II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Continued Presence 

5 Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRAFFICKING VICTIMS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 107(c)(3) of the Traf3 ficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

4 7105(c)(3)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

6 (A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(i) INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECU9 TIONS.—If a law enforcement official files 

10 an application stating that an alien may be 

11 a victim of a severe form of trafficking, the 

12 Secretary of Homeland Security may per13 mit the alien to remain in the United 

14 States to facilitate the investigation or 

15 prosecution of a trafficking-related of16 fense.’’; 

17 (B) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause 

18 (v); 

19 (C) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause 

20 (iv) and moving such clause so that it appears 

21 immediately after clause (iii); 

22 (D) by striking clause (iii) and inserting 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(ii) WHILE PURSUING A CIVIL AC25 TION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu26 rity shall permit an alien who is a victim 


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1 of a severe form of trafficking and has 

2 filed a civil action under section 1595 of 

3 title 18 to remain in the United States 

4 until such action is concluded. If the Sec5 retary, after consultation with the Attorney 

6 General, determines that the alien has 

7 failed to exercise due diligence in pursuing 

8 such action, the Secretary may revoke the 

9 order permitting the alien to remain in the 

10 United States. 

11 ‘‘(iii) LENGTH; EXTENSIONS.—The 

12 Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

13 grant continued presence under this sub14 paragraph for a period of not less than 2 

15 years and may extend such status beyond 

16 2 years, at the discretion of the Secretary. 

17 If the alien has a pending immigration 

18 benefit application, continued presence 

19 shall be extended until such application is 

20 approved, withdrawn, or denied upon final 

21 appeal, unless the Secretary determines 

22 that continued presence is no longer war23 ranted.’’; 

24 (E) in clause (iv), as redesignated, by 

25 striking ‘‘Federal law enforcement officials deVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Aug 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4887.IS S4887

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1 scribed in clause (i)’’ and inserting ‘‘law en2 forcement officials’’; and 

3 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(vi) EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZA5 TION.—During the period the alien is au6 thorized to remain in the United States 

7 under this paragraph, the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) authorize the alien to engage 

10 in employment in the United States; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(II) provide the alien with an 

13 ‘employment authorized’ endorsement 

14 or other appropriate work permit. 

15 ‘‘(vii) PROTECTION FROM IMMIGRA16 TION ENFORCEMENT.—While a grant of 

17 continued presence is in effect under this 

18 paragraph, Federal law enforcement offi19 cials may only take civil immigration en20 forcement actions against an alien de21 scribed in clause (i) or (iii)— 

22 ‘‘(I) based on conduct committed 

23 after continued presence is authorized; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) following consultation with 

2 the law enforcement official who filed 

3 the application for continued pres4 ence.’’; 

5 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘Law enforcement’’ and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.— 

9 Law enforcement’’; 

10 (B) in clause (i), as redesignated, by strik11 ing ‘‘subparagraph (A)(i)’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph (A)’’; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) INSIDE THE UNITED STATES.— 

15 Law enforcement officials may submit 

16 written requests to the Secretary of Home17 land Security for deferred action and em18 ployment authorization for certain relatives 

19 of any alien whose continued presence is 

20 permitted under clause (i) or (iii) of sub21 paragraph (A).’’; 

22 (3) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(C) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICE POLI25 CIES, TRAINING, AND MATERIAL.—The SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Aug 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4887.IS S4887

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1 retary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of 

2 State, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 

3 Health and Human Services, the Attorney Gen4 eral, and the Commissioner of the Equal Em5 ployment Opportunity Commission shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) develop policies and procedures 

7 for their respective agency that encourage 

8 the use of and immediate application for 

9 continued presence by the respective agen10 cy upon identification of an individual cov11 ered under subparagraph (A)(i) in appro12 priate cases; 

13 ‘‘(ii) develop materials, in consultation 

14 with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

15 to encourage and assist their respective 

16 Federal agency personnel and other law 

17 enforcement officials to request continued 

18 presence in appropriate cases; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) distribute the materials devel20 oped pursuant to clause (ii) and provide 

21 training on such materials to their respec22 tive Federal agency personnel and other 

23 law enforcement officials.’’; and 

24 (4) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(D) DEFINED TERM.—In this paragraph, 

2 the term ‘law enforcement official’ means any 

3 employee of a Federal, State, tribal, territorial, 

4 or local law enforcement agency, labor agency, 

5 children’s protective services agency, or other 

6 civil, criminal, judicial or administrative author7 ity that has responsibility and authority for the 

8 detection, investigation, or prosecution of severe 

9 forms of trafficking in persons.’’. 

10 (b) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of Homeland Se11 curity shall promulgate regulations to implement the 

12 amendments made by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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