S. 1297: Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2025

119th Congress · introduced 2025-04-03 · Immigration · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

federal

What does this mean?

Official title

Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2025

Plain summary

Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2025 This bill provides legal protections for a non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) who is detained or subject to immigration-related proceedings. The Department of Justice (DOJ), or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a case involving an unaccompanied child, may appoint or provide counsel at the government's expense to non-U.S. nationals in removal proceedings and related appeals. An unaccompanied child must be represented by counsel paid for and appointed by the government at every stage of such proceedings unless the child has obtained counsel at their own expense. If HHS fails to provide counsel to an unaccompanied child, the child's deadline for filing a motion to reopen a removal proceeding shall not apply, and the filing of such a motion shall stay the child's removal from the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must provide a complete copy of a non-U.S. national's immigration file to the non-U.S. national (or the non-U.S. national's counsel) within seven days of a notice to appear for an immigration proceeding, and failure to provide the file shall result in a delay in the proceeding. DHS must provide access to counsel for all detained non-U.S. nationals. The Office of Refugee Resettlement must develop model guidelines for representing non-U.S. national children in immigration proceedings. HHS must annually report on the extent to which it has provided counsel for unaccompanied children under this bill.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2025

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] · 28 cosponsors

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Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-119s1297.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/s>

Record fed-us-cong119-s1297 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong119 · updated 2026-11-03 by psicol fed-bills