II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1461 To establish vetting standards for the placement of unaccompanied alien children with sponsors, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. COTTON, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish vetting standards for the placement of unaccom- panied alien children with sponsors, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Stop Human Traf- 4 ficking of Unaccompanied Migrant Children Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. VETTING STANDARDS FOR PLACEMENT OF UNAC- 6 COMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN WITH SPON- 7 SORS. 8 (a) VETTING OF PROSPECTIVE SPONSORS.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1461.IS S1461 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1461 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Before an unaccompanied 1 alien child (as defined in section 462(g) of the 2 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))) 3 may be released from the custody of the Secretary 4 of Health and Human Services to the custody of a 5 sponsor, the sponsor shall undergo and complete, to 6 the satisfaction of the Secretary of Health and 7 Human Services and the head of the department of 8 children and family services of the applicable State 9 (or the equivalent State agency) and in consultation 10 with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 11 Homeland Security, a fingerprint background check 12 and vetting process that includes— 13 (A) a public records check; 14 (B) a check of the National Sex Offender 15 Registry of the Department of Justice, con- 16 ducted through the public internet website for 17 such registry; 18 (C) a Federal Bureau of Investigation Na- 19 tional Criminal History check based on digital 20 fingerprints or digitized fingerprints submitted 21 on paper; 22 (D) a Child Abuse and Neglect check, ob- 23 tained on a State-by-State basis; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1461.IS S1461 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1461 IS (E) a check of the criminal history reposi- 1 tory of the applicable 1 or more States and a 2 police records check of the applicable localities. 3 (2) ADULTS HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS.—As part 4 of the vetting process under paragraph (1), each in- 5 dividual who is 18 years of age or older in the 6 household of a prospective sponsor shall undergo 7 and complete all vetting processes required by para- 8 graph (1), to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 9 Health and Human Services and the head of the de- 10 partment of children and family services of the ap- 11 plicable State (or the equivalent State agency) and 12 in consultation with the Attorney General and the 13 Secretary of Homeland Security, before an unaccom- 14 panied alien child may be placed in such household. 15 (b) LIMITATION ON PLACEMENT WITH ILLEGAL 16 ALIENS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 17 may not release an unaccompanied alien child to the cus- 18 tody of a sponsor who is an alien unlawfully present in 19 the United States, unless such alien is a biological parent, 20 legal guardian, or relative of the child. 21 (c) MONITORING VISITS.— 22 (1) PRE-RELEASE.—Before an unaccompanied 23 alien child may be released from the custody of the 24 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1461.IS S1461 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1461 IS retary shall conduct a home visit to the household in 1 which the child is proposed to be placed, regardless 2 of the sponsor category of the prospective sponsor. 3 (2) POST-RELEASE.—For each child released 4 from the custody of the Secretary of Health and 5 Human Services after the date of the enactment of 6 this Act, the Secretary shall conduct— 7 (A) during the 1-year period beginning on 8 the date on which the child is so released, not 9 fewer than 5 unannounced in-person home vis- 10 its; and 11 (B) during the subsequent 1-year period, 1 12 in-person home visit each quarter. 13 (d) RETROACTIVE VETTING.—The Secretary of 14 Health and Human Services, in collaboration with the 15 head of the department of children and family services of 16 each applicable State (or the equivalent State agency) and 17 in consultation with the Attorney General and the Sec- 18 retary of Homeland Security, shall immediately conduct 19 the fingerprint background check and vetting process de- 20 scribed in subsection (a) for each sponsor with whom a 21 child released from the custody of the Secretary of Health 22 and Human Services has been placed since January 20, 23 2021, until the sponsor of each such child has been vetted 24 in accordance with this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1461.IS S1461 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1461 IS (e) MONTHLY REPORTS.— 1 (1) CHILDREN IN CUSTODY AND RELEASED TO 2 SPONSORS.—Not later than 30 days after the date 3 of the enactment of this Act, and every 30 days 4 thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human 5 Services and the Secretary of Homeland Security 6 shall jointly submit to the Committee on Homeland 7 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 8 and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 9 House of Representatives a report that contains, for 10 the preceding month— 11 (A) the number of unaccompanied alien 12 children encountered by the Secretary of Home- 13 land Security; 14 (B) the number of unaccompanied alien 15 children released by the Secretary of Homeland 16 Security into the custody of the Secretary of 17 Health and Human Services; 18 (C) the number of sponsor background 19 checks completed under subsection (a); 20 (D) the number of sponsor background 21 checks in progress under such subsection; 22 (E) the number of pre-release home visits 23 completed; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1461.IS S1461 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1461 IS (F) the number of post-release home visits 1 completed; 2 (G) the number of unaccompanied alien 3 children released to sponsors, disaggregated by 4 sponsor category; 5 (H) total number of unaccompanied alien 6 children in the custody of the Secretary of 7 Health and Human Services, disaggregated by 8 State and Department of Health and Human 9 Services facility; and 10 (I) the rate at which the Secretary of 11 Health and Human Services rejected sponsor- 12 ship applications. 13 (2) MISSING CHILDREN.—Not later than 30 14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 15 every 30 days thereafter, the Secretary of Health 16 and Human Services and the Secretary of Homeland 17 Security shall jointly submit to Congress a report on 18 all efforts made, during the preceding month, by the 19 Department of Health and Human Services and the 20 Department of Homeland Security to account for all 21 children— 22 (3) who were released from the custody of the 23 Secretary of Health and Human Services to a spon- 24 sor on or after January 20, 2021; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1461.IS S1461 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1461 IS (4) as of the date of the enactment of this 1 Act— 2 (A) who have been reported missing; or 3 (B) with respect to whom the Secretary of 4 Health and Human Services has no record 5 since the date of release from custody. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1461.IS S1461 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB