I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3940 

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 

JULY 24, 2019 

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

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 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, 


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3940 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protection of Children 

3 Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL5 DREN. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil7 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

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

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (i) by amending the heading to read 

12 as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED

13 ALIEN CHILDREN.’’; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (A); 

15 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

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

17 habitual resident of a country that is 

18 contiguous with the United States’’; 

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

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

22 and’’ and inserting a period; and 

23 (IV) by striking clause (iii); 

24 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 

25 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

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


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3940 IH

1 seq.) may—’’ and inserting ‘‘(8 

2 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 

3 (II) in clause (i), by inserting be4 fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 

5 the following: ‘‘may’’; and 

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

7 before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol8 lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 

9 (iv) in subparagraph (C)— 

10 (I) by amending the heading to 

11 read as follows: ‘‘AGREEMENTS WITH

12 FOREIGN COUNTRIES.’’; and 

13 (II) in the matter preceding 

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

15 of State shall negotiate agreements 

16 between the United States and coun17 tries contiguous to the United States’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of State 

19 may negotiate agreements between the 

20 United States and any foreign country 

21 that the Secretary determines appro22 priate’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (5)(D)— 

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

25 by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3940 IH

1 alien child from a contiguous country sub2 ject to the exceptions under subsection 

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

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

5 and 

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

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

8 which shall include a hearing before an im9 migration judge not later than 14 days 

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

11 (2) in subsection (b)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

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

14 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘be15 lieved not to meet the criteria listed in sub16 section (a)(2)(A)’’; and 

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

18 before the period the following: ‘‘and does 

19 not meet the criteria listed in subsection 

20 (a)(2)(A)’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un22 accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 

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

24 unaccompanied alien child in custody— 


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3940 IH

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

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

3 shall transfer the custody of such child to the 

4 Secretary of Health and Human Services not 

5 later than 30 days after determining that such 

6 child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 

7 not meet such criteria; or 

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

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

10 transfer the custody of such child to the Sec11 retary of Health and Human Services after de12 termining that such child is an unaccompanied 

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

14 (3) in subsection (c)— 

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

16 end the following: 

17 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS

18 WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 

19 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED

20 TO HOMELAND SECURITY.—Before placing 

21 a child with an individual, the Secretary of 

22 Health and Human Services shall provide 

23 to the Secretary of Homeland Security, re24 garding the individual with whom the child 

25 will be placed, the following information: 


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3940 IH

1 ‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 

2 ‘‘(II) The social security number 

3 of the individual. 

4 ‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in5 dividual. 

6 ‘‘(IV) The location of the individ7 ual’s residence where the child will be 

8 placed. 

9 ‘‘(V) The immigration status of 

10 the individual, if known. 

11 ‘‘(VI) Contact information for 

12 the individual. 

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

14 child who was apprehended on or after 

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

16 enactment of the Protection of Children 

17 Act of 2019, who the Secretary of Health 

18 and Human Services placed with an indi19 vidual, the Secretary shall provide the in20 formation listed in clause (i) to the Sec21 retary of Homeland Security not later than 

22 90 days after the date of the enactment of 

23 the Protection of Children Act of 2019. 

24 ‘‘(iii) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY

25 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Not later than 


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3940 IH

1 30 days after receiving the information 

2 listed in clause (i), the Secretary of Home3 land Security shall— 

4 ‘‘(I) in the case that the immi5 gration status of an individual with 

6 whom a child is placed is unknown, 

7 investigate the immigration status of 

8 that individual; and 

9 ‘‘(II) upon determining that an 

10 individual with whom a child is placed 

11 is unlawfully present in the United 

12 States, initiate removal proceedings 

13 pursuant to chapter 4 of title II of the 

14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

15 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.).’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

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

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

19 expense to the Government)’’; 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep21 resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 

22 counsel to represent them’’. 

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

24 this section shall apply to any unauthorized alien child ap25 prehended on or after June 15, 2012. 


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3940 IH

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 


Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS