.C. 1367), U-visa certification under the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 214(p),” after “confidentiality”; and
(2)
in section 41003—
(A)
in paragraph (2)(B), by striking “and” after the semicolon;
(B)
in paragraph (C), by striking the period and inserting “; and”; and
(C)
by adding at the end the following:

“(3) Priority should given to applicants in which the grantee’s trainings and organizational policies, practices, procedures, and rules encourage judges issuing protection orders to include child custody provisions in the protection order when the parties before the court have a child in common.”

Sec. 404 Improving language access to services provided under the violence against women’s act of 1994 for persons with limited English proficiency

(a)
Goals—
(1)
To improve access to programs, activities, and services for victims of violence and other individuals who, as a result of national origin, are limited in their English proficiency.
(2)
To ensure that the programs, activities, and services for victims of violence that are normally provided in English are accessible to victims and other individuals with Limited English Proficiency and thus do not discriminate on the basis of national origin in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and its implementing regulations.
(3)
To confirm that violation of language access rights for Limited English Proficient individuals is a violation of the protections against discrimination based on national origin protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
(4)
To restore the right of Limited English Proficient individuals to a private right of action to enforce all Title VI protection including disparate impact protections.
(5)
To provide a statutory definition of “limited English proficient” that is consistent with the definition set forth by the DOJ LEP Guidance, 67 Fed. Reg. 41455, 41459 (June 18, 2002).
(b)
Definition— Limited English Proficient—
(1)
Limited English Proficient means individuals who—
(A)
who do not speak English as their primary language; and
(B)
who have a limited ability to
(i)
read;
(ii)
write;
(iii)
speak; or
(iv)
understand English.
(2)
If an individual described in subsection (A) meets any one of the requirements of subsections (B)(i), B(ii), B(iii), or B(iv) the individual is limited English proficient without regard to the fact that the individual may speak some English.
(c)
Enforcement with regard to government entities—
(1)
Civil Actions for Injunctive Relief—
(A)
Victims aggrieved; intervention by Attorney General; legal representation; commencement of action without payment of fees, costs, or security— Whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that a Federal, State or local government entity has denied a person access to programs, activities, or services on the basis of their limited English Proficiency and in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a civil action for preventive relief, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order, may be instituted by the person aggrieved and, upon timely application, the Attorney General may intervene in such civil action. Upon application by the complainant and in such circumstances as the court may deem just, the court may appoint an attorney for such complainant and may authorize the commencement of the civil action without the payment of fees, costs, or security.
(B)
Attorney’s fees; liability of United States for costs— In any action commenced pursuant to this subchapter, the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs, and the United States shall be liable for costs the same as a private person.
(C)
State or local enforcement proceedings; notification of State or local authority; stay of Federal proceedings— In the case of an alleged act or practice prohibited by this subchapter which occurs in a State, or political subdivision of a State, no civil action may be brought under subsection (a) of this section before the expiration of thirty days after written notice of such alleged act or practice has been given to the appropriate State or local authority by registered mail or in person, provided that the court may stay proceedings in such civil action pending the termination of State or local enforcement proceedings.
(D)
(i)
Civil rights act of 1964— Section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d) is amended—
(I)
by striking “No” and inserting “(a) No”; and
(II)
by adding at the end the following:

“(b)

“(1)

“(A) Discrimination (including exclusion from participation and denial of benefits) based on disparate impact is established under this title only if—

“(i) a person aggrieved by discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (referred to in this title as an aggrieved person) demonstrates that an entity subject to this title (referred to in this title as a covered entity) has a policy or practice that causes a disparate impact on the basis of race, color, or national origin and the covered entity fails to demonstrate that the challenged policy or practice is related to and necessary to achieve the nondiscriminatory goals of the program or activity alleged to have been operated in a discriminatory manner; or

“(ii) the aggrieved person demonstrates (consistent with the demonstration required under title VII with respect to an alternative employment practice) that a less discriminatory alternative policy or practice exists, and the covered entity refuses to adopt such alternative policy or practice.”

