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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4887 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4887
To protect certain victims of human trafficking by expanding the
authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant such aliens
continued presence in the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 31, 2024
Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mrs. Gillibrand)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect certain victims of human trafficking by expanding the
authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant such aliens
continued presence in the United States.
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 ``Continued Presence Improvement
Act''.
SEC. 2. TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.
(a) In General.--Section 107(c)(3) of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:
``(i) Investigations and prosecutions.--If
a law enforcement official files an application
stating that an alien may be a victim of a
severe form of trafficking, the Secretary of
Homeland Security may permit the alien to
remain in the United States to facilitate the
investigation or prosecution of a trafficking-
related offense.'';
(B) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (v);
(C) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iv) and
moving such clause so that it appears immediately after
clause (iii);
(D) by striking clause (iii) and inserting the
following:
``(ii) While pursuing a civil action.--The
Secretary of Homeland Security shall permit an
alien who is a victim of a severe form of
trafficking and has filed a civil action under
section 1595 of title 18 to remain in the
United States until such action is concluded.
If the Secretary, after consultation with the
Attorney General, determines that the alien has
failed to exercise due diligence in pursuing
such action, the Secretary may revoke the order
permitting the alien to remain in the United
States.
``(iii) Length; extensions.--The Secretary
of Homeland Security shall grant continued
presence under this subparagraph for a period
of not less than 2 years and may extend such
status beyond 2 years, at the discretion of the
Secretary. If the alien has a pending
immigration benefit application, continued
presence shall be extended until such
application is approved, withdrawn, or denied
upon final appeal, unless the Secretary
determines that continued presence is no longer
warranted.'';
(E) in clause (iv), as redesignated, by striking
``Federal law enforcement officials described in clause
(i)'' and inserting ``law enforcement officials''; and
(F) by adding at the end the following:
``(vi) Employment authorization.--During
the period the alien is authorized to remain in
the United States under this paragraph, the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall--
``(I) authorize the alien to engage
in employment in the United States; and
``(II) provide the alien with an
`employment authorized' endorsement or
other appropriate work permit.
``(vii) Protection from immigration
enforcement.--While a grant of continued
presence is in effect under this paragraph,
Federal law enforcement officials may only take
civil immigration enforcement actions against
an alien described in clause (i) or (iii)--
``(I) based on conduct committed
after continued presence is authorized;
and
``(II) following consultation with
the law enforcement official who filed
the application for continued
presence.'';
(2) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) by striking ``Law enforcement'' and inserting
the following:
``(i) Outside the united states.--Law
enforcement'';
(B) in clause (i), as redesignated, by striking
``subparagraph (A)(i)'' and inserting ``clause (i) or
(iii) of subparagraph (A)''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Inside the united states.--Law
enforcement officials may submit written
requests to the Secretary of Homeland Security
for deferred action and employment
authorization for certain relatives of any
alien whose continued presence is permitted
under clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph
(A).'';
(3) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
``(C) Law enforcement office policies, training,
and material.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, the
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney
General, and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission shall--
``(i) develop policies and procedures for
their respective agency that encourage the use
of and immediate application for continued
presence by the respective agency upon
identification of an individual covered under
subparagraph (A)(i) in appropriate cases;
``(ii) develop materials, in consultation
with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to
encourage and assist their respective Federal
agency personnel and other law enforcement
officials to request continued presence in
appropriate cases; and
``(iii) distribute the materials developed
pursuant to clause (ii) and provide training on
such materials to their respective Federal
agency personnel and other law enforcement
officials.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Defined term.--In this paragraph, the term
`law enforcement official' means any employee of a
Federal, State, tribal, territorial, or local law
enforcement agency, labor agency, children's protective
services agency, or other civil, criminal, judicial or
administrative authority that has responsibility and
authority for the detection, investigation, or
prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in
persons.''.
(b) Rulemaking.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
promulgate regulations to implement the amendments made by subsection
(a).
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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