I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2049 

To reduce the amount of foreign assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, 

and Honduras based on the number of unaccompanied alien children 

who are nationals or citizens of such countries and who in the preceding 

fiscal year are placed in Federal custody by reason of their immigration 

status. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2019 

Mr. BURGESS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To reduce the amount of foreign assistance to El Salvador, 

Guatemala, and Honduras based on the number of unaccompanied alien children who are nationals or citizens 

of such countries and who in the preceding fiscal year 

are placed in Federal custody by reason of their immigration status. 

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 ‘‘Unaccompanied Alien 

5 Children Assistance Control Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Gang violence, poverty, and corruption are 

4 the main drivers of illegal immigration from El Sal5 vador, Guatemala, and Honduras to the United 

6 States. 

7 (2) According to an independent task force re8 port by the Atlantic Council’s Latin America Cen9 ter— 

10 (A) systemic corruption stagnates eco11 nomic growth; 

12 (B) eight in ten poll respondents see cor13 ruption as widespread; 

14 (C) citizens in El Salvador, Guatemala, 

15 and Honduras do not trust the government in16 stitutions responsible for curtailing corruption; 

17 and 

18 (D) investigations have revealed massive 

19 networks dedicated to co-opting public funds for 

20 the personal enrichment of government officials. 

21 (3) There exists the potential for foreign assist22 ance from the United States to be misused by cen23 tral government officials in El Salvador, Guatemala, 

24 and Honduras in order to reduce the success of anti25 corruption efforts. 


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1 (4) Systemic corruption in El Salvador, Guate2 mala, and Honduras undermines efforts to address 

3 the driving causes of illegal immigration into the 

4 United States from such countries. 

5 (5) The United States provided more than 

6 $2,600,000,000 in foreign assistance to Central 

7 American countries during fiscal years 2015 through 

8 2018, and Congress appropriated over $500,000,000 

9 in such assistance for fiscal year 2019. 

10 (6) For the past 5 fiscal years, 225,463 unac11 companied alien children from El Salvador, Guate12 mala, and Honduras were referred to the Office of 

13 Refugee Resettlement (ORR) of the Department of 

14 Health and Human Services, an average of 45,092 

15 per year. 

16 (7) On average, providing care for unaccom17 panied alien children in ORR custody costs $500 per 

18 child, per day. 

19 (8) In fiscal year 2018, the average length of 

20 stay in ORR custody for an unaccompanied alien 

21 child was 60 days. 

22 (9) On average, the total cost of care for an un23 accompanied alien child in ORR custody is $30,000 

24 per child and $1,352,760,000 per year for all chil25 dren. 


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1 SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF AMOUNT OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 

2 TO EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, AND HON3 DURAS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall reduce from 

5 amounts made available under the Foreign Assistance Act 

6 of 1961 or any other Act and allocated for a covered coun7 try for a fiscal year an amount equal to— 

8 (1) the number of unaccompanied alien children 

9 who— 

10 (A) are nationals or citizens of the covered 

11 country; and 

12 (B) in the preceding fiscal year are placed 

13 in Federal custody by reason of their immigra14 tion status; multiplied by 

15 (2) $30,000. 

16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

17 (1) the term ‘‘covered country’’ means El Sal18 vador, Guatemala, or Honduras; and 

19 (2) the term ‘‘unaccompanied alien child’’ has 

20 the meaning given the term in section 462(g)(2) of 

21 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

22 279(g)(2)). 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act takes effect on the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act and applies with respect 

25 to amounts made available under the Foreign Assistance 


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1 Act of 1961 or any other Act for fiscal year 2020 and 

2 each subsequent fiscal year. 

Æ 


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