§ 3506 : IMPROVED RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGY FOR IMMIGRATION COURTS AND BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS

IMPROVED ON-BENCH REFERENCE MATERIALS AND DECISION TEMPLATES.—The Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review shall ensure that immigration judges are provided with updated reference materials and standard decision templates that conform to the law of the circuits in which they sit.

PRACTICE MANUAL.—The Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review shall produce a practice manual describing best practices for the immigration courts and shall make such manual available electronically to counsel and litigants who appear before the immigration courts.

RECORDING SYSTEM AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES.—

1.

PLAN REQUIRED.—The Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review shall provide the Attorney General with a plan and a schedule to replace the immigration courts’ tape recording system with a digital recording system that is compatible with the information management systems of the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

2.

AUDIO RECORDING SYSTEM.—Consistent with the plan described in paragraph (1), the Director shall pilot a digital audio recording system not later than 1 year after the enactment of this Act, and shall begin nationwide implementation of that system as soon as practicable.

IMPROVED TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES.—Not later than 1 year after the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review shall report to the Attorney General on the current transcription services utilized by the Office and recommend improvements to this system regarding quality and timeliness of transcription.

IMPROVED INTERPRETER SELECTION.—Not later than 1 year after the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review shall report to the Attorney General on the current interpreter selection process utilized by the Office and recommend improvements to this process regarding screening, hiring, certification, and evaluation of staff and contract interpreters.

FUNDING.—There shall be appropriated, from the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Trust Fund established under section 6(a)(1), such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.