Sec. 302. Establishment of Office of Victim Assistance
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Subtitle D of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended— in section 442— by striking bureau each place such term appears, except in subsection (a)(1), and inserting agency ; by striking the Bureau of Border Security each place such term appears and inserting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ; in the section heading, by striking and inserting Bureau of Border Security ; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in subsection (a)— in the heading, by striking ; and of Bureau in paragraph (1), by striking a bureau to be known as the and inserting Bureau of Border Security . an agency to be known as ;
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement . in paragraph (3)(C), by striking the Bureau of before Citizenship and Immigration Services and inserting U.S. ; and in paragraph (4), by striking the Bureau. and inserting the agency. ; and in subsection (b)(2)— in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking Bureau of Border Security and inserting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ; and in subparagraph (B), by striking the Bureau of before Citizenship and Immigration Services and inserting U.S. ; and in section 443(2), by striking such bureau and inserting such agency .
Section 442 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 252 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: There is established in Homeland Security Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the Office of Victim Assistance. The purpose of the Office of Victim Assistance shall be— to provide national oversight to ensure that all employees of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement comply with all applicable Federal laws and policies concerning victims’ rights, access to information, advisement of legal rights, just and fair treatment of victims, and respect for victims’ privacy and dignity; to oversee and support specially trained victim assistance personnel through guidance, training, travel, technical assistance, and equipment to support Homeland Security Investigations in domestic and international investigations with a potential or identified victim or witness.
The Office of Victim Assistance shall— fund and provide guidance, training, travel, technical assistance, equipment, emergency funding for urgent victim needs as identified, and coordination of victim assistance personnel throughout Homeland Security Investigations to provide potential and identified victims and witnesses with access to the rights and services to which they are entitled by law; provide training throughout the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on victim-related policies, issues, roles of victim assistance personnel, and the victim-centered approach in investigations; provide victim assistance specialists to assess victims’ needs, provide referrals for comprehensive assistance, and work with special agents to integrate victim assistance considerations throughout the investigation and judicial processes, as needed, by locating such specialists— where there is a human trafficking task force in which Homeland Security Investigations participates; where there is a task force targeting child sexual exploitation in which Homeland Security Investigations participates; and in each Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Office to address victims of other Federal crimes, such as telemarketing fraud, which Homeland Security Investigations investigates; provide forensic interview specialists in each Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Office to conduct victim-centered and legally sufficient fact finding forensic interviews, both domestically and internationally; provide case consultation, operational planning, coordination of services, and technical assistance and training to special agents regarding all issues related to victims and witnesses of all ages; establish victim-related policies for Homeland Security Investigations, including policies related to human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, and other Federal crimes investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; and collaborate with other Federal, State, local, and tribal governmental, nongovernmental, and nonprofit entities regarding policy, outreach, and training activities.
The Office of Victim Assistance shall collect and maintain data in a manner that protects the confidentiality of the data and omits personally identifying information and subject to other Federal laws regarding victim confidentiality, including— the sex and race of the victim; each alleged crime that the victim was subjected to, and in the case of human trafficking, each purpose for which the victim was trafficked, such as commercial sex or forced labor; and whether the victim was an adult or a minor child.
The Office of Victim Assistance shall make the data collected and maintained under paragraph
(4)available to the committees of Congress set forth in section 105(d)(7) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ( 22 U.S.C. 7103(d)(7) ). . Section 105(d)(7) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ( 22 U.S.C. 7103(d)(7) ) is amended— in subparagraph (Q)(vii), by striking and at the end; in subparagraph (R), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and by adding at the end the following: the data collected by Homeland Security Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under section 442(d)(4) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. . The Director of the Office for Victims of Crime of the Department of Justice may transfer amounts described in subparagraph
(C)of section 1402(d)(3) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 ( 42 U.S.C. 10601(d)(3) ), as added by section 305 of this Act, to the Office of Victim Assistance of the Department of Homeland Security for the costs for providing direct victim assistance services, including victim assistance specialists and forensic interview specialists, by the Office of Victim Assistance.
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