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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9654 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9654

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require effective sharing 
 of court information regarding unaccompanied alien children released 
                 from custody, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2024

   Mr. Higgins of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require effective sharing 
 of court information regarding unaccompanied alien children released 
                 from custody, 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 ``Stop Alien Children Trafficking 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE SHARING OF COURT INFORMATION REGARDING UNACCOMPANIED 
              ALIEN CHILDREN RELEASED FROM CUSTODY.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle I of title VIII of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 481 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 896. EFFECTIVE SHARING OF COURT INFORMATION REGARDING 
              UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN RELEASED FROM CUSTODY.

    ``(a) Information Sharing.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after date of the 
        enactment of this section, the Director of U.S. Immigration and 
        Customs Enforcement shall implement an automated process to 
        identify unaccompanied alien children who do not appear for 
        immigration hearings and share such information with the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Internally, between the following:
                            ``(i) Office of the Principal Legal 
                        Advisor.
                            ``(ii) Enforcement and Removal Operations.
                    ``(B) Externally, with the following:
                            ``(i) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
                            ``(ii) The Office of Refugee Resettlement 
                        of the Department of Health and Human Services.
                            ``(iii) The Department of Justice.
            ``(2) Accountability.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each fiscal year, the Secretary 
                shall submit to the Attorney General an annual written 
                certification indicating whether U.S. Immigration and 
                Customs Enforcement is in compliance with subsection 
                (a).
                    ``(B) Compliance determination.--Not later than 60 
                days after the submission of the certification under 
                subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall determine 
                whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has 
                achieved compliance with subsection (a).
                    ``(C) Noncompliance penalties.--For each of fiscal 
                years 2025 through 2035, each political appointee of 
                U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall not be 
                eligible for the receipt of bonus pay, excluding 
                overtime pay, until--
                            ``(i) the Secretary certifies compliance 
                        pursuant to subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) the Attorney General makes a 
                        determination of compliance pursuant to 
                        subparagraph (B).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 895 the following new item:

``Sec. 896. Effective sharing of court information regarding 
                            unaccompanied alien children released from 
                            custody.''.
                                 <all>
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