Sec. 203. Legal Services and Immigration Assistance grant program
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The Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, in consultation with the Director of the National Office of New Americans, shall award legal services and immigration assistance grants to eligible entities. An entity eligible to receive a grant under this section is a State or unit of local government, a Tribal government, a private organization, a community-based organization, or a nonprofit organization that— provides authorized direct legal assistance to immigrants; in the case of an entity that has previously been awarded a grant under this section, uses matching funds from non-Federal sources, which may include in-kind contributions, equal to 25 percent of the amount received under this section; provides immigration education, outreach, and quality paralegal services to immigrants, in coordination with immigration attorneys or representatives accredited by the Recognition and Accreditation Program of the Executive Office for Immigration Review; and submits to the Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may reasonably require.
Funds awarded under this section shall be used to provide to eligible immigrants legal assistance relating to the immigration status of such immigrants, or related services, which may include— outreach and education to identify and support immigrants in need of legal services; liaison services to connect immigrants with trusted legal service providers, social service organizations, and government representatives; screening to assess the eligibility of an immigrant for any status under the immigration laws; completing applications for immigration benefits; translation and interpretation services; gathering documents, including documents relating to proof of identification, employment, residence, family relationships, and tax payment; completing applications for any waiver under the immigration laws for which an eligible immigrant and qualifying family members may be eligible; and with respect to applications relating to United States citizenship, assistance with application preparation and the naturalization process, including preparation for the English and civics exams.
An immigrant shall be eligible to receive the assistance described in paragraph
(1)if the immigrant is seeking— to become a lawful permanent resident or naturalized citizen of the United States; to establish that he or she has derived or acquired United States citizenship; or relief from removal and authorization to remain lawfully in the United States. As a condition of receiving a grant under this section, a participating entity shall— submit to the Attorney General a certification that the proposed uses of grant funds by the entity— are consistent with this section; and meet the criteria determined by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of the National Office of New Americans; and make a reasonable effort to estimate the number of immigrants who live in the service area. Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year for which an entity receives grant funds under this section, the entity shall submit to the Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review the following: A report that describes— each activity carried out by the entity funded entirely or partially by the grant funds; the service area; the estimate made under subsection (d)(2); the number of immigrants who received legal assistance funded entirely or partially by the grant funds; a disaggregation of the costs of each service provided using the grant funds and the average per capita cost of providing the service; and the primary languages spoken in the service area. An evaluation of any program of the entity for which grant funds were used, including— an assessment of the effectiveness of the program; recommendations for improving the program; an assessment of whether the legal services needs of the service area have been met; and in the case of an assessment under subparagraph
(C)that such needs have not been met, a description of the additional assistance required to meet such needs. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000 for fiscal years 2022 through 2023. In this section: The term service area means the jurisdiction or geographical area in which an entity carries out activities using funds awarded under this section. The term State means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.