HELP Separated Children Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3451 To protect children affected by immigration enforcement actions. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 24, 2019 Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. TITUS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, and Mr. ESPAILLAT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To protect children affected by immigration enforcement actions. 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 ‘‘Humane Enforcement 4 and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act of 5 2019’’ or the ‘‘HELP Separated Children Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3451 IH (1) APPREHENSION.—The term ‘‘apprehension’’ 1 means the detention or arrest by officials of the De- 2 partment or cooperating entities. 3 (2) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi- 4 vidual who is younger than 18 years of age. 5 (3) CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.—The term 6 ‘‘child welfare agency’’ means a State or local agen- 7 cy responsible for child welfare services under sub- 8 titles B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act 9 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 10 (4) COOPERATING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cooper- 11 ating entity’’ means a State or local entity acting 12 under agreement with the Secretary. 13 (5) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 14 means the Department of Homeland Security. 15 (6) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘deten- 16 tion facility’’ means a Federal, State, or local gov- 17 ernment facility, or a privately owned and operated 18 facility, that is used, in whole or in part, to hold in- 19 dividuals under the authority of the Director of U.S. 20 Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including 21 facilities that hold such individuals under a contract 22 or agreement with the Director. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3451 IH (7) IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—The 1 term ‘‘immigration enforcement action’’ means the 2 apprehension of 1 or more individuals whom— 3 (A) the Department has reason to believe 4 are removable from the United States by the 5 Secretary or a cooperating entity; and 6 (B) are apprehended by immigrations and 7 customs enforcement or a cooperating entity. 8 (8) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means— 9 (A) a biological or adoptive parent of a 10 child, whose parental rights have not been relin- 11 quished or terminated under State law or the 12 law of a foreign country; or 13 (B) a legal guardian under State law or 14 the law of a foreign country. 15 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 17 SEC. 3. APPREHENSION PROCEDURES FOR IMMIGRATION 18 ENFORCEMENT-RELATED ACTIVITIES. 19 (a) APPREHENSION PROCEDURES.—In any immigra- 20 tion enforcement action, the Secretary and cooperating en- 21 tities shall— 22 (1) as soon as possible, but generally not later 23 than 2 hours after an immigration enforcement ac- 24 tion, inquire whether an individual is a parent or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3451 IH primary caregiver of a child in the United States 1 and provide any such individuals with— 2 (A) the opportunity to make a minimum of 3 2 telephone calls to arrange for the care of such 4 child in the individual’s absence; and 5 (B) contact information for— 6 (i) child welfare agencies and family 7 courts in the same jurisdiction as the child; 8 and 9 (ii) consulates, attorneys, and legal 10 service providers capable of providing free 11 legal advice or representation regarding 12 child welfare, child custody determinations, 13 and immigration matters; 14 (2) notify the child welfare agency with jurisdic- 15 tion over the child if— 16 (A) the child’s parent or primary caregiver 17 is unable to make care arrangements for the 18 child; or 19 (B) the child is in imminent risk of serious 20 harm; 21 (3) ensure that personnel of the Department 22 and cooperating entities do not, absent medical ne- 23 cessity or extraordinary circumstances— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3451 IH (A) interview individuals in the immediate 1 presence of children; or 2 (B) compel or request children to interpret 3 or translate for interviews of their parents or of 4 other individuals who are encountered as part 5 of an immigration enforcement action; 6 (4) absent extraordinary circumstances, ensure 7 that individuals who are the subject of an immigra- 8 tion enforcement action and are parents of children 9 in the United States who are present during the ac- 10 tion are given an opportunity— 11 (A) to communicate with their child, in- 12 cluding through physical contact; 13 (B) to reassure their child; 14 (C) to share information regarding care ar- 15 rangements for their child while the parent is 16 detained; and 17 (D) to communicate known medical ill- 18 nesses, including chronic illnesses, to the De- 19 partment prior to separation; 20 (5) ensure that any parent or primary caregiver 21 of a child in the United States— 22 (A) absent medical necessity or extraor- 23 dinary circumstances, is not transferred from 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3451 IH his or her area of apprehension until the indi- 1 vidual— 2 (i) has made arrangements for the 3 care of such child; or 4 (ii) if such arrangements are unavail- 5 able or the individual is unable to make 6 such arrangements, is informed of the care 7 arrangements made for the child and of a 8 means to maintain communication, includ- 9 ing telephonic and video conferencing com- 10 munication, with the child; 11 (B) absent medical necessity or extraor- 12 dinary circumstances, and to the extent prac- 13 ticable, is placed in a detention facility that is— 14 (i) proximate to the location of appre- 15 hension; and 16 (ii) proximate to the child’s habitual 17 place of residence; and 18 (C) receives due consideration of the best 19 interests of such child in any decision or action 20 relating to his or her detention, release, or 21 transfer between detention facilities. 