I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3606 

To provide for enhanced protections for vulnerable unaccompanied alien 

children and female detainees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Appropriations, 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTING CHILD TRAFFICKING VICTIMS. 

7 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘un8 accompanied alien children’’ has the meaning given such 

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1 term in section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

2 (6 U.S.C. 279). 

3 (b) MANDATORY TRAINING.—The Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 

5 Health and Human Services and independent child welfare 

6 experts, shall mandate appropriate training of all per7 sonnel who come into contact with unaccompanied alien 

8 children in the relevant legal authorities, policies, prac9 tices, and procedures pertaining to this vulnerable popu10 lation. 

11 (c) CARE AND TRANSPORTATION.—Notwithstanding 

12 any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Se13 curity shall ensure that all unaccompanied alien children 

14 who will undergo any immigration proceedings before the 

15 Secretary or the Executive Office for Immigration Review 

16 are duly transported and placed in the care and legal and 

17 physical custody of the Director of the Office of Refugee 

18 Resettlement not later than 72 hours after their apprehen19 sion, absent exceptional circumstances. In exceptional cir20 cumstances, such as an influx of children or a natural dis21 aster, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall make 

22 emergency funds available to the Director of the Office 

23 of Refugee Resettlement, to the extent and in such 

24 amounts as are provided in advance in appropriations 

25 Acts, for the operation of emergency shelters. The Secmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 retary of Homeland Security, to the extent practicable, 

2 shall ensure that female officers are continuously present 

3 during the transfer and transport of female detainees who 

4 are in the custody of the Secretary. 

5 (d) QUALIFIED RESOURCES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

7 Security shall provide adequately trained and quali8 fied staff and resources, including child welfare pro9 fessionals in accordance with subsection (e), at U.S. 

10 Customs and Border Protection ports of entry and 

11 stations. 

12 (2) CHILD WELFARE PROFESSIONALS.—The 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 

14 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

15 shall hire or contract with, on a full- or part-time 

16 basis, child welfare professionals who will provide as17 sistance in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

18 offices or stations having in their custody an average 

19 of 25 or more children a day in the past fiscal year, 

20 and subject to review based upon the current fiscal 

21 year’s monthly statistical reports. 

22 (e) CHILD WELFARE PROFESSIONALS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta24 tion with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv25 ices, shall ensure that qualified child welfare profesmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 sionals, licensed in social work, or other comparable 

2 training and expertise, and with expertise in cul3 turally competent, trauma-centered, and develop4 mentally appropriate interviewing skills are available 

5 at ports of entry and stations as described in sub6 section (d). Child welfare professionals shall be pro7 ficient in the most common languages spoken by 

8 children apprehended at the border. In the case 

9 where one is not available, an interpreter shall be 

10 used. 

11 (2) DUTIES.—Child welfare professionals de12 scribed in paragraph (1) shall— 

13 (A) develop guidelines for treatment of 

14 children in the custody of the Commissioner of 

15 U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 

16 (B) ensure allegations of abuse or mis17 treatment are referred to the appropriate State 

18 and Federal child protection authorities and 

19 that the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 

20 Border Protection and the Director of the Of21 fice of Refugee Resettlement satisfy their obli22 gations under applicable child abuse reporting 

23 laws by— 

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1 (i) ensuring that children can avail 

2 themselves of relevant complaint mecha3 nisms to report abuse or misconduct; 

4 (ii) reporting abuse or mistreatment 

5 to State and Federal child protection au6 thorities as required, as well as Depart7 ment of Homeland Security Office of the 

8 Inspector General, Office of Civil Rights 

9 and Civil Liberties, U.S. Customs and Bor10 der Protection Internal Affairs Office, and 

11 the Office of Refugee Resettlement; and 

12 (iii) providing notice to area govern13 ment subcontracted legal service providers 

14 regarding a child who has made an allega15 tion of abuse and directing provider to rel16 evant authorities regarding availability of 

17 immigration and administrative relief for 

18 individuals with pending civil rights com19 plaints; 

20 (C) conduct screening of all unaccom21 panied alien children in accordance with section 

22 235(a)(4) of the William Wilberforce Traf23 ficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 

24 of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232(a)(4)) and refrain from 

25 screening children from noncontiguous counmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tries who will undergo screening at the Office of 

2 Refugee Resettlement; 

3 (D) notify the Secretary of Homeland Se4 curity and the Director of the Office of Refugee 

5 Resettlement of children that potentially meet 

6 the notification and transfer requirements, in7 cluding children for whom a determination can8 not be made, as set forth in subsections (a) and 