(2)
Civil Actions by the Attorney General—
(A)
Complaint— Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a Federal, State or local government entity or any employee or group of employees is engaged in a pattern or practice of denying access to programs, activities, or services provided to victims under the Violence Against Women’s Act of 1994 or under any other State or Federal law, on the basis of their limited English Proficiency and in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and that the pattern or practice is of such a nature and is intended to deny access to programs, activities, or services provided to victims on the basis of their limited English Proficiency and in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Attorney General may bring a civil action in the appropriate district court of the United States by filing with it a complaint—
(i)
signed by the Attorney General (or in the Attorney General’s absence the Acting Attorney General);
(ii)
setting forth facts pertaining to such pattern or practice; and
(iii)
requesting such relief, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order or other order against the person or persons responsible for such pattern or practice, as he deems necessary to insure the full availability of programs, activities, and services provided under the to limited English proficient victims.
(B)
In order to ensure full enforcement under this section, the provisions of this section do not limit the ability of the Attorney General to use existing authority to bring litigation and to enforce Title VI by any another other means available to him or her under the law.
(3)
Jurisdiction; three-judge district court for cases of general public importance: hearing, determination, expedition of action, review by Supreme Court; single judge district court: hearing, determination, expedition of action—
(A)
The district courts of the United States shall have and shall exercise jurisdiction in proceedings instituted pursuant to this section, and in any such proceeding the Attorney General may file with the clerk of such court a request that a court of three judges be convened to hear and determine the case. Such request by the Attorney General shall be accompanied by a certificate that, in his opinion, the case is of general public importance. A copy of the certificate and request for a three-judge court shall be immediately furnished by such clerk to the chief judge of the circuit (or in his absence, the presiding circuit judge of the circuit) in which the case is pending. Upon receipt of such request it shall be the duty of the chief judge of the circuit or the presiding circuit judge, as the case may be, to designate immediately three judges in such circuit, of whom at least one shall be a circuit judge and another of whom shall be a district judge of the court in which the proceeding was instituted, to hear and determine such case, and it shall be the duty of the judges so designated to assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable date, to participate in the hearing and determination thereof, and to cause the case to be in every way expedited. An appeal from the final judgment of such court will lie to the Supreme Court.
(B)
If no three-judge panel has been requested, the handling of the case shall be expedited. It shall be the duty of the chief judge of the district (or in his absence, the acting chief judge) in which the case is pending to immediately designate a judge in such district to hear and determine the case. In the event that no judge in the district is available to hear and determine the case, the chief judge of the district, or the acting chief judge, as the case may be, shall certify this fact to the chief judge of the circuit (or in his absence, the acting chief judge) who shall then designate a district or circuit judge of the circuit to hear and determine the case. It shall be the duty of the judge designated pursuant to this section to assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable date and to cause the case to be in every way expedited.
(d)
Enforcement with regard to governmental and non-Governmental entities—
(1)
Language access plans required—
(A)
all recipients of Federal grant funding shall provide a copy of the agency’s language access plan to the Federal agency that provided their grant no later than one year after receipt of funding; and
(B)
a copy of the agency's language access plan shall be submitted as an attachment along with the first grant report due to the Federal grant maker falling after the date of the six-month anniversary of the grant award.
(2)
Language access plan must address at a minimum the following:
(A)
The types of language services available.
(B)
How staff can obtain those services.
(C)
How to respond to LEP callers.
(D)
How to respond to written communications from LEP individuals.
(E)
How to respond to LEP individuals who have in-person contact with recipient staff.
(F)
How to ensure competency of interpreter and translation services.
(G)
How staff will receive training on the requirements of the policy.
(H)
How the agency provides outreach and notice of the language services available.
(I)
How to respond to complaints by LEP individuals.
(J)
How the plan will be monitored and updated.
(3)
Revocation of Funding—
(A)
Whenever the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reasonable cause to believe that any grant recipient is engaged in a pattern or practice of denying access to programs, activities, or services provided to victims on the basis of their limited English Proficiency and in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the DOJ or HHS shall require the grant recipient to prepare a plan demonstrating how it to improve access to its government-funded programs, activities, and services for victims with limited English Proficiency. Each plan shall include the steps the grant recipient will take to ensure that eligible limited English Proficiency persons can meaningfully access the grantee’s programs, activities, and services. If such a grantee fails to develop an acceptable plan with 120 days of the request, the DOJ or HHS may revoke that grantee’s funding.
(B)
The requirement provided by subsection (1) are in addition to the requirements set forth in 42 U.S.C. 2000d–1.
(4)
All recipients and subrecipients of Federal grants shall comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibiting race, color, and national origin discrimination including language access for limited English proficient persons and for persons without regard to their alienage status.
(e)
Nondiscrimination— All relief and assistance activities, including justice system assistance and immigration relief, offered to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, elder abuse and human trafficking shall be accomplished in an equitable and impartial manner, without discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, or, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency, alienage status, or economic status.
(f)
Interpreters for court proceedings under this section—
(1)
Civil actions— In any civil action brought pursuant to this section, the court shall be required to provide a foreign language interpreter.
(2)
Conforming amendments— The Court Interpreters Act of 1978, 28 U.S.C. 1827 is amended by adding at the end the following: “Interpreters shall be provided in court proceedings brought to enforce section 404 of the Violence Against Women Act of 2011 for civil actions brought by an individual or the United States.”.