Describes provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA) and Child Status Protection Act of 2002 (CSPA). In response to concerns over the plight of alien children, the Acts provide an approach to addressing the needs of alien children as children first and as aliens second. The HSA picks up provisions of the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2001 and transfers the care, custody, and placement of unaccompanied alien children from the immigration agency to the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The CSPA improves children’s access to immigration benefits and protections. Court decisions on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) also bolster the policy on the treatment of alien children. (IP)
