II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2256 To protect children affected by immigration enforcement actions. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 24, 2019 Ms. SMITH (for herself, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CASEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. REED, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. UDALL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MENEN- DEZ, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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 ‘‘Coordinating Care for 4 Children Affected by Immigration Enforcement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2256 IS (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 (7) IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—The 24 term ‘‘immigration enforcement action’’ means the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2256 IS apprehension of 1 or more individuals whom the De- 1 partment has reason to believe are removable from 2 the United States by the Secretary or a cooperating 3 entity. 4 (8) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means— 5 (A) a biological or adoptive parent of a 6 child, whose parental rights have not been relin- 7 quished or terminated under State law or the 8 law of a foreign country; or 9 (B) a legal guardian under State law or 10 the law of a foreign country. 11 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 13 SEC. 3. APPREHENSION PROCEDURES FOR IMMIGRATION 14 ENFORCEMENT-RELATED ACTIVITIES. 15 (a) APPREHENSION PROCEDURES.—In any immigra- 16 tion enforcement action, the Secretary and cooperating en- 17 tities shall— 18 (1) as soon as possible, but generally not later 19 than 2 hours after an immigration enforcement ac- 20 tion, inquire whether an individual is a parent or 21 primary caregiver of a child in the United States 22 and provide any such individuals with— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2256 IS (A) the opportunity to make a minimum of 1 2 telephone calls to arrange for the care of such 2 child in the individual’s absence; and 3 (B) contact information for— 4 (i) child welfare agencies and family 5 courts in the same jurisdiction as the child; 6 and 7 (ii) consulates, attorneys, and legal 8 service providers capable of providing free 9 legal advice or representation regarding 10 child welfare, child custody determinations, 11 and immigration matters; 12 (2) notify the child welfare agency with jurisdic- 13 tion over the child if— 14 (A) the child’s parent or primary caregiver 15 is unable to make care arrangements for the 16 child; or 17 (B) the child is in imminent risk of serious 18 harm; 19 (3) ensure that personnel of the Department 20 and cooperating entities do not, absent medical ne- 21 cessity or extraordinary circumstances— 22 (A) interview individuals in the immediate 23 presence of children; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2256 IS (B) compel or request children to interpret 1 or translate for interviews of their parents or of 2 other individuals who are encountered as part 3 of an immigration enforcement action; 4 (4) absent extraordinary circumstances, ensure 5 that individuals who are the subject of an immigra- 6 tion enforcement action and are parents of children 7 in the United States who are present during the ac- 8 tion are given an opportunity— 9 (A) to communicate with their child, in- 10 cluding through physical contact; 11 (B) to reassure their child; and 12 (C) to share information regarding care ar- 13 rangements for their child while the parent is 14 detained; and 15 (5) ensure that any parent or primary caregiver 16 of a child in the United States— 17 (A) absent medical necessity or extraor- 18 dinary circumstances, is not transferred from 19 his or her area of apprehension until the indi- 20 vidual— 21 (i) has made arrangements for the 22 care of such child; or 23 (ii) if such arrangements are unavail- 24 able or the individual is unable to make 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2256 IS such arrangements, is informed of the care 1 arrangements made for the child and of a 2 means to maintain communication with the 3 child; 4 (B) absent medical necessity or extraor- 5 dinary circumstances, and to the extent prac- 6 ticable, is placed in a detention facility that is— 7 (i) proximate to the location of appre- 8 hension; and 9 (ii) proximate to the child’s habitual 10 place of residence; and 11 (C) receives due consideration of the best 12 interests of such child in any decision or action 13 relating to his or her detention, release, or 14 transfer between detention facilities. 15 (b) REQUESTS TO STATE AND LOCAL ENTITIES.— 16 If the Secretary requests a State or local entity to hold 17 in custody an individual whom the Department has reason 18 to believe is removable pending transfer of such individual 19 to the custody of the Secretary or to a detention facility, 20 the Secretary shall request that the State or local entity 21 provide the individual the protections specified in para- 22 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) if such individual is 23 the parent or primary caregiver of a child in the United 24 States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2256 IS (c) PROTECTIONS AGAINST TRAFFICKING PRE- 1 SERVED.—Nothing in this section may be construed to im- 2 pede, delay, or limit the obligations of the Secretary, the 3 Attorney General, or the Secretary of Health and Human 4 Services under— 5 (1) section 235 of the William Wilberforce 6 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 7 of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232); 8 (2) section 462 of the Homeland Security Act 9 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279); or 10 (3) the Stipulated Settlement Agreement filed 11 in the United States District Court for the Central 12 District of California on January 17, 1997 (CV 85– 13 4544–RJK) (commonly known as the ‘‘Flores Settle- 14 ment Agreement’’). 15 SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CHILDREN, STATE AND LOCAL COURTS, 16 CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES, AND CONSULAR 17 OFFICIALS. 18 At all detention facilities, the Secretary shall— 19 (1) prominently post, in a manner accessible to 20 detainees and visitors, and include in detainee hand- 21 books— 22 (A) information regarding the protections 23 required under this Act; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2256 IS (B) information regarding potential eligi- 1 bility for parole or release; 2 (2) absent extraordinary circumstances, ensure 3 that individuals who are detained by the Department 4 and are parents or legal guardians of children in the 5 United States are— 6 (A) permitted regular phone calls and con- 7 tact visits with their children; 8 (B) provided with contact information for 9 child welfare agencies and family courts in the 10 relevant jurisdictions; 11 (C) given the opportunity to participate 12 fully and, to the extent possible, in person— 13 (i) in all family court proceedings; and 14 (ii) in any other proceedings that may 15 impact their right to custody of their chil- 16 dren; 17 (D) granted free and confidential telephone 18 calls to relevant child welfare agencies and fam- 19 ily courts as often as is necessary to ensure 20 that the best interest of their children, includ- 21 ing a preference for family unity whenever ap- 22 propriate, can be considered in child welfare 23 agency or family court proceedings; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2256 IS (E) able to fully comply with all family 1 court or child welfare agency orders impacting 2 custody of their children; 3 (F) provided access to United States pass- 4 port applications or other relevant travel docu- 5 ment applications for the purpose of obtaining 6 travel documents for their children; 7 (G) afforded timely access to a notary pub- 8 lic for the purpose of applying for a passport 9 for their children or executing guardianship or 10 other agreements to ensure the safety of their 11 children; and 12 (H) granted adequate time and oppor- 13 tunity before removal to obtain passports, 14 apostilled birth certificates, travel documents, 15 and other necessary records on behalf of their 16 children if such children will accompany them 17 on their return to their country of origin or join 18 them in their country of origin; and 19 (3) if doing so would not impact public safety 20 or national security, facilitate the ability of detained 21 alien parents and primary caregivers to share infor- 22 mation regarding travel arrangements with their 23 consulate, children, child welfare agencies, or other 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2256 IS caregivers in advance of the detained alien individ- 1 ual’s departure from the United States. 2 SEC. 5. MANDATORY TRAINING. 3 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 4 Health and Human Services and independent child welfare 5 and family law experts, shall develop and provide training 6 on the protections required under sections 3 and 4 to all 7 personnel of the Department, cooperating entities, and de- 8 tention facilities operated by or under agreement with the 9 Department who— 10 (1) regularly engage in immigration enforce- 11 ment actions, including detention; and 12 (2) in the course of such actions, come into con- 13 tact with individuals who are parents or primary 14 caregivers of children in the United States. 15 SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 16 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula- 18 tions to implement sections 3 and 4. 19 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 20 If any provision of this Act, any amendment made 21 by this Act, or the application of any such provision or 22 amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be 23 unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this Act, the 24 remaining amendments made by this Act, and the applica- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2256 IS tion of such provisions and amendments to any person or 1 circumstance shall not be affected by such holding. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2256.IS S2256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS