I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1958 

To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to provide for the expedited removal of 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2021 

Mr. CARTER of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to provide for the 

expedited removal of 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. 

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 ‘‘Protection of Children 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL2 DREN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil4 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

5 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by amending the heading to read 

9 as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED

10 ALIEN CHILDREN.’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (A); 

12 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

13 (i), by striking ‘‘who is a national or 

14 habitual resident of a country that is 

15 contiguous with the United States’’; 

16 (II) in clause (i), by inserting 

17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

18 (III) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 

19 and’’ and inserting a period; and 

20 (IV) by striking clause (iii); 

21 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

23 (i), by striking ‘‘(8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

24 seq.) may—’’ and inserting ‘‘(8 

25 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 


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1 (II) in clause (i), by inserting be2 fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 

3 the following: ‘‘may’’; and 

4 (III) in clause (ii), by inserting 

5 before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol6 lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 

7 (iv) in subparagraph (C)— 

8 (I) by amending the heading to 

9 read as follows: ‘‘AGREEMENTS WITH

10 FOREIGN COUNTRIES.’’; and 

11 (II) in the matter preceding 

12 clause (i), by striking ‘‘The Secretary 

13 of State shall negotiate agreements 

14 between the United States and coun15 tries contiguous to the United States’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of State 

17 may negotiate agreements between the 

18 United States and any foreign country 

19 that the Secretary determines appro20 priate’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (5)(D)— 

22 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

23 by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 

24 alien child from a contiguous country sub25 ject to the exceptions under subsection 


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1 (a)(2),’’ and inserting ‘‘who does not meet 

2 the criteria listed in paragraph (2)(A)’’; 

3 and 

4 (ii) in clause (i), by inserting before 

5 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 

6 which shall include a hearing before an im7 migration judge not later than 14 days 

8 after being screened under paragraph (4)’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

12 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘be13 lieved not to meet the criteria listed in sub14 section (a)(2)(A)’’; and 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

16 before the period the following: ‘‘and does 

17 not meet the criteria listed in subsection 

18 (a)(2)(A)’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un20 accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 

21 all that follows, and inserting the following: ‘‘an 

22 unaccompanied alien child in custody— 

23 ‘‘(A) in the case of a child who does not 

24 meet the criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), 

25 shall transfer the custody of such child to the 


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1 Secretary of Health and Human Services not 

2 later than 30 days after determining that such 

3 child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 

4 not meet such criteria; or 

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of a child who meets the 

6 criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), may 

7 transfer the custody of such child to the Sec8 retary of Health and Human Services after de9 termining that such child is an unaccompanied 

10 alien child who meets such criteria.’’; and 

11 (3) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS

15 WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 

16 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED

17 TO HOMELAND SECURITY.—Before placing 

18 a child with an individual, the Secretary of 

19 Health and Human Services shall provide 

20 to the Secretary of Homeland Security, re21 garding the individual with whom the child 

22 will be placed, the following information: 

23 ‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 

24 ‘‘(II) The social security number 

25 of the individual. 


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1 ‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in2 dividual. 

3 ‘‘(IV) The location of the individ4 ual’s residence where the child will be 

5 placed. 

6 ‘‘(V) The immigration status of 

7 the individual, if known. 

8 ‘‘(VI) Contact information for 

9 the individual. 

10 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a 

11 child who was apprehended on or after 

12 June 15, 2012, and before the date of the 

13 enactment of the Protection of Children 

14 Act of 2021, who the Secretary of Health 

15 and Human Services placed with an indi16 vidual, the Secretary shall provide the in17 formation listed in clause (i) to the Sec18 retary of Homeland Security not later than 

19 90 days after the date of the enactment of 

20 the Protection of Children Act of 2021. 

21 ‘‘(iii) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY

22 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Not later than 

23 30 days after receiving the information 

24 listed in clause (i), the Secretary of Home25 land Security shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) in the case that the immi2 gration status of an individual with 

3 whom a child is placed is unknown, 

4 investigate the immigration status of 

5 that individual; and 

6 ‘‘(II) upon determining that an 

7 individual with whom a child is placed 

8 is unlawfully present in the United 

9 States, initiate removal proceedings 

10 pursuant to chapter 4 of title II of the 

11 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

12 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.).’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

14 (i) by inserting after ‘‘to the greatest 

15 extent practicable’’ the following: ‘‘(at no 

16 expense to the Government)’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep18 resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 

19 counsel to represent them’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall apply to any unauthorized alien child ap22 prehended on or after June 15, 2012. 


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1 SEC. 3. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IMMI2 GRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EITHER 

3 PARENT. 

4 Section 101(a)(27)(J)(i) of the Immigration and Na5 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)(i)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘1 or both of the immigrant’s parents’’ and in7 serting ‘‘either of the immigrant’s parents’’. 

8 SEC. 4. JURISDICTION OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS. 

9 Section 208(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 

10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended by striking subparagraph 

11 (C). 

Æ 


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