Protection of Children Act of 2016
This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to eliminate the special repatriation requirements for unaccompanied alien children (UAC) who are nationals or residents of a country contiguous to the United States. (Applies the same removal requirements to all UACs who are not victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons and who do not have a fear of returning to their country of nationality or last habitual residence.)
An immigration officer who finds an inadmissible UAC at a land border or port of entry shall return the child to his or her country of nationality or of last habitual residence. (Such authority is now only discretionary.)
The Department of State shall negotiate agreements between the United States and other countries for the repatriation of children. (Under current law the Secretary is required to negotiate agreements between the United States and countries contiguous to the United States for the repatriation of children.)
An unaccompanied child who is not a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, and does not have a fear of returning to his or her country of nationality or last habitual residence, but who is:
HHS, before placing a child with an individual, shall provide DHS with the individual's name, Social Security number, date of birth, residence location, and immigration status, if known.
DHS shall investigate the immigration status of the individual with whom the child is placed, and initiate removal proceedings if that individual is unlawfully present in the United States.
Such requirements shall apply to any unauthorized child apprehended on or after June 15, 2012.
The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended with respect to: (1) special immigrant juvenile status, and (2) jurisdiction of asylum applications.
[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2561 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2561
To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2008 to provide expedited processing for
unaccompanied alien children who are not victims of a severe form of
trafficking in persons and who do not have a fear of returning to their
country of nationality or last habitual residence, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 22, 2016
Mr. Sessions (for himself and Mr. Johnson) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2008 to provide expedited processing for
unaccompanied alien children who are not victims of a severe form of
trafficking in persons and who do not have a fear of returning to their
country of nationality or last habitual residence, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protection of Children Act of
2016''.
SEC. 2. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN.
(a) In General.--Section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by amending the heading to read as
follows: ``Rules for unaccompanied alien
children.--'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) in the matter preceding clause
(i), by striking ``who is a national or
habitual resident of a country that is
contiguous with the United States'';
(II) in clause (i), by inserting
``and'' at the end;
(III) in clause (ii), by striking
``; and'' and inserting a period; and
(IV) by striking clause (iii);
(iii) in subparagraph (B)--
(I) in the matter preceding clause
(i), by striking ``(8 U.S.C. 1101 et
seq.) may--'' and inserting ``(8 U.S.C.
1101 et seq.)--'';
(II) in clause (i), by inserting
``may'' before ``permit such child to
withdraw''; and
(III) in clause (ii), by inserting
``shall'' before ``return such child'';
and
(iv) in subparagraph (C)--
(I) by amending the heading to read
as follows: ``Agreements with foreign
countries.--''; and
(II) in the matter preceding clause
(i), by striking ``The Secretary of
State shall negotiate agreements
between the United States and countries
contiguous to the United States'' and
inserting ``The Secretary of State may
negotiate agreements between the United
States and any foreign country that the
Secretary determines appropriate''; and
(B) in paragraph (5)(D)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by
striking ``, except for an unaccompanied alien
child from a contiguous country subject to the
exceptions under subsection (a)(2),'' and
inserting ``who does not meet the criteria
listed in paragraph (2)(A)''; and
(ii) in clause (i), by inserting ``, which
shall include a hearing before an immigration
judge not later than 14 days after being
screened under paragraph (4)'' before the
semicolon at the end;
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting
``believed not to meet the criteria listed in
subsection (a)(2)(A)'' before the semicolon at
the end; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting
``and does not meet the criteria listed in
subsection (a)(2)(A)'' before the period at the
end; and
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``an
unaccompanied alien child in custody shall'' and all
that follows, and inserting the following: ``an
unaccompanied alien child in custody--
``(A) in the case of a child who does not meet the
criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), shall transfer
the custody of such child to the Secretary of Health
and Human Services not later than 30 days after
determining that such child is an unaccompanied alien
child who does not meet such criteria; or
``(B) in the case of child who meets the criteria
listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), may transfer the
custody of such child to the Secretary of Health and
Human Services after determining that such child is an
unaccompanied alien child who meets such criteria.'';
and
(3) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the end the
following:
``(D) Information about individuals with whom
children are placed.--
``(i) Information to be provided to
homeland security.--Before placing a child with
an individual, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall provide to the Secretary
of Homeland Security, regarding the individual
with whom the child will be placed, the
following information:
``(I) The name of the individual.
``(II) The social security number
of the individual.
``(III) The date of birth of the
individual.
``(IV) The location of the
individual's residence where the child
will be placed.
``(V) The immigration status of the
individual, if known.
``(VI) Contact information for the
individual.
``(ii) Special rule.--In the case of a
child who was apprehended on or after June 15,
2012, and before the date of the enactment of
the Protection of Children Act of 2016, who the
Secretary of Health and Human Services placed
with an individual, the Secretary shall provide
the information listed in clause (i) to the
Secretary of Homeland Security not later than
90 days after the date of the enactment of the
Protection of Children Act of 2016.
``(iii) Activities of the secretary of
homeland security.--Not later than 30 days
after receiving the information listed in
clause (i), the Secretary of Homeland Security
shall--
``(I) in the case that the
immigration status of an individual
with whom a child is placed is unknown,
investigate the immigration status of
that individual; and
``(II) upon determining that an
individual with whom a child is placed
is unlawfully present in the United
States, initiate removal proceedings
pursuant to chapter 4 of title II of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1221 et seq.).''; and
(B) in paragraph (5)--
(i) by inserting ``, at no expense to the
Government,'' after ``to the greatest extent
practicable''; and
(ii) by striking ``have counsel to
represent them'' and inserting ``have access to
counsel to represent them''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to any unauthorized alien child apprehended on or after June 15,
2012.
SEC. 3. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IMMIGRANTS UNABLE TO
REUNITE WITH EITHER PARENT.
Section 101(a)(27)(J)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)(i)) is amended by striking ``1 or both of the
immigrant's parents'' and inserting ``either of the immigrant's
parents''.
SEC. 4. JURISDICTION OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS.
Section 208(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1158) is amended by striking subparagraph (C).
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line