# Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2025

This bill makes changes to how immigration courts handle cases involving children. Right now, when young people face immigration proceedings—whether they're unaccompanied minors or children in families—they often don't have lawyers to represent them. This bill aims to ensure that children have access to legal representation and that their cases are handled fairly and with proper protections.

The main focus is on giving children better access to attorneys or qualified representatives who can help them navigate the immigration court system. Currently, many children appear in court without any legal help, which puts them at a serious disadvantage when trying to explain their situation to a judge. The bill also likely includes protections to make sure children's cases move through the courts in a timely manner and that judges consider the special circumstances of being a minor—like vulnerability, trauma, or inability to understand complex legal processes on their own.

This would affect immigrant children in the United States who are facing deportation or other immigration consequences. It could also impact families with children, immigration attorneys, and the immigration court system itself, which would need resources to implement these protections. For families worried about a child's immigration case, this bill would mean better access to legal help and more careful consideration of their child's age and circumstances during court proceedings.

Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2025

Hirono, Mazie K.

Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2025This 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&nbsp;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.&nbsp;