Federal RuleAug 21
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DOL Rewrites Disability Rules for 'Merit-Based Opportunity' Push
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119-hr-10943119th Congress
Counsel for Kids Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3]
Introduced
Summary
Guarantees in-person, independent legal counsel for unaccompanied alien children in all immigration proceedings at no cost to the child. It also removes language that barred government-covered litigation costs, making room for government or other funding to pay for representation.
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- Unaccompanied children: UACs in Health and Human Services or Homeland Security custody must get in-person, independent lawyers in every immigration hearing and be protected from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.
- Health and Human Services: The Secretary must establish a third-party provider network to deliver that counsel and safeguard children while in custody.
- Legal funding and providers: The bill strikes "at no expense to the Government" from two Immigration and Nationality Act sections, removing an explicit statutory barrier to government-funded representation and clarifying that counsel can be paid without that restriction.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Free in-person lawyers for unaccompanied kids
If enacted, unaccompanied alien children who are or were in HHS or DHS custody would be provided in-person legal counsel by an independent third party in all immigration proceedings at no cost to the child. The bill would exclude children described in subsection (a)(2)(A). The Secretary of Health and Human Services would implement the counsel requirement through a third-party provider network. The Secretary would also be required to protect covered children from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.
Remove government cost limit for counsel
If enacted, the bill would strike wording in two Immigration and Nationality Act sections that says representation is provided “at no expense to the Government.” This would remove the express statutory cost limitation but would not itself require the Government to pay for representation or require individuals to pay. The change would allow future funding choices to cover representation and would create a statutory funding ambiguity.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3]
MI • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov