HUMANE Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1303 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to address the protective custody of alien children accompanied by parents, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 2, 2019 Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to address the protective custody of alien children accompanied by parents, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Humanitarian Upgrades to Manage and Assist our Na- 5 tion’s Enforcement Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HUMANE Act 6 of 2019’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 8 this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 May 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1303 IS Sec. 2. Family unification. Sec. 3. Repatriation of unaccompanied alien children. Sec. 4. Child welfare and law enforcement information sharing. Sec. 5. Accountability for children and taxpayers. Sec. 6. Custody of unaccompanied alien children in removal proceedings under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Sec. 7. Fraud in connection with the transfer of custody of unaccompanied alien children. Sec. 8. Notification of States and foreign governments, reporting, and moni- toring. Sec. 9. Reports to Congress. Sec. 10. Asylum processing. Sec. 11. Biometric and DNA collection. Sec. 12. Standard operating procedures; facilities standards. Sec. 13. Regional processing centers. Sec. 14. Authorization to hire additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel. Sec. 15. Ports of entry infrastructure improvements. Sec. 16. Foreign engagement strategy. Sec. 17. Deterring visa overstays. SEC. 2. FAMILY UNIFICATION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the Immigration 2 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended by add- 3 ing at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(e) PROTECTIVE CUSTODY OF ARRIVING ALIEN 5 CHILDREN ACCOMPANIED BY PARENTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 7 provision of law, including section 3142 of title 18, 8 United States Code, any judicial determination (in- 9 cluding any judicial determination made in Flores v. 10 Sessions et. al. (9th Cir. July 5, 2017; C.D. CA. 11 July 24, 2015)), consent decree, or settlement agree- 12 ment issued before the date of enactment of the 13 HUMANE Act of 2019, and section 236.3 of title 14 8, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regu- 15 lation), the Secretary of Homeland Security is not 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1303 IS required to implement the terms of the stipulated 1 settlement agreement filed on January 17, 1997, in 2 the United States District Court for the Central 3 District of California in Flores v. Reno, CV 85– 4 4544–RJK (commonly known as the ‘‘Flores settle- 5 ment agreement’’), and may not use any Federal 6 Funds to implement such agreement, with respect to 7 an alien child who is younger than 18 years of age 8 if such child is accompanied by a parent or legal 9 guardian. 10 ‘‘(2) FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CENTERS.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 12 subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Homeland 13 Security shall house any alien child described in 14 paragraph (1) who is unlawfully present in the 15 United States together with the parent of such 16 child in a family residential center or a regional 17 processing center maintained by the Secretary 18 of Homeland Security during the pendency of 19 civil or criminal proceedings. 20 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of 21 Homeland Security may not temporarily house 22 an alien child referred to in subparagraph (A) 23 in the manner described in such subparagraph 24 if the Secretary— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1303 IS ‘‘(i) is unable to verify that an indi- 1 vidual accompanying the alien child is the 2 parent of the alien child; 3 ‘‘(ii) determines that the accom- 4 panying parent of the alien child— 5 ‘‘(I) has a violent criminal his- 6 tory; or 7 ‘‘(II) has committed or been con- 8 victed of— 9 ‘‘(aa) an aggravated felony; 10 ‘‘(bb) a crime involving the 11 attempted use of physical force 12 or the threatened use of a deadly 13 weapon; 14 ‘‘(cc) an assault resulting in 15 bodily injury (as defined in sec- 16 tion 2266 of title 18, United 17 States Code); or 18 ‘‘(dd) an offense described 19 in section 212(a)(2) or 20 237(a)(2); 21 ‘‘(iii) determines that the alien child 22 has been a victim of domestic abuse or sex- 23 ual abuse; or 24 ‘‘(iv) the alien child is— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1303 IS ‘‘(I) a victim of trafficking; 1 ‘‘(II) at risk of becoming a victim 2 of trafficking; 3 ‘‘(III) in danger of abuse or ne- 4 glect at the hands of the accom- 5 panying parent of the alien child; or 6 ‘‘(IV) a danger to himself or her- 7 self or to others. 8 ‘‘(C) CONDITIONS FOR CUSTODY.—The 9 Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure 10 that— 11 ‘‘(i) each family residential facility or 12 regional processing center, as applicable, is 13 secure and safe; and 14 ‘‘(ii) each alien child and each accom- 15 panying parent at a family residential fa- 16 cility or regional processing center— 17 ‘‘(I) has suitable living accom- 18 modations; 19 ‘‘(II) has access to drinking 20 water and food; 21 ‘‘(III) has timely access to med- 22 ical assistance, including mental 23 health assistance; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1303 IS ‘‘(IV) has access to recreational 1 facilities, educational services, enter- 2 tainment options, clothing, family visi- 3 tation, and legal counsel (to the great- 4 est extent practicable in accordance 5 with section 292); and 6 ‘‘(V) has access to any other 7 service necessary for the adequate 8 care of a minor child. 9 ‘‘(3) PROTECTIVE CUSTODY OF ACCOMPANIED 10 ALIEN CHILDREN INELIGIBLE FOR HOUSING IN A 11 FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CENTER.—If an alien child de- 12 scribed in paragraph (1) may not be housed with the 13 accompanying parent of the alien child in a family 14 residential center or regional processing center in ac- 15 cordance with paragraph (2)(A), the child shall be 16 treated as an unaccompanied alien child under the 17 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 18 Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232 et 19 seq.). 20 ‘‘(4) PRIORITIZATION OF ACCOMPANIED MINOR 21 AND FAMILY UNIT PROCEEDINGS.—To the maximum 22 extent practicable, the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 23 rity and the Attorney General shall prioritize civil 24 and criminal proceedings and decisions on requests 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1303 IS for relief from removal of accompanied alien children 1 and families who are in custody under this sub- 2 section.’’. 3 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 4 Act shall apply regardless of the date of the occurrence 5 of an action giving rise to the admissibility or custody of 6 the accompanied child or parent. 7 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 8 tion, or in the amendments made by this section, may be 9 construed as terminating the settlement agreement filed 10 on January 17, 1997, in the United States District Court 11 for the Central District of California in Flores v. Reno, 12 CV 85–4544–RJK (commonly known as the ‘‘Flores set- 13 tlement agreement’’), with respect to an unaccompanied 14 alien child (as defined in section 462(g)(2) of the Home- 15 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2))). 16 SEC. 3. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL- 17 DREN. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235(a) of the William 19 Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthoriza- 20 tion Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232(a)) is amended— 21 (1) in paragraph (2)— 22 (A) by amending the paragraph heading to 23 read as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED 24 ALIEN CHILDREN.—’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1303 IS (B) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 1 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘who is a na- 2 tional or habitual resident of a country that is 3 contiguous with the United States shall be 4 treated in accordance with subparagraph (B)’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘shall be treated in accordance 6 with subparagraph (B) or subsection (b), as ap- 7 propriate’’; and 8 (C) in subparagraph (C)— 9 (i) by amending the subparagraph 10 heading to read as follows: ‘‘AGREEMENTS 11 WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES.—’’; and 12 (ii) in the matter preceding clause (i), 13 by inserting ‘‘and any other foreign coun- 14 try that the Secretary determines to be ap- 15 propriate’’ after ‘‘countries contiguous to 16 the United States’’; 17 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 18 (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; and 19 (3) inserting after paragraph (2) the following: 20 ‘‘(3) MANDATORY EXPEDITED REMOVAL OF 21 CRIMINALS AND GANG MEMBERS.—Notwithstanding 22 any other provision of law, the Secretary of Home- 23 land Security shall place an unaccompanied alien 24 child in a proceeding in accordance with section 235 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1303 IS of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1 1225), if the Secretary determines or has reason to 2 believe that the alien— 3 ‘‘(A) has been convicted of any offense car- 4 rying a maximum term of imprisonment of 5 more than 180 days; 6 ‘‘(B) has been convicted of, or found to be 7 a juvenile offender based on, an offense that in- 8 volved— 9 ‘‘(i) the use or attempted use of phys- 10 ical force, or threatened use of a deadly 11 weapon; 12 ‘‘(ii) the purchase, sale, offering for 13 sale, exchange, use, ownership, possession, 14 or carrying, or, of attempting or conspiring 15 to purchase, sell, offer for sale, exchange, 16 use, own, possess, or carry, any weapon, 17 part, or accessory which is a firearm or de- 18 structive device (as defined in section 19 921(a) of title 18, United States Code) in 20 violation of any law; 21 ‘‘(iii) child abuse and neglect (as de- 22 fined in section 40002(a)(3) of the Vio- 23 lence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 24 U.S.C. 12291(a)(3))); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1303 IS ‘‘(iv) assault resulting in bodily injury 1 (as defined in section 2266 of title 18, 2 United States Code); 3 ‘‘(v) the violation of a protection order 4 (as defined in section 2266 of title 18, 5 United States Code); 6 ‘‘(vi) driving while intoxicated or driv- 7 ing under the influence (as such terms are 8 defined in section 164 of title 23, United 9 States Code); or 10 ‘‘(vii) any offense under foreign law 11 (except a purely political offense) that, if 12 the offense had been committed in the 13 United States, would render the alien inad- 14 missible under section 212(a) of the Immi- 15 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 16 1182(a)); 17 ‘‘(C) has been convicted of, or found to be 18 a juvenile offender based on, more than 1 crimi- 19 nal offense (other than minor traffic offenses); 20 ‘‘(D) has been convicted of, or found to be 21 a juvenile offender based on a crime of violence 22 or an offense under Federal, State, or Tribal 23 law, that has, as an element, the use or at- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1303 IS tempted use of physical force or the threatened 1 use of physical force or a deadly weapon; 2 ‘‘(E) has engaged in, is engaged in, or is 3 likely to engage after entry in any terrorist ac- 4 tivity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of 5 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 6 1182(a)(3)(B)(iii))), or intends to participate or 7 has participated in the activities of a foreign 8 terrorist organization (as designated under sec- 9 tion 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189)); 11 ‘‘(F) has engaged in, is engaged in, or any 12 time after a prior admission engages in activity 13 described in section 237(a)(4) of the Immigra- 14 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)); 15 ‘‘(G) is or was a member of a criminal 16 gang (as defined in section 101(a)(53) of the 17 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 18 1101(a)(53))); 19 ‘‘(H) provided materially false, fictitious, 20 or fraudulent information regarding age or 21 identity to the United States Government with 22 the intent to inaccurately classify as an unac- 23 companied alien child; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 May 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1303 IS ‘‘(I) has entered the United States more 1 than once in violation of section 275(a) of the 2 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 3 1325(a)), knowing that the entry was unlaw- 4 ful.’’. 5 (b) PRIORITIZATION OF PROCEEDINGS.—The Sec- 6 retary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General 7 shall ensure that immigration proceedings and any claims 8 for relief, including asylum, for an unaccompanied minor 9 child are prioritized and expeditiously adjudicated. 10 SEC. 4. CHILD WELFARE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT INFOR- 11 MATION SHARING. 12 Section 235(b) of the William Wilberforce Trafficking 13 Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 14 1232(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(5) INFORMATION SHARING.— 16 ‘‘(A) IMMIGRATION STATUS.—If the Sec- 17 retary of Health and Human Services considers 18 placing an unaccompanied alien child with a po- 19 tential sponsor, the Secretary of Homeland Se- 20 curity shall notify the Secretary of Health and 21 Human Services of the immigration status of 22 suc [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]