I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2235 

To provide for enhanced protections for vulnerable unaccompanied alien 

children and female detainees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2011 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD 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 provide for enhanced protections for vulnerable 

unaccompanied alien children and female detainees. 

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 ‘‘Child Trafficking Vic5 tims Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCED PROTECTIONS FOR VULNERABLE UNAC2 COMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN AND FEMALE 

3 DETAINEES. 

4 (a) MANDATORY TRAINING.—The Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Office of Ref6 ugee Resettlement of the Department of Health and 

7 Human Services and independent child welfare experts, 

8 shall mandate live training of all personnel who come into 

9 contact with unaccompanied alien children (as defined in 

10 section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

11 U.S.C. 279)) in all relevant legal authorities, policies, and 

12 procedures pertaining to this vulnerable population. 

13 (b) CARE AND TRANSPORTATION.—Notwithstanding 

14 any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Se15 curity shall ensure that all unaccompanied children who 

16 will undergo any immigration proceedings before the De17 partment of Homeland Security and the Executive Office 

18 for Immigration Review are duly transported and placed 

19 in the care and legal and physical custody of the Office 

20 of Refugee Resettlement within a maximum of 72 hours 

21 of their apprehension absent narrowly defined exceptional 

22 circumstances, including a natural disaster or comparable 

23 emergency beyond the control of the Secretary of Home24 land Security or the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The 

25 Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that female 

26 officers are responsible and at all times present during the 


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1 transfer and transport of female detainees who are in the 

2 custody of the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

3 (c) QUALIFIED RESOURCES.—For purposes of this 

4 section, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide 

5 adequately trained and qualified staff resources at each 

6 major port of entry (as defined by the U.S. Customs and 

7 Border Protection station assigned to that port having in 

8 its custody over the past two fiscal years an average per 

9 year of 50 or more unaccompanied alien children (as de10 fined in section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

11 (6 U.S.C. 279))), including U.S. Customs and Border 

12 Protection agents charged primarily with the safe, swift, 

13 and humane transportation of unaccompanied alien chil14 dren to Office of Refugee Resettlement custody and inde15 pendent licensed social workers dedicated to ensuring the 

16 proper temporary care for the children while in Depart17 ment of Homeland Security custody prior to their transfer 

18 to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, who will ensure 

19 that each child— 

20 (1) receives emergency medical care; 

21 (2) receives mental health care in case of trau22 ma and has access to psychosocial health services; 

23 (3) is provided with a pillow, linens, and suffi24 cient blankets to rest at a comfortable temperature, 


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1 a bed, and a mattress placed in an area specifically 

2 designated for residential use; 

3 (4) receives adequate nutrition; 

4 (5) enjoys a safe and sanitary living environ5 ment; 

6 (6) receives educational materials; and 

7 (7) has access to at least three hours per day 

8 of indoor and outdoor recreational programs and ac9 tivities. 

10 (d) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se11 curity shall immediately notify the Office of Refugee Re12 settlement of an unaccompanied alien child in the custody 

13 of the Department of Homeland Security to effectively and 

14 efficiently coordinate the child’s transfer to and placement 

15 with the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

16 (e) NOTICE OF RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO COUNSEL.— 

17 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that an 

18 independent licensed social worker, as described in sub19 section (c), provides all unaccompanied alien children upon 

20 apprehension with both a video orientation and oral and 

21 written notice of their rights under the Immigration and 

22 Nationality Act including their rights to relief from re23 moval and their rights to confer with counsel (as guaran24 teed under section 292 of such Act), family, or friends 

25 while in the Department of Homeland Security’s temVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:15 Jun 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2235.IH H2235

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1 porary custody and relevant complaint mechanisms to re2 port any abuse or misconduct they may have experienced. 

3 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that the 

4 video orientation and written notice of rights is available 

5 in English and in the five most common native languages 

6 spoken by the unaccompanied children held in custody at 

7 that location during the preceding fiscal year, and that 

8 the oral notice of rights is available in English and in the 

9 most common native language spoken by the unaccom10 panied children held in custody at that location during the 

11 preceding fiscal year. 

12 (f) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary of Health and 

13 Human Services shall maintain the privacy and confiden14 tiality of all information gathered in the course of pro15 viding care, custody, placement and follow-up services to 

16 unaccompanied alien children, consistent with the best in17 terest of the unaccompanied alien child, by not disclosing 

18 such information to other government agencies or non19 parental third parties. The Secretary may share informa20 tion when authorized to do so by the child and when con21 sistent with the child’s best interest. The Secretary may 

22 provide information to a duly recognized law enforcement 

23 entity, if such disclosure would prevent imminent and seri24 ous harm to another individual. All disclosures shall be 

25 duly recorded in writing and placed in the child’s files. 


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1 (g) OTHER POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The Sec2 retary shall further adopt fundamental child protection 

3 policies and procedures— 

4 (1) for reliable age determinations of children 

5 which exclude the use of fallible forensic testing of 

6 children’s bone and teeth developed in consultation 

7 with medical and child welfare experts; 

8 (2) to ensure the safe and secure repatriation 

9 and reintegration of unaccompanied alien children to 

10 their home countries through specialized programs 

11 developed in close consultation with the Secretary of 

12 State, the Office of the Refugee Resettlement and 

13 reputable independent child welfare experts includ14 ing placement of children with their families or non15 governmental agencies to provide food, shelter and 

16 vocational training and microfinance opportunities; 

17 (3) to utilize all legal authorities to defer the 

18 child’s removal if the child faces a risk of life-threat19 ening harm upon return including due to the child’s 

20 mental health or medical condition; and 

21 (4) to ensure that unaccompanied alien children 

22 (as defined in section 462 of the Homeland Security 

23 Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279)) are physically sepa24 rated from any adult who is not an immediate fam25 ily member and are separated by sight and sound 


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1 from immigration detainees and inmates with crimi2 nal convictions, pretrial inmates facing criminal 

3 prosecution, children who have been adjudicated 

4 delinquents or convicted of adult offenses or are 

5 pending delinquency or criminal proceedings, and 

6 those inmates exhibiting violent behavior while in de7 tention as is consistent with the Juvenile Justice 

8 and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

9 5601 et seq.). 

Æ 


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