22 (b) REQUESTS TO STATE AND LOCAL ENTITIES.— 23 If the Secretary requests a State or local entity to hold 24 in custody an individual whom the Department has reason 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3451 IH to believe is removable pending transfer of such individual 1 to the custody of the Secretary or to a detention facility, 2 the Secretary shall request that the State or local entity 3 provide the individual the protections specified in para- 4 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) if such individual is 5 the parent or primary caregiver of a child in the United 6 States. 7 (c) PROTECTIONS AGAINST TRAFFICKING PRE- 8 SERVED.—Nothing in this section may be construed to im- 9 pede, delay, or limit the obligations of the Secretary, the 10 Attorney General, or the Secretary of Health and Human 11 Services under— 12 (1) section 235 of the William Wilberforce 13 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 14 of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232); 15 (2) section 462 of the Homeland Security Act 16 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279); or 17 (3) the Stipulated Settlement Agreement filed 18 in the United States District Court for the Central 19 District of California on January 17, 1997 (CV 85– 20 4544–RJK) (commonly known as the ‘‘Flores Settle- 21 ment Agreement’’). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3451 IH SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CHILDREN, STATE AND LOCAL COURTS, 1 CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES, AND CONSULAR 2 OFFICIALS. 3 At all detention facilities, the Secretary shall— 4 (1) prominently post, in a manner accessible to 5 detainees and visitors, and include in detainee hand- 6 books— 7 (A) information regarding the protections 8 required under this Act; and 9 (B) information regarding potential eligi- 10 bility for parole or release; 11 (2) absent extraordinary circumstances, ensure 12 that individuals who are detained by the Department 13 and are parents or legal guardians of children in the 14 United States are— 15 (A) permitted regular phone calls and con- 16 tact visits with their children; 17 (B) provided with contact information for 18 child welfare agencies and family courts in the 19 relevant jurisdictions; 20 (C) given the opportunity to participate 21 fully and, to the extent possible, in person— 22 (i) in all family court proceedings; and 23 (ii) in any other proceedings that may 24 impact their right to custody of their chil- 25 dren; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3451 IH (D) granted free and confidential telephone 1 calls to relevant child welfare agencies and fam- 2 ily courts as often as is necessary to ensure 3 that the best interest of their children, includ- 4 ing a preference for family unity whenever ap- 5 propriate, can be considered in child welfare 6 agency or family court proceedings; 7 (E) able to fully comply with all family 8 court or child welfare agency orders impacting 9 custody of their children; 10 (F) provided access to United States pass- 11 port applications or other relevant travel docu- 12 ment applications for the purpose of obtaining 13 travel documents for their children; 14 (G) afforded timely access to a notary pub- 15 lic for the purpose of applying for a passport 16 for their children or executing guardianship or 17 other agreements to ensure the safety of their 18 children; and 19 (H) granted adequate time and oppor- 20 tunity before removal to obtain passports, 21 apostilled birth certificates, travel documents, 22 and other necessary records on behalf of their 23 children if such children will accompany them 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3451 IH on their return to their country of origin or join 1 them in their country of origin; and 2 (3) if doing so would not impact public safety 3 or national security, facilitate the ability of detained 4 alien parents and primary caregivers to share infor- 5 mation regarding travel arrangements with their 6 consulate, children, child welfare agencies, or other 7 caregivers in advance of the detained alien individ- 8 ual’s departure from the United States. 9 SEC. 5. MANDATORY TRAINING. 10 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 11 Health and Human Services and independent child welfare 12 and family law experts, shall develop and provide training 13 on the protections required under sections 3 and 4 to all 14 personnel of the Department, cooperating entities, and de- 15 tention facilities operated by or under agreement with the 16 Department who— 17 (1) regularly engage in immigration enforce- 18 ment actions, including detention; and 19 (2) in the course of such actions, come into con- 20 tact with individuals who are parents or primary 21 caregivers of children in the United States. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3451 IH SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 1 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 2 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula- 3 tions to implement sections 3 and 4. 4 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 5 If any provision of this Act, any amendment made 6 by this Act, or the application of any such provision or 7 amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be 8 unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this Act, the 9 remaining amendments made by this Act, and the applica- 10 tion of such provisions and amendments to any person or 11 circumstance shall not be affected by such holding. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3451.IH H3451 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS