Freedom for Families Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1517 To prohibit the use of funds for the operation or construction of family detention centers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. WYDEN) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To prohibit the use of funds for the operation or construction of family detention centers, 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 ‘‘Freedom for Families 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) The Federal Government has intentionally 8 separated and detained families seeking asylum in 9 the United States purportedly to deter other foreign 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1517 IS nationals from coming to the United States in the 1 future. Such method of deterrence is ineffective, con- 2 trary to human rights norms, and likely violates 3 United States and international law. 4 (2) On September 7, 2018, the Secretary of 5 Homeland Security issued a proposed rule entitled 6 ‘‘Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of 7 Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children’’ 8 (83 Fed. Reg. 45486 (September 7, 2018)) that at- 9 tempted to circumvent a 1997 court agreement com- 10 monly known as the ‘‘Flores Settlement Agreement’’ 11 to undermine current legal protections for children 12 and families and increase family detention. 13 (3) Detaining families in family residential cen- 14 ters can have long-term consequences on children, 15 such as— 16 (A) difficulty regulating emotions, achiev- 17 ing developmental milestones, and forming 18 healthy relationships; 19 (B) increased rates of anxiety, depression, 20 and post-traumatic stress disorder; and 21 (C) heightened risks of suicide and self- 22 harm. 23 (4) When family units are placed in family de- 24 tention facilities— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1517 IS (A) family members experience feelings of 1 isolation and increased stress; 2 (B) the ability of the parents to care for 3 their children is compromised by the constraints 4 of detention; and 5 (C) the detention setting creates barriers 6 to— 7 (i) accessing counsel and legal serv- 8 ices; and 9 (ii) successfully obtaining relief from 10 removal. 11 (5) Nondetention-based practices, such as fam- 12 ily case management and community-based pro- 13 grams, are effective and humane alternatives to fam- 14 ily detention. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 18 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 19 gress’’ means— 20 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 21 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1517 IS (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 1 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 2 of Representatives. 3 (2) DETAIN.—With respect to an individual, the 4 term ‘‘detain’’ means to compel an individual to stay 5 in a location from which the individual cannot leave 6 on his or her own free will. 7 (3) FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CENTER.—The term 8 ‘‘family residential center’’ means a facility that de- 9 tains 1 or more noncitizen families and that is di- 10 rectly operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs 11 Enforcement or by a governmental or nongovern- 12 mental contractor for U.S. Immigration and Cus- 13 toms Enforcement. 14 (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 15 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 16 of the United States. 17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 19 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR FAMILY DE- 20 TENTION CENTERS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 22 sion of law, none of the amounts made available after the 23 date of the enactment of this Act for any fiscal year may 24 be obligated or expended to operate or construct a family 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1517 IS residential center, whether directly operated by U.S. Im- 1 migration and Customs Enforcement or by another gov- 2 ernmental or nongovernmental contractor. 3 (b) PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 5 is 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 6 Act, none of the amounts made available before such 7 date of enactment for the purpose of operating or 8 constructing a family residential center may be used 9 for such purpose. 10 (2) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—None of the 11 amounts made available before the date of the enact- 12 ment of this Act may be reprogrammed or trans- 13 ferred for the purpose of operating or constructing 14 a family residential center. 15 (c) ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION.— 16 (1) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Amounts obligated 17 to operate a family residential center as of the date 18 of the enactment of this Act shall be transferred for 19 the implementation and development of appropriate 20 community-based nondetention programs consistent 21 with international best practices for noncitizen fami- 22 lies. 23 (2) NONPROFIT ENTITY CONTRACTING PART- 24 NER.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1517 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 1 contract with 1 or more community-based quali- 2 fied nonprofit service providers that have the 3 trust of their communities for the operation of 4 appropriate community-based nondetention pro- 5 grams. 6 (B) LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUALS WHO 7 MAY SERVE AS DESIGNEES.—The Secretary 8 may only designate the responsibility under 9 subparagraph (A) to an individual employed by 10 the Office of the Secretary. 11 (3) PARTICIPATION.—A noncitizen family enter- 12 ing the United States that is apprehended by the 13 Secretary may be placed in a nondetention program 14 under this subsection if the Secretary makes an indi- 15 vidualized determination that participation in the 16 program will facilitate the family’s compliance with 17 the immigration laws (as defined in section 101(a) 18 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 19 1101(a))). 20 (4) LEGAL ORIENTATION.—To facilitate partici- 21 pant compliance with legal requirements, a non- 22 detention program under this subsection shall in- 23 clude— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1517 IS (A) a legal orientation for each participant 1 in the program; and 2 (B) meaningful access to counsel. 3 (5) CASE MANAGEMENT TRAINING.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 5 provide case management training for all per- 6 sonnel of a nondetention program under this 7 subsection, including personnel of— 8 (i) the Department of Homeland Se- 9 curity; and 10 (ii) the nonprofit entity contracted 11 under paragraph (2). 12 (B) BEST PRACTICES.—The training under 13 subparagraph (A) shall— 14 (i) be based on international and so- 15 cial welfare best practices relating to immi- 16 gration and refugee case management; and 17 (ii) include consultation with civil soci- 18 ety experts with expertise in case manage- 19 ment. 20 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 21 may be construed to endorse the separation of noncitizen 22 families who enter the United States at or between ports 23 of entry. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1517 IS SEC. 5. FEASIBILITY REVIEW OF TRANSFERRING ALTER- 1 NATIVES TO DETENTION PROGRAM. 2 The Secretary shall review the feasibility of transfer- 3 ring case management programs out of the purview of 4 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the De- 5 partment of Homeland Security. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS