The Southern Border Communities Relief Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4599 To provide resources for jurisdictions and organizations that have experienced a significant influx of migrant aliens, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 1, 2019 Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico (for herself, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. CROW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To provide resources for jurisdictions and organizations that have experienced a significant influx of migrant aliens, 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 ‘‘The Southern Border 4 Communities Relief Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4599.IH H4599 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4599 IH SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR HUMANITARIAN RELIEF AT THE BOR- 1 DER. 2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated for the emergency food and 4 shelter program under title III of the McKinney-Vento 5 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11331 et seq.), for 6 use only under subsection (b) of this section, $60,000,000 7 for each of fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023. 8 (b) USE.—Any amounts made available pursuant to 9 subsection (a)— 10 (1) shall be used only for providing assistance 11 to aliens released from the custody of the Depart- 12 ment of Homeland Security; 13 (2) notwithstanding sections 315 and 316(b) of 14 the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 15 U.S.C. 11345, 11346(b)), shall be disbursed by the 16 Emergency Food and Shelter Program National 17 Board not later than 60 days after the date on 18 which such amounts become available; 19 (3) shall be distributed by the Emergency Food 20 and Shelter Program National Board only to juris- 21 dictions or local recipient organizations serving com- 22 munities that have experienced a significant influx of 23 such aliens; 24 (4) may be used to reimburse such jurisdictions 25 or local recipient organizations for costs incurred in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4599.IH H4599 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4599 IH providing services to such aliens on or after July 1, 1 2019; and 2 (5) shall be distributed by the Emergency Food 3 and Shelter Program National Board in accordance 4 with the findings in the report described in sub- 5 section (d). 6 (c) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 7 24 hours after the publication of a notice of funding op- 8 portunity for amounts made available pursuant to sub- 9 section (a), the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 10 Management Agency shall notify the Committees on Ap- 11 propriations of the Senate and the House of Representa- 12 tives, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 13 of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Se- 14 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate of such 15 publication. 16 (d) REPORTING.—Not later than 30 days after the 17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 18 the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall submit 19 to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and 20 the House of Representatives, the Committee on Home- 21 land Security of the House of Representatives, and the 22 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 23 fairs of the Senate a report regarding the disbursement 24 under the Emergency Food and Shelter Program of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4599.IH H4599 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4599 IH amounts appropriated by Public Law 116–26. Such report 1 shall include— 2 (1) an examination of whether projected costs 3 and administrative costs, such as costs related to 4 staffing, transportation, and applying for Federal 5 funding, should be included in primary reimburse- 6 ment eligibility for future disbursements; 7 (2) an analysis of whether jurisdictions and 8 local recipient organizations were reimbursed to the 9 greatest extent practicable; 10 (3) identification of challenges jurisdictions and 11 local recipient organizations faced during the appli- 12 cation process; and 13 (4) recommendations on how to improve the re- 14 imbursement process to maximize full compensation. 15 SEC. 3. NOTICE TO APPEAR; OWN RECOGNIZANCE RELEASE 16 PROTOCOL. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The release of an alien that the 18 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection de- 19 termines to release on that alien’s own recognizance and 20 the issuance of a notice to appear to that alien shall be 21 governed by a standard protocol, which the Secretary of 22 Homeland Security, acting through the Commissioner of 23 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall develop not 24 later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4599.IH H4599 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4599 IH The protocol shall include requirements for, to the great- 1 est extent practicable and without delaying releases— 2 (1) coordination with local nongovernmental or- 3 ganizations and units of local government on a re- 4 lease date and time; 5 (2) the provision of a pre-release notice to non- 6 governmental organizations and units of local gov- 7 ernment not less than 8 hours before release; 8 (3) releasing individuals in locations with robust 9 nongovernmental organization networks, as deter- 10 mined by the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 11 Border Protection, in consultation with the Chief 12 Patrol Agent of the respective U.S. Border Patrol 13 sector, provided that other appropriate factors such 14 as proximity and reasonable distribution of released 15 individuals are also considered; 16 (4) releasing individuals at facilities operated by 17 nongovernmental organizations or units of local gov- 18 ernment; 19 (5) the provision to organizations or units of 20 local government to which individuals were released 21 of documentation describing the date of the release, 22 the number of individuals released, and other rel- 23 evant information; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4599.IH H4599 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4599 IH (6) ensuring that individuals are released with 1 any valid documentation with which they entered the 2 United States; and 3 (7) ensuring that notices to appear contain 4 complete and accurate information, including— 5 (A) a clear date and time for an immigra- 6 tion court hearing; 7 (B) requirements needed to travel to the 8 individuals’ stated destination; and 9 (C) contact information, including an ad- 10 dress to which individuals can receive notices 11 regarding updates to immigration proceedings. 12 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 60 days after 13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home- 14 land Security, acting through the Commissioner of U.S. 15 Customs and Border Protection, shall implement the 16 standard protocol developed under subsection (a). 17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 18 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 19 essary to carry out this section. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4599.IH H4599 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS