I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 541 

To limit the separation of families at or near ports of entry. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. TED LIEU of 

California, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. BASS, Mrs. 

BEATTY, Mr. BERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN F. 

BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON

of Indiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CASTRO of 

Texas, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. 

CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CORREA, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 

COURTNEY, Mr. COX of California, Mr. CRIST, Mr. CROW, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. 

DEAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, 

Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE

of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, 

Mr. EVANS, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. FRANKEL, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. 

GALLEGO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, 

Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. 

HARDER of California, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HECK, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HORSFORD, 

Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIND, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. LAMB, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, 

Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. 

LEWIS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LOWEY, 

Mr. LUJA ́N, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mrs. CAROLYN

B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MCADAMS, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 

MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. MURPHY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. OMAR, 

Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. 


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PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, 

Miss RICE of New York, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. ROUDA, Ms. ROYBALALLARD, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Mr. 

SABLAN, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. SCHRIER, 

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. 

SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. 

STANTON, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. TITUS, Ms. 

TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 

VEASEY, Mr. VELA, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. WILD, Ms. WILSON

of Florida, and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, 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 committee concerned 

A BILL 

To limit the separation of families at or near ports of entry. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keep Families To5 gether Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—An agent or officer of a des8 ignated agency shall be prohibited from removing a child 

9 from his or her parent or legal guardian, at or near the 

10 port of entry or within 100 miles of a border of the United 

11 States, unless one of the following has occurred: 


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1 (1) A State court, authorized under State law, 

2 terminates the rights of the parent or legal guard3 ian, determines that it is in the best interests of the 

4 child to be removed from the parent or legal guard5 ian, in accordance with the Adoption and Safe Fam6 ilies Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89), or makes 

7 any similar determination that is legally authorized 

8 under State law. 

9 (2) An official from the State or county child 

10 welfare agency with expertise in child trauma and 

11 development makes a best interests determination 

12 that it is in the best interests of the child to be re13 moved from the parent or legal guardian because the 

14 child is in danger of abuse or neglect at the hands 

15 of the parent or legal guardian, or is a danger to 

16 herself or others. 

17 (3) The Chief Patrol Agent or the Area Port 

18 Director in their official and undelegated capacity, 

19 authorizes separation upon the recommendation by 

20 an agent or officer, based on a finding that— 

21 (A) the child is a victim of trafficking or 

22 is at significant risk of becoming a victim of 

23 trafficking; 


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1 (B) there is a strong likelihood that the 

2 adult is not the parent or legal guardian of the 

3 child; or 

4 (C) the child is in danger of abuse or ne5 glect at the hands of the parent or legal guard6 ian, or is a danger to themselves or others, 

7 except that, in the case that a child is removed from 

8 his or her parent or legal guardian under this sec9 tion, an independent child welfare expert licensed by 

10 the State or county in which the child was so re11 moved, authorizes the separation not later than 48 

12 hours after such removal, and if such expert does 

13 not authorize such separation, the child shall be re14 united with his or her parent or legal guardian not 

15 later than 48 hours after such determination. 

16 (b) PROHIBITION ON SEPARATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A designated agency may 

18 not remove a child from a parent or legal guardian 

19 solely for the policy goal of deterring individuals 

20 from migrating to the United States or for the pol21 icy goal of promoting compliance with civil immigra22 tion laws. 

23 (2) PENALTY FOR FAMILY SEPARATION.—Any 

24 person who knowingly separates a child from his or 


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1 her parent or legal guardian in violation of this sec2 tion, shall be fined not more than $10,000. 

3 (c) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

4 shall ensure that a separation under subsection (a)(3) is 

5 documented in writing and includes, at a minimum, the 

6 reason for such separation, together with the stated evi7 dence for such separation. 

8 SEC. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SEPARATION BY AGENTS 

9 OR OFFICERS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con12 sultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv13 ices and with child welfare and child development profes14 sionals and organizations, shall develop training and guid15 ance, with an emphasis on the best interests of the child, 

16 childhood trauma, attachment, and child development, for 

17 use by agents and officers of designated agencies, in order 

18 to standardize the implementation of section 2(a)(3). 

19 (b) ANNUAL REVIEW.—Not less frequently than an20 nually, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

21 review the guidance developed under subsection (a) and 

22 make recommendations to the Secretary to ensure such 

23 guidance is in accordance with current evidence and best 

24 practices in child welfare, child development, and child25 hood trauma. 


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1 (c) REQUIREMENT.—The guidance under subsection 

2 (a) shall incorporate the presumptions described in section 

3 4. 

4 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 (1) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The guidance and 

6 training developed under this section shall incor7 porate evidence-based practices. 

8 (2) TRAINING REQUIRED.— 

9 (A) All agents and officers of designated 

10 agencies, upon hire, and annually thereafter, 

11 shall complete training on adherence to the 

12 guidance under this section. 

13 (B) All Chief Patrol Agents and Area Port 

14 Directors, upon hire, and annually thereafter, 

15 shall complete— 

16 (i) training on adherence to the guid17 ance under this section; and 

18 (ii) 90 minutes of child welfare prac19 tice training that is evidence-based and 

20 trauma-informed. 

21 SEC. 4. PRESUMPTIONS. 

22 The presumptions described in this section are the 

23 following: 

24 (1) FAMILY UNITY.—There shall be a strong 

25 presumption in favor of family unity. 


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1 (2) SIBLINGS.—To the maximum extent prac2 ticable, the Secretary shall ensure that sibling 

3 groups remain intact. 

4 (3) DETENTION.—In general, there is a pre5 sumption that detention is not in the best interests 

6 of families and children. 

7 SEC. 5. REQUIRED POLICY FOR LOCATING SEPARATED 

8 CHILDREN. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 shall publish final public guidance that describes, with 

12 specificity, the manner in which a parent or legal guardian 

13 may locate a child who was separated from the parent or 

14 legal guardian under section 2(a). In developing the public 

15 guidance, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary 

16 of Health and Human Services, immigrant advocacy orga17 nizations, child welfare organizations, and State child wel18 fare agencies. 

19 (b) WRITTEN NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 

20 provide each parent or legal guardian who was separated, 

21 with written notice of the public guidance to locate a sepa22 rated child. 

23 (c) LANGUAGE ACCESS.—All guidance shall be avail24 able in English and Spanish, and at the request of the 

25 parent or legal guardian, either in the parent or legal 


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1 guardian’s native language or in another language the 

2 parent or legal guardian understands, and manner that 

3 is understandable by the parent or legal guardian. 

4 SEC. 6. REQUIRED INFORMATION FOR SEPARATED FAMI5 LIES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub7 section (c), the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

8 in consultation with the heads of other designated agen9 cies, on a weekly basis, shall provide the parent or legal 

10 guardian of a child who was separated, the following infor11 mation, at a minimum: 

12 (1) A status report on the child’s activities dur13 ing the prior week. 

14 (2) Information about the education and health 

15 of the child, including any medical treatment pro16 vided to the child or medical treatment rec17 ommended for the child. 

18 (3) Information about changes to the child’s 

19 immigration status. 

20 (4) Other information about the child, designed 

21 to promote and maintain family reunification, as the 

22 Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 

23 in his or her discretion. 

24 (b) PHONE COMMUNICATION.—Except as provided 

25 under subsection (c), the Secretary of Health and Human 


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1 Services, in consultation with the heads of other des2 ignated agencies, on a weekly basis, shall provide the par3 ent or legal guardian of a child who was separated with 

4 phone communication between the parent or legal guard5 ian and his or her child. 

6 (c) EXCEPTION.—No information under subsection 

7 (a) or phone communication under subsection (b) shall be 

8 provided to a parent or legal guardian in the case that 

9 a qualified child welfare expert with care and custody of 

10 the child, a child’s advocate, the child’s legal representa11 tion, or the child him or herself concludes it is harmful 

12 or dangerous to the child to communicate with the parent 

13 or legal guardian. 

14 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT ON FAMILY SEPARATION. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the Sec17 retary, in consultation with the heads of other designated 

18 agencies, shall submit a report to the committees of juris19 diction, describing each instance in which a child was sep20 arated from a parent or legal guardian, including the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) The relationship of the adult to the child. 

23 (2) The age and gender of the adult and child. 

24 (3) The length of separation. 


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1 (4) Whether the adult was charged with a 

2 crime, and if the adult was charged with a crime, 

3 the type of crime. 

4 (5) Whether the adult made a claim for asylum, 

5 expressed a fear to return, or applied for other im6 migration relief. 

7 (6) Whether the adult was prosecuted if 

8 charged with a crime and the associated outcome of 

9 such charges. 

10 (7) Whether a referral for investigation was 

11 made to a child welfare or law enforcement agency 

12 when section 2(a)(3) was the justification for sepa13 ration. 

14 (8) The stated reason for, and evidence in sup15 port of, the separation. 

16 (9) If the child was part of a sibling group at 

17 the time of the separation, whether the group has 

18 had physical contact and visitation. 

19 (10) Whether the child was rendered an unac20 companied alien child. 

21 (11) Other information in the Secretary’s dis22 cretion. 

23 SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS. 

24 If a child is separated from a parent or legal guard25 ian, and a State court has not made a determination that 


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1 the parental rights have been terminated, there is a pre2 sumption that— 

3 (1) the parental rights remain intact; and 

4 (2) the separation does not constitute an af5 firmative determination of abuse or neglect under 

6 Federal or State law. 

7 SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF EXISTING LAW. 

8 (a) FEDERAL LAW.—Nothing in this Act shall be in9 terpreted to supersede or modify Federal child welfare law, 

10 where applicable, including the Adoption and Safe Fami11 lies Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89). 

12 (b) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this Act shall be inter13 preted to supersede or modify State child welfare laws 

14 where applicable. 

15 SEC. 10. LIMITATION ON THE PROSECUTION OF ASYLUM 

16 SEEKERS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—An alien who has expressed a 

18 credible or reasonable fear of persecution, filed an applica19 tion for asylum or withholding of removal, or expressed 

20 an intent to file such an application, may not be pros21 ecuted under section 275(a) or 276(a) of the Immigration 

22 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(a), 1326(a)) until the 

23 date on which any such application has been finally adju24 dicated, including any appeals thereto. 


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1 (b) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—In the case that an 

2 alien is prosecuted under section 275(a) or 276(a) of the 

3 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(a), 

4 1326(a)) in violation of subsection (a), it shall be a de5 fense that the alien has expressed a credible or reasonable 

6 fear of persecution, filed an application for asylum or 

7 withholding of removal, or expressed an intent to file such 

8 an application, and that such application has not been fi9 nally adjudicated, including any appeals thereto. 

10 (c) TREATY OBLIGATIONS.—In accordance with the 

11 treaty obligations of the United States under Article 31 

12 of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status 

13 of Refugees, no alien who has been granted asylum or 

14 withholding of removal in the United States may be pros15 ecuted under section 275(a) or 276(a) of the Immigration 

16 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(a), 1326(a)). 

17 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) DESIGNATED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘des20 ignated agency’’ means— 

21 (A) the Department of Homeland Security; 

22 (B) the Department of Justice; and 

23 (C) the Department of Health and Human 

24 Services. 


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1 (2) AGENT OR OFFICER.—The term ‘‘agent or 

2 officer’’ includes contractors of the Federal Govern3 ment. 

4 (3) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi5 vidual who— 

6 (A) has not reached the age of 18; and 

7 (B) has no permanent immigration status. 

8 (4) COMMITTEES OF JURISDICTION.—The term 

9 ‘‘committees of jurisdiction’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

11 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

12 and Pensions of the Senate; and 

13 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

14 the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

15 House of Representatives. 

16 (5) FINDING.—The term ‘‘finding’’ means an 

17 individualized written assessment or screening for18 malized as required under section 2(c), and con19 sistent with sections 3, 4, and 8. 

20 (6) IN DANGER OF ABUSE OR NEGLECT AT THE

21 HAND OF THE PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN.—The 

22 term ‘‘in danger of abuse or neglect at the hands of 

23 the parent or legal guardian’’ does not include mi24 grating to or crossing of a border of the United 

25 States. 


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1 (7) SECRETARY.—Unless otherwise specified, 

2 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Home3 land Security. 

Æ 


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