I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4869 

To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to establish additional requirements related to ensuring safe placements for unaccompanied alien children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2023 

Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself and Mr. GOODEN of Texas) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to establish additional requirements related to ensuring safe placements 

for unaccompanied alien children. 

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 ‘‘Migrant Child Safety 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF UNACCOMPANIED 

2 ALIEN CHILDREN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235(c)(3) of the William 

4 Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthoriza5 tion Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232(c)(3)) is amended by in6 serting at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS

8 WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 

9 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE COLLECTED

10 BY THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

11 HUMAN SERVICES AND PROVIDED TO THE

12 SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 

13 Before placing the child with an individual, 

14 the Secretary of Health and Human Serv15 ices shall provide to the Secretary of 

16 Homeland Security, regarding the indi17 vidual with whom the child will be placed, 

18 the following information: 

19 ‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 

20 ‘‘(II) The maiden name of the in21 dividual, if applicable. 

22 ‘‘(III) The social security number 

23 of the individual. 

24 ‘‘(IV) The date of birth of the in25 dividual. 


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1 ‘‘(V) The birthplace of the indi2 vidual. 

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

5 placed, including proof of address. 

6 ‘‘(VII) The results of background 

7 checks of the individual and each ad8 ditional adult household member of 

9 the residence where the child will be 

10 placed. 

11 ‘‘(VIII) The immigration status 

12 of the individual, if known. 

13 ‘‘(IX) Contact information for 

14 the individual, including a phone num15 ber. 

16 ‘‘(X) Whether the individual is a 

17 relative or guardian of the child, and 

18 if so— 

19 ‘‘(aa) documents to prove 

20 that the individual is a relative or 

21 guardian of the child; 

22 ‘‘(bb) the contact informa23 tion of any witness willing to tes24 tify that the individual is a rel25 ative or guardian of the child; or 


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1 ‘‘(cc) the results of a DNA 

2 test administered by the Sec3 retary of Health and Human 

4 Services proving that the indi5 vidual is a relative of the child. 

6 ‘‘(ii) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY

7 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Not later than 

8 30 days after receiving the information 

9 listed in clause (i), the Secretary of Home10 land Security, upon determining that an 

11 individual with whom a child is placed is 

12 unlawfully present in the United States 

13 and not in removal proceedings pursuant 

14 to chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration 

15 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1221 et 

16 seq.), shall initiate such removal pro17 ceedings. 

18 ‘‘(iii) NO WAIVER.—The Secretary of 

19 Health and Human Services may not waive 

20 the requirements under clause (i). 

21 ‘‘(iv) REPORTS TO NCMEC.—The Sec22 retary of Health and Human Services shall 

23 report as missing to the National Center 

24 for Missing and Exploited Children the 

25 name (and any other information in the 


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1 possession of the Secretary) of any unac2 companied alien child, with respect to 

3 whom, not later than 120 days after plac4 ing the child with the sponsor— 

5 ‘‘(I) the Secretary could not con6 tact the sponsor for the purpose of a 

7 follow-up or well-being check; or 

8 ‘‘(II) the sponsor did not contact 

9 the Secretary for the purpose of a fol10 low-up or well-being check. 

11 ‘‘(v) INFORMATION PROVIDED TO

12 STATE OR LOCAL HEALTH OR WELFARE

13 AGENCY.—Not later than 30 days after 

14 placing a child in a residence, the Sec15 retary of Health and Human Services shall 

16 provide to the appropriate State or local 

17 health or welfare agency the information 

18 provided to the Secretary of Homeland Se19 curity under clause (i) and any other infor20 mation in the possession of the Secretary 

21 related to the child. 

22 ‘‘(vi) PARENTAL CONTACT.—To the 

23 extent practicable, the Secretary of Health 

24 and Human Services shall attempt to con25 tact the parents of each unaccompanied 


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1 alien child, using any information in the 

2 possession of the Secretary.’’. 

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

4 this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 

5 (as such term is defined in section 462(g) of the Home6 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))) apprehended 

7 on or after the date that is 30 days after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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