II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 772 To clarify responsibilities related to unaccompanied alien children, to provide additional protections and tracking mechanisms for such children, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 16, 2021 Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. LANKFORD, and Mr. CAR- PER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To clarify responsibilities related to unaccompanied alien chil- dren, to provide additional protections and tracking mechanisms for such children, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsibility for Un- 4 accompanied Minors Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) The Department of Health and Human 8 Services, under Federal law as in effect on the date 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 772 IS of the enactment of this Act, is responsible for the 1 care of each unaccompanied alien child in the United 2 States, including any such child placed with a spon- 3 sor, until the earlier of— 4 (A) the date on which the immigration pro- 5 ceedings of the child are concluded; or 6 (B) the date on which the child attains 18 7 years of age. 8 (2) Follow-up services provided to certain unac- 9 companied alien children released to sponsors under 10 section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking 11 Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 12 U.S.C. 1232) are valuable to help ensure child safe- 13 ty, integration, and appearance at immigration court 14 proceedings. 15 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OF- 16 FICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT. 17 Section 462(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 18 (6 U.S.C. 279(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(5) CLARIFICATION OF PERIOD OF CARE.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to the obli- 22 gation established under section 235(b)(1) of 23 the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 24 Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 772 IS U.S.C. 1232(b)(1)), the Director of the Office 1 of Refugee Resettlement is authorized to care 2 for and provide follow-up services to an unac- 3 companied alien child, including any such child 4 placed with a sponsor, from the time the child 5 is identified as an unaccompanied alien child 6 until the earlier of— 7 ‘‘(i) the date on which the immigra- 8 tion proceedings of such child are con- 9 cluded; or 10 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the child at- 11 tains 18 years of age. 12 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 13 in this paragraph limits the authority of a State 14 or local welfare or emergency services provider 15 to address an allegation of abuse or neglect or 16 an emergency situation. 17 ‘‘(6) FOLLOW-UP SERVICES.—Before placing an 18 unaccompanied alien child with a sponsor, the Direc- 19 tor of the Office of Refugee Resettlement shall 20 evaluate, to the extent possible, the need for such 21 child to receive follow-up services once such child is 22 placed with a sponsor.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 772 IS SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH 1 AND HUMAN SERVICES. 2 (a) SPONSOR CARE AGREEMENT; FOLLOW-UP SERV- 3 ICES.—Section 235(c)(3) of the William Wilberforce Traf- 4 ficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 5 U.S.C. 1232(c)(3)) is amended— 6 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘custodian’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘sponsor’’; and 9 (B) by striking ‘‘custodian’s’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘sponsor’s’’; 11 (2) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end 12 the following: ‘‘Neither an unaccompanied alien child 13 nor any sponsor of such child may refuse the follow- 14 up services required or authorized under the pre- 15 ceding sentence.’’; 16 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 17 paragraph (E); and 18 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 19 lowing: 20 ‘‘(C) SPONSOR CARE AGREEMENT.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Before the Sec- 22 retary of Health and Human Services 23 places an unaccompanied alien child with a 24 sponsor, the proposed sponsor shall execute 25 a sponsor care agreement. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 772 IS ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A sponsor 2 care agreement required under clause 3 (i) shall include an agreement by the 4 sponsor— 5 ‘‘(aa) to provide for the 6 physical and mental well-being of 7 such child, including providing 8 food, shelter, clothing, education, 9 medical care, and other services, 10 as needed; 11 ‘‘(bb) to ensure the child’s 12 presence at all future immigra- 13 tion proceedings related to such 14 child; 15 ‘‘(cc) to notify local law en- 16 forcement or the appropriate 17 State or local child protective 18 services agency if such child has 19 been, or is, at risk of being phys- 20 ically, mentally, or sexually 21 abused, abandoned, neglected, 22 threatened, or kidnapped; 23 ‘‘(dd) to notify the Secretary 24 of Health and Human Services if 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 772 IS the sponsorship status of such 1 child has changed for any reason, 2 including a change of custodian 3 or sponsor, kidnapping, or flight; 4 ‘‘(ee) to accept any follow-up 5 services authorized or required 6 under subparagraph (B); 7 ‘‘(ff) to comply with, and en- 8 sure the compliance of, such child 9 with all lawful orders of a court 10 of the United States or Federal 11 agency with jurisdiction related 12 to the child; and 13 ‘‘(gg) to notify the Secretary 14 of Health and Human Services, 15 the Director of U.S. Citizenship 16 and Immigration Services, and 17 the Director of the Executive Of- 18 fice for Immigration Review of 19 the current mailing address of 20 such child if such address 21 changes. 22 ‘‘(II) OTHER MATTERS.—A spon- 23 sor care agreement required under 24 clause (i) may include such other mat- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 772 IS ters as the Secretary of Health and 1 Human Services considers appro- 2 priate. 3 ‘‘(D) TERMINATION OF SPONSOR.— 4 ‘‘(i) NONPARENTAL SPONSORS.— 5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 6 provided in subclause (II), with re- 7 spect to an unaccompanied alien child 8 released to a sponsor who is not the 9 parent or legal guardian of such child, 10 the Secretary of Health and Human 11 Services shall terminate the sponsor- 12 ship arrangement and assume phys- 13 ical custody of such child if such 14 sponsor fails to comply with the provi- 15 sions of the sponsor care agreement 16 required under subparagraph (C). 17 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTIONS.—The Sec- 18 retary of Health and Human Services 19 shall not terminate a sponsorship ar- 20 rangement under subclause (I)— 21 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a minor 22 violation of subparagraph 23 (C)(ii)(I)(gg) that the sponsor 24 timely remedies; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 772 IS ‘‘(bb) if the Secretary finds 1 that terminating the sponsorship 2 arrangement would not be in the 3 best interest of the child. 4 ‘‘(III) DUTIES OF THE SEC- 5 RETARY.—In the case of a termi- 6 nation of a sponsorship arrangement 7 under subclause (I), the Secretary of 8 Health and Human Services shall— 9 ‘‘(aa) place the unaccom- 10 panied alien child with a new 11 sponsor or in another placement 12 that is in the best interest of the 13 child; and 14 ‘‘(bb) on the date on which 15 a sponsorship arrangement is ter- 16 minated, provide to the individual 17 the sponsorship of whom is ter- 18 minated a written notification 19 and justification of the decision 20 to terminate the sponsorship, and 21 information relating to the ap- 22 peals process under subclause 23 (IV). 24 ‘‘(IV) APPEALS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 772 IS ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 1 Secretary of Health and Human 2 Services shall establish a process 3 by which an individual the spon- 4 sorship of whom is terminated 5 under subclause (I) may appeal 6 the termination. 7 ‘‘(bb) NO JUDICIAL RE- 8 VIEW.—An appeal under item 9 (aa) shall not be subject to judi- 10 cial review. 11 ‘‘(V) RIGHT TO REAPPLY FOR 12 SPONSORSHIP.—An individual the 13 sponsorship of whom is terminated 14 under clause (i)(I) may reapply to 15 serve as a sponsor after the date on 16 which the individual has remedied the 17 one or more conditions on which the 18 termination was based. 19 ‘‘(ii) PARENTAL SPONSORS.—With re- 20 spect to an unaccompanied alien child re- 21 leased to a sponsor who is the parent or 22 legal guardian of such child, in the case of 23 the failure by the sponsor to comply with 24 the provisions of the sponsor care agree- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 772 IS ment required under subparagraph (C), 1 the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 2 ices shall notify the State agency respon- 3 sible for administering the State plans 4 under parts B and E of title IV of the So- 5 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 6 670 et seq.). 7 ‘‘(iii) REPORTING.— 8 ‘‘(I) DEFINITION OF APPRO- 9 PRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 10 In this clause, the term ‘appropriate 11 committees of Congress’ means— 12 ‘‘(aa) the Committee on 13 Homeland Security and Govern- 14 mental Affairs, the Committee on 15 the Judiciary, and the Committee 16 on Health, Education, Labor, 17 and Pensions of the Senate; and 18 ‘‘(bb) the Committee on 19 Homeland Security, the Com- 20 mittee on the Judiciary, and the 21 Committee on Energy and Com- 22 merce of the House of Represent- 23 atives. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 772 IS ‘‘(II) QUARTERLY REPORT.—Not 1 later than 90 days after the date of 2 the enactment of the Responsibility 3 for Unaccompanied Minors Act, and 4 quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of 5 Health and Human Services shall sub- 6 mit to the appropriate committees of 7 Congress a report that includes, for 8 the preceding quarter— 9 ‘‘(aa) a description of each 10 instance in which a sponsor failed 11 to comply with a provision of the 12 sponsor care agreement under 13 subparagraph (C)(ii) and the ac- 14 tion taken under clause (i) or 15 (ii), including— 16 ‘‘(AA) with respect to a 17 sponsor who is not a parent 18 or legal guardian of the 19 child, whether the sponsor- 20 ship arrangement was termi- 21 nated, an analysis whether 22 termination is contrary to 23 the best interests of the 24 child, and whether the indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 772 IS vidual the sponsorship of 1 whom was terminated filed 2 an appeal under clause 3 (i)(IV); and 4 ‘‘(BB) with respect to a 5 sponsor who is a parent or 6 legal guardian of the child, 7 whether the Secretary of 8 Health and Human Services 9 notified the State agency re- 10 sponsible for administering 11 the State plans under parts 12 B and E of title IV of the 13 Social Security Act (42 14 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 670 et 15 seq.); and 16 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a deter- 17 mination by the Secretary of 18 Health and Human Services that 19 a sponsor is not in compliance 20 with a provision of the sponsor 21 care agreement but termination 22 of sponsorship is not in the best 23 interest of the child, an expla- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 772 IS nation of the reasons for such de- 1 termination.’’. 2 (b) NOTIFICATIONS.—Section 235 of the William 3 Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthoriza- 4 tion Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub- 6 section (j) and moving such subsection so that it ap- 7 pears immediately after subsection (i); and 8 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(h) NOTIFICATIONS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before releasing any unac- 12 companied alien child to a sponsor, the Secretary of 13 Health and Human Services shall submit to the 14 State agency responsible for administering the State 15 plans under parts B and E of title IV of the Social 16 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 670 et seq.)— 17 ‘‘(A) written notification of the specific lo- 18 cation at which the unaccompanied alien child 19 will reside while in such jurisdiction; and 20 ‘‘(B) written certification that— 21 ‘‘(i) the unaccompanied alien child will 22 have undergone appropriate health 23 screenings and received appropriate vac- 24 cinations; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S772.IS S772 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 772 IS ‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Health and 1 Human Services has completed background 2 checks under section 5(a)(3) of the Re- 3 sponsibility for Unaccompanied Minors Act 4 with respect to each individual who will be 5 a sponsor of an unaccompanied alien child 6 to be placed in the State and has deter- 7 mined that the individual does not present 8 a risk to the unaccompanied alien child. 9 ‘‘(2) EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE.—Any person- 10 ally identifiable information submitted under para- 11 graph (1)— 12 ‘‘(A) shall be exempt from disclosure under 13 section 552(b)(6) of title 5, United States Code; 14 and 15 ‘‘(B) may not be disclosed by the recipient 16 State agency (directly or indirectly) to any non- 17 governmental entity. 18 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 19 is to facilitate cooperation between the Federal Gov- 20 ernment and the States t [Text truncated for display. 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