Families, Not Facilities Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 388 To reduce the ability of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to engage in inappropriate civil immigration enforcement actions that harm unaccompanied alien children and to ensure the safety and welfare of unaccompanied alien children. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MERKLEY, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reduce the ability of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to engage in inappropriate civil immigration enforcement actions that harm unaccompanied alien chil- dren and to ensure the safety and welfare of unaccom- panied alien children. 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 ‘‘Families, Not Facili- 4 ties Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 388 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) On May 13, 2018, a Memorandum of 3 Agreement between U.S. Immigration and Customs 4 Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol of 5 the Department of Homeland Security, and the Of- 6 fice of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of 7 Health and Human Services went into effect to 8 allow for intergovernmental sharing of personal in- 9 formation about unaccompanied alien children, their 10 prospective sponsors, and adult members of sponsor 11 households. 12 (2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 13 ment is using information obtained under the Memo- 14 randum of Agreement to conduct civil immigration 15 enforcement actions against individuals residing in 16 the homes of prospective sponsors of unaccompanied 17 alien children. 18 (3) These civil immigration enforcement actions 19 have discouraged prospective sponsors of unaccom- 20 panied alien children, including family members, 21 from coming forward to resettle children in the com- 22 munity as they pursue lawful claims for humani- 23 tarian protection. 24 (4) As a result of the lack of qualified sponsors, 25 unprecedented numbers of unaccompanied alien chil- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 388 IS dren (approximately 14,600 in December 2018) are 1 being held in shelters overseen by the Office of Ref- 2 ugee Resettlement as of the date of enactment of 3 this Act. 4 (5) The Office of Refugee Resettlement is 5 struggling to accommodate the growing number of 6 unaccompanied alien children in its shelter network, 7 resorting to placing children in temporary ‘‘emer- 8 gency influx’’ shelters. The Office contracted with 9 BCFS to care for more than 6,200 children between 10 June 2018 and January 2019 in a temporary shelter 11 at the Tornillo-Guadalupe Land Port of Entry in 12 Texas, a facility that the New York Times and other 13 media sources described as a ‘‘tent city’’, and an- 14 nounced plans in January 2019 to nearly double the 15 number of children held in a previously closed tem- 16 porary shelter in Homestead, Florida. 17 (6) Temporary shelters are inappropriate loca- 18 tions to hold unaccompanied alien children because 19 such shelters— 20 (A) have reduced standards of care, includ- 21 ing insufficient educational services; 22 (B) offer limited access to clinical and 23 legal services; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 388 IS (C) are not cost-effective, resulting in the 1 expenditure of more than $750 per day in tax- 2 payer funds for each child housed in Tornillo 3 shelter, for example. 4 (7) Facilities operated under a contract with 5 the Office of Refugee Resettlement have faced unac- 6 ceptable allegations of abuse and neglect of unac- 7 companied alien children that merit additional inves- 8 tigation and oversight. 9 (8) The Office of Refugee Resettlement is le- 10 gally required to place children in the least restric- 11 tive setting that is in the best interest of the child. 12 (9) Services offered at facilities funded by the 13 Office of Refugee Resettlement are required to in- 14 clude classroom education, mental and medical 15 health services, case management, socialization and 16 recreation activities, and family reunification serv- 17 ices that facilitate the safe and timely release of un- 18 accompanied alien children to family members or 19 other sponsors that can care for them. 20 (10) Providing legal and case management serv- 21 ices to all children while they are housed in a facility 22 funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and 23 after their release from such a facility is a cost-effec- 24 tive and humane way of ensuring that the Office of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 388 IS Refugee Resettlement meets its statutory obligation 1 to place children in least restrictive settings. 2 SEC. 3. USE OF SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235(c)(3) of the William 4 Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthoriza- 5 tion Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232(c)(3)) is amended— 6 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘In mak- 7 ing such a determination, the Secretary may not 8 consider the immigration status of the proposed cus- 9 todian.’’ after ‘‘well-being.’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITING USE OF CERTAIN IN- 12 FORMATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se- 13 curity may not use information provided by an 14 unaccompanied alien child or information ini- 15 tially obtained by the Secretary of Health and 16 Human Services to make a suitability deter- 17 mination under subparagraph (A), a home 18 study determination under subparagraph (B), 19 or a secure facility determination under para- 20 graph (2)(A) for the purpose of apprehending, 21 detaining, or removing from the United 22 States— 23 ‘‘(i) the unaccompanied alien child; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 388 IS ‘‘(ii) the proposed custodian or cur- 1 rent custodian; 2 ‘‘(iii) a resident of the home in which 3 the proposed custodian or current custo- 4 dian resides; 5 ‘‘(iv) the proposed sponsor or current 6 sponsor; or 7 ‘‘(v) a resident of the home in which 8 the proposed sponsor or current sponsor 9 resides.’’. 10 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 11 (1) FLORES SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The 12 amendments made by subsection (a) may not be con- 13 strued to supersede the terms of the stipulated set- 14 tlement agreement filed on January 17, 1997, in the 15 United States District Court for the Central District 16 of California in Flores v. Reno, CV 85–4544–RJK, 17 (commonly known as the ‘‘Flores settlement agree- 18 ment’’). 19 (2) CHILD WELFARE.—The amendments made 20 by subsection (a) may not be construed to prevent 21 the Secretary of Homeland Security from using in- 22 formation obtained by the Secretary of Health and 23 Human Services to investigate or report to the ap- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 7 •S 388 IS propriate law enforcement agency or child welfare 1 agency instances of trafficking, abuse, or neglect. 2 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR ENFORCE- 3 MENT, DETENTION, AND REMOVAL OPER- 4 ATIONS. 5 No Federal funds may be used by U.S. Immigration 6 and Customs Enforcement for any enforcement, detention, 7 or removal activity that violates section 235(c)(3) of the 8 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reau- 9 thorization Act of 2008, as amended by section 3(a). 10 SEC. 5. TRANSFER OF U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS EN- 11 FORCEMENT FUNDING. 12 Of the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2019 to 13 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for enforce- 14 ment and removal operations— 15 (1) $30,000,000 shall be transferred to the De- 16 partment of Justice to expand the efforts of the 17 Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crimes 18 Against Children program to investigate criminal 19 networks involved in child trafficking; 20 (2) $180,000,000 shall be transferred to the 21 Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide the post- 22 release legal, case management, and child advocate 23 services described in section 6; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 8 •S 388 IS (3) $10,000,000 shall be transferred to the Ad- 1 ministration for Children and Families to bolster the 2 efforts of the Task Force to Prevent and End 3 Human Trafficking. 4 SEC. 6. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF UNACCOMPANIED 5 ALIEN CHILDREN. 6 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘post- 7 release case management services’’ means services that— 8 (1) are provided by a social worker, employed 9 by a nonprofit entity, who meets with the child indi- 10 vidually and with the family to develop an individ- 11 ualized service plan; and 12 (2) allow children to successfully transition into 13 their communities by— 14 (A) assisting with school enrollment and 15 acculturation; 16 (B) locating medical and therapeutic serv- 17 ices; 18 (C) making referrals to area legal services; 19 and 20 (D) navigating new family settings and 21 other individual needs. 22 (b) REQUIRED SERVICES.—The Office of Refugee 23 Resettlement shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 9 •S 388 IS (1) provide post-release case management to all 1 children upon release or as the need arises for the 2 duration of their immigration proceedings; and 3 (2) facilitate efforts to connect every unaccom- 4 panied child, including each child with a sponsor, 5 with legal representation for his or her immigration 6 proceedings. 7 (c) THE OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AD- 8 VISORY COMMITTEE ON SHELTERS FOR UNACCOMPANIED 9 ALIEN CHILDREN.— 10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health 11 and Human Services, in compliance with the Federal 12 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), shall im- 13 mediately establish the Advisory Committee on Shel- 14 ters for Unaccompanied Alien Children (referred to 15 in this subsection as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’) to 16 advise the Office of Refugee Resettlement on mat- 17 ters regarding shelters and placements for unaccom- 18 panied alien children relating to education, immigra- 19 tion law, physical and mental health, trauma-in- 20 formed social work services, youth shelter manage- 21 ment, and immigration detention reform. 22 (2) COMPOSITION AND TERM.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 10 •S 388 IS (A) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary shall 1 appoint 14 individuals to serve on the Advisory 2 Committee for 2-year terms. 3 (B) PREREQUISITES.— 4 (i) IN GENERAL.—Each member of 5 the Advisory Committee shall be employed 6 by a nonprofit entities in the field of— 7 (I) education; 8 (II) immigration law; 9 (III) physical and mental health 10 of children and youth; 11 (IV) trauma-informed child wel- 12 fare social work services; 13 (V) youth shelter management; 14 (VI) cultural competency; or 15 (VII) immigration detention re- 16 form. 17 (ii) REPRESENTATION.—At least 2 18 members of the Advisory Committee shall 19 represent each of the fields set forth in 20 clause (i). 21 (3) INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY.— 22 (A) INSPECTIONS.—Members of the Advi- 23 sory Committee may conduct unannounced in- 24 spections of all shelters contracted with the Of- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 11 •S 388 IS fice of Refugee Resettlement to hold unaccom- 1 panied alien children. 2 (B) INFORMATION SHARING.—The Office 3 of Refugee Resettlement shall provide the Advi- 4 sory Committee with access to such materials 5 as may be necessary to effectively advocate for 6 the best interest of children in the custody of 7 the Office of Refugee Resettlement, subject to 8 applicable statutes and regulations. 9 (4) CONSULTATIONS.—The Advisory Committee 10 shall consult with, and receive recommendations 11 from— 12 (A) the American Medical Association; 13 (B) the American Academy of Pediatrics; 14 (C) the National Association of Social 15 Workers; 16 (D) the American Bar Association Center 17 on Children and the Law; 18 (E) the American Immigration Lawyers 19 Association; and 20 (F) other medical, child welfare, and legal 21 experts. 22 (5) REPORTS.— 23 (A) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 6 24 months after the establishment of the Advisory 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 12 •S 388 IS Committee under paragraph (1), the Advisory 1 Committee shall release to the public an interim 2 report outlining the Advisory Committee’s in- 3 vestigations and recommendations regarding 4 Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters for un- 5 accompanied alien children and submit such re- 6 port to— 7 (i) the Secretary of Health and 8 Human Services; 9 (ii) the Committee on Health, Edu- 10 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 11 (iii) the Committee on Homeland Se- 12 curity and Governmental Affairs of the 13 Senate; 14 (iv) the Committee on the Judiciary of 15 the Senate; 16 (v) the Committee on Energy and 17 Commerce of the House of Representa- 18 tives; 19 (vi) the Committee on Oversight and 20 Reform of the House of Representatives; 21 and 22 (vii) the Committee on the Judiciary 23 of the House of Representatives. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 13 •S 388 IS (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 1 year after the establishment of the Advisory 2 Committee under paragraph (1), the Advisory 3 Committee shall release to the public, and sub- 4 mit to the recipients of the interim report under 5 subparagraph (A), a final report that outlines 6 the Advisory Committee’s inves [Text truncated for display. 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