S.Amdt. 42

This amendment, submitted by Mr. Marshall to the bill S. 5, aims to add protections and resources for victims of crimes committed by certain individuals, specifically focusing on compensation programs and the establishment of a dedicated office within the Department of Homeland Security.

Here is what the amendment changes and adds to the bill:

• Grants for Angel Families: It updates the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to allow state-operated compensation programs to offer financial support to angel families. This includes help with medical and mental health care expenses, loss of wages due to emotional distress, and funeral expenses. The text defines an angel family as immediate family members of someone who was a victim of homicide committed by an unlawfully present alien or a member of an international criminal organization involved in unlawful drug trafficking, such as an international drug cartel.

• Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office: It adds a new office to the Homeland Security Act of 2002. This office is required to provide services to victims of crimes committed by aliens who are inadmissible, deportable, or unlawfully present in the United States, as well as to their family members.

• Office Duties and Hotline: The newly established office must create a hotline to help victims and their families understand the immigration enforcement and removal process, connect with support services, register for automated custody status information, and receive releasable criminal or immigration history about the criminal alien.

• Case Study and Annual Reporting: The director of the new office must conduct a case study on providing services to these victims and submit an annual report to Congress. This report must include a summary of the case study along with details on victim and criminal alien demographics, crime locations, types of crimes committed, and whether the criminal aliens have committed multiple crimes.