9 (b) of section 235 of the William Wilberforce 

10 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

11 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232); 

12 (E) provide a best interest placement rec13 ommendation for accompanied children and 

14 families to the Director of U.S. Immigration 

15 and Customs Enforcement that takes into con16 sideration the best interests of the child and ap17 plicable law, favoring a policy of release; 

18 (F) interview adult relatives accompanying 

19 unaccompanied alien children; 

20 (G) provide an initial family relationship 

21 and trafficking assessment and recommenda22 tions regarding unaccompanied alien children’s 

23 initial placements to the Director of the Office 

24 of Refugee Resettlement, which shall be con25 ducted in accordance with the timeframe set 

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1 forth in subsections (a)(4) and (b)(3) of section 

2 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Vic3 tims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 

4 U.S.C. 1232); 

5 (H) ensure that each child in the custody 

6 of the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Bor7 der Protection— 

8 (i) receives emergency medical care 

9 when necessary; 

10 (ii) receives emergency medical and 

11 mental health care that complies with the 

12 standards adopted pursuant to section 8(c) 

13 of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 

14 2003 (42 U.S.C. 15607(c)) whenever nec15 essary, including in cases in which a child 

16 is at risk to harm himself, herself, or oth17 ers; 

18 (iii) is provided with climate appro19 priate clothing, shoes, basic personal hy20 giene and sanitary products, a pillow, lin21 ens, and sufficient blankets to rest at a 

22 comfortable temperature; 

23 (iv) receives adequate nutrition; 

24 (v) enjoys a safe and sanitary living 

25 environment; 

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1 (vi) has access to daily recreational 

2 programs and activities if held for a period 

3 longer than 24 hours; 

4 (vii) has regular access to legal serv5 ices and consular officials both in person 

6 and telephonically; and 

7 (viii) is permitted to make supervised 

8 phone calls to family members; 

9 (I) develop procedures to maintain the best 

10 interests of the child in any migration deter11 rence programs for family units carried out at 

12 a border, including— 

13 (i) inquiring whether a child is trav14 eling with a parent or legal guardian; 

15 (ii) ascertaining whether the removal 

16 location of an apprehended parent or legal 

17 guardian of the child presents any humani18 tarian concern or concern related to such 

19 apprehended individual’s physical safety; 

20 (iii) ensuring that, with respect to a 

21 decision related to the removal or referral 

22 for prosecution of such apprehended indi23 vidual, due consideration is given to— 

24 (I) the best interests of such ap25 prehended individual’s child, if any; 

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1 (II) family unity whenever pos2 sible; and 

3 (III) other public interest factors, 

4 including humanitarian concerns and 

5 concerns related to such apprehended 

6 individual’s physical safety; and 

7 (J) coordinate with the Mexican Consulate 

8 to ensure the safe repatriation of Mexican chil9 dren. 

10 (3) MONITORING.—The Secretary of Homeland 

11 Security, in consultation with a child welfare profes12 sional, shall develop procedures to provide regular 

13 access to nongovernmental organizations for human 

14 rights monitoring. 

15 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

17 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

18 Congress that— 

19 (A) describes the screening procedures 

20 used by the child welfare professionals to screen 

21 unaccompanied alien children and children ac22 companied by a parent or legal guardian; 

23 (B) assesses the effectiveness of such 

24 screenings; and 

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1 (C) includes data on all children who were 

2 screened by child welfare professionals. 

3 (f) IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security shall notify the Director of the Office 

5 of Refugee Resettlement of an unaccompanied alien child 

6 in the custody of the Secretary as soon as practicable, but 

7 generally not later than 48 hours after the Secretary en8 counters the child, to effectively and efficiently coordinate 

9 the child’s transfer to and placement with the Director 

10 of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

11 (g) NOTICE OF RIGHTS AND RIGHT TO ACCESS TO

12 COUNSEL.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

14 that all children, upon apprehension, are provided— 

15 (A) an interview and screening with a child 

16 welfare professional described in subsection 

17 (e)(1); and 

18 (B) a video orientation, as well as an oral 

19 and written notice, in a language they under20 stand, of their rights under the Immigration 

21 and Nationality Act, including— 

22 (i) their right to relief from removal; 

23 (ii) their right to confer with counsel 

24 (as guaranteed under section 292 of such 

25 Act (8 U.S.C. 1362)), family, or friends 

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1 while in the temporary custody of the De2 partment; and 

3 (iii) relevant complaint mechanisms to 

4 report any abuse or misconduct they may 

5 have experienced. 

6 (2) LANGUAGES.—The Secretary shall ensure 

7 that the video orientation described in paragraph (1) 

8 is available in English and in the 5 most common 

9 native languages spoken by children held in custody 

10 at that location during the preceding fiscal year. 

11 (h) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary of Health 

12 and Human Services shall maintain the privacy and con13 fidentiality of all information gathered in the course of 

14 providing care, custody, placement, and follow-up services 

15 to unaccompanied alien children, consistent with the best 

16 interest of the unaccompanied alien child, by not dis17 closing such information to other government agencies or 

18 nonparental third parties unless such disclosure is— 

19 (1) recorded in writing and placed in the child’s 

20 file; 

21 (2) in the child’s best interest; and 

22 (3)(A) authorized by the child or by an ap23 proved sponsor in accordance with section 235 of the 

24 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 

25 Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) and 

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1 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 

2 Act (Public Law 104–191); or 

3 (B) provided to a duly recognized law enforce4 ment entity to prevent imminent and serious harm 

5 to another individual. 

6 (i) OTHER POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The Sec7 retary shall adopt fundamental child protection policies 

8 and procedures— 

9 (1) for reliable age determinations of children, 

10 developed in consultation with medical and child wel11 fare experts, which exclude the use of fallible foren12 sic testing of children’s bone and teeth; 

13 (2) to utilize all legal authorities to defer the 

14 child’s removal if the child faces a risk of life-threat15 ening harm upon return including due to the child’s 

16 mental health or medical condition; and 

17 (3) to ensure, in accordance with the Juvenile 

18 Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 

19 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.), that unaccompanied alien chil20 dren, while in detention, are— 

21 (A) physically separated from any adult 

22 who is not an immediate family member; and 

23 (B) separated from— 

24 (i) immigration detainees and inmates 

25 with criminal convictions; 

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1 (ii) pretrial inmates facing criminal 

2 prosecution; and 

3 (iii) inmates exhibiting violent behav4 ior. 

5 (j) REPATRIATION AND REINTEGRATION PRO6 GRAM.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

8 United States Agency for International Develop9 ment, in conjunction with the Secretary of Home10 land Security, the Secretary of Health and Human 

11 Services, the Attorney General, international organi12 zations, and nongovernmental organizations in the 

13 United States with expertise in repatriation and re14 integration, shall ensure that programs in the 

15 United States and within the country of return sup16 port the safe and sustainable repatriation and re17 integration of unaccompanied alien children into 

18 their country of nationality or of last habitual resi19 dence, including placement with their families, legal 

20 guardians, or other sponsoring agencies. 

21 (2) SCOPE.—The process described in para22 graph (1) shall include— 

23 (A) an identification of the expressed needs 

24 of the child; 

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1 (B) the creation of partnerships with com2 munity based organizations that are linguis3 tically and culturally competent; 

4 (C) the recognition of the need to include 

5 the family unit in the process to help the child 

6 reintegrate; 

7 (D) the provision of a wide diversity of 

8 services, including access to school, scholar9 ships, and vocational and skills training; 

10 (E) procedures that outline safe repatri11 ation to ensure children are not returned to 

12 harm or in other unsafe circumstances such as 

13 during nighttime hours; 

14 (F) procedures for when the exercise of 

15 discretion should be exercised because it is not 

16 in the child’s best interest to be returned; and 

17 (G) special considerations to address the 

18 particular needs of returning girls are ad19 dressed, tender-aged children, or other vulner20 able children. 

21 (3) REPORT ON REPATRIATION AND RE22 INTEGRATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL23 DREN.—Not later than 18 months after the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

25 the Administrator of the Agency for International 

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1 Development shall submit a substantive report to the 

2 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

4 the Senate on efforts to improve repatriation and re5 integration programs for unaccompanied alien chil6 dren. 

7 (k) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.— 

8 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Home9 land Security, in accordance with a written agree10 ment between the Secretary and the Secretary of 

11 Health and Human Services, and to the extent and 

12 in such amounts as are provided in advance in ap13 propriations Acts, shall transfer such amounts as 

14 may be necessary to carry out the duties described 

15 in subsections (c) and (e)(2) from amounts appro16 priated for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to 

17 the Department of Health and Human Services. 

18 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 15 days before 

19 any proposed transfer under paragraph (1), the Sec20 retary of Health and Human Services, in consulta21 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 

22 submit a detailed expenditure plan that describes the 

23 actions proposed to be taken with amounts trans24 ferred under such paragraph to— 

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1 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

2 the House of Representatives; and 

3 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

4 the Senate. 

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