Migrant Facility Transparency Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3174 To increase transparency and accountability with respect to establishing and operating temporary influx facilities of the Department of Health and Human Services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. PFLUGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To increase transparency and accountability with respect to establishing and operating temporary influx facilities of the Department of Health and Human Services, 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 ‘‘Migrant Facility 4 Transparency Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY RESPECTING TEMPORARY INFLUX 6 FACILITIES. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW FACILITIES.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3174 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 1 Human Services— 2 (A) before selecting any site for use as a 3 temporary influx facility of the Department of 4 Health and Human Services, shall— 5 (i) not fewer than 7 days before final- 6 izing such selection, give notice under 7 paragraph (2) of the proposed selection to 8 the relevant Federal, State, and local offi- 9 cials; and 10 (ii) coordinate with such officials to 11 evaluate the proposed selection; and 12 (B) if within 3 business days of receipt of 13 a notice under paragraph (2) the chief executive 14 official of the municipality or county that in- 15 cludes the location of the proposed temporary 16 influx facility transmits a notice to the Sec- 17 retary opposing the proposed location, shall not 18 select such location. 19 (2) NOTICE.—A notice under this paragraph 20 shall be in writing and include each of the following: 21 (A) An assurance of advanced notification 22 of the siting decision. 23 (B) The proposed scope of operations of 24 the temporary influx facility and any proposed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3174 IH or anticipated deviation from the existing poli- 1 cies of the Office of Refugee Resettlement for 2 children entering the United States. 3 (C) A strategy for termination of oper- 4 ations of the proposed temporary influx facility. 5 (D) The date by which such operations are 6 planned to terminate. 7 (E) A strategy to report to the relevant 8 Federal, State, and local officials on a daily 9 basis— 10 (i) the number of migrants at the 11 temporary influx facility; 12 (ii) the number of migrants processed 13 in and out of the facility since the previous 14 report; 15 (iii) the ratio of supervising adults to 16 children at the facility; and 17 (iv) updates on health, security, and 18 other issues at or related to the facility. 19 (b) SCOPE OF OPERATIONS.—The Secretary of 20 Health and Human Services shall immediately notify the 21 relevant Federal, State, and local officials— 22 (1) at least 7 calendar days before making any 23 change in— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3174 IH (A) the scope of operations of a temporary 1 influx facility; 2 (B) the strategy for termination of oper- 3 ations of such a facility; or 4 (C) the date by which operations at such 5 a facility are planned to terminate; and 6 (2) upon the occurrence of any major security 7 or safety incident at such a facility. 8 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 (1) The term ‘‘relevant Federal, State, and 10 local officials’’ means, with respect to the location, 11 or proposed location, of a temporary influx facility, 12 the following officials: 13 (A) The Governor of the State. 14 (B) The Attorney General of the State. 15 (C) Judges of the county. 16 (D) The mayor of any municipality that 17 includes such location. 18 (E) The chief prosecuting attorney for the 19 jurisdiction. 20 (F) Local law enforcement officials. 21 (G) Local health officials. 22 (H) Federal and State legislators elected 23 to represent the State or district including such 24 location. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3174 IH (2) The term ‘‘temporary influx facility’’ in- 1 cludes any emergency intake site or influx care cen- 2 ter of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 3 SEC. 3. REPORT. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days after the 5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 6 Human Services shall submit to the appropriate congres- 7 sional committees a report on all temporary influx facili- 8 ties of the Department of Health and Human Services. 9 (b) CONTENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 10 shall— 11 (1) address internal and external protocols, re- 12 quirements, and training (including cooperation with 13 local law enforcement) for serious crimes alleged or 14 found to have been committed at a temporary influx 15 facility, including sexual misconduct, sexual abuse, 16 and sexual assault; and 17 (2) include recommendations to ensure the safe- 18 ty of all visitors, staff, and migrants at a temporary 19 influx facility. 20 (c) FAILURE TO SUBMIT REPORT.—If the Secretary 21 of Health and Human Services fails to submit the report 22 required by subsection (a) by the deadline referred to in 23 such subsection, the Secretary shall immediately pause all 24 intake processing activities at all temporary influx facili- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3174 IH ties of the Department of Health and Human Services 1 until such time as the report is submitted. 2 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section: 3 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 4 mittees’’ includes— 5 (A) the Committees on Energy and Com- 6 merce and Homeland Security of the House of 7 Representatives; and 8 (B) the Committees on Homeland Security 9 and Governmental Affairs and Judiciary of the 10 Senate. 11 (2) The term ‘‘temporary influx facility’’ has 12 the meaning given to such term in section 2. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS