I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5415 

To require the Federal Government to report on efforts to locate, establish 

contact with, conduct wellness checks on, and investigate any suspicion 

of human trafficking related to approximately 85,000 unaccompanied 

alien children who crossed the U.S. southern border, were released from 

Federal custody, and with whom subsequent contact has been lost. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. 

GRIFFITH, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HUNT, Mr. LAMBORN, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. OGLES, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. VAN DUYNE, Mr. 

WEBER of Texas, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. WALBERG, 

Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BURGESS, and Mr. SIMPSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

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

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 require the Federal Government to report on efforts 

to locate, establish contact with, conduct wellness checks 

on, and investigate any suspicion of human trafficking 

related to approximately 85,000 unaccompanied alien 

children who crossed the U.S. southern border, were 

released from Federal custody, and with whom subsequent contact has been lost. 


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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 ‘‘Safeguarding Endan5 gered Children, Unaccompanied and at Risk of Exploi6 tation Act of 2023’’ or as the ‘‘SECURE Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) According to statistics kept by U.S. Cus10 toms and Border Protection, at least 345,000 chil11 dren have crossed the United States southern border 

12 unaccompanied since early 2021. 

13 (2) Thousands of these children have been vic14 tims of child sex trafficking, forced child labor, or 

15 child sexual exploitation and abuse, or some com16 bination of these crimes. 

17 (3) The Department of Health and Human 

18 Services, through its Office of Refugee Resettlement, 

19 was and is responsible for the well-being of these 

20 children up through repatriation or placement in 

21 safe homes within the United States. 

22 (4) The Department and the Office have lost 

23 contact with as many as 85,000 of these migrant 

24 children after placing them with sponsors in the 


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1 United States and their locations and well-being is 

2 currently unknown. 

3 (5) The risk of child sex trafficking, forced 

4 child labor, and sexual exploitation and abuse of 

5 these children is immediate and grave. 

6 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 75 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and 

10 the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 

11 jointly submit a status report to the Committee on the 

12 Judiciary of the House of Representatives, the Committee 

13 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representa14 tives, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

15 of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security 

16 and Government Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on 

17 the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on Health, 

18 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate on the sta19 tus of all unaccompanied alien children that have been in 

20 the custody and care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement 

21 since January 1, 2021, and have been released to a parent, 

22 family-member, or sponsor within the United States. 

23 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Such status report 

24 shall include, at a minimum, all information known by the 

25 Secretaries and FBI concerning— 


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1 (1) the age, sex, and location (including the city 

2 and State) for each child; 

3 (2) the number of days the child was in the 

4 custody and care of the Secretary of Health and 

5 Human Services before placement with a sponsor 

6 within the United States; 

7 (3) whether they live with a non-relative or rel8 ative and the degree of kinship; 

9 (4) the number of related and unrelated adults 

10 living in the child’s home; 

11 (5) the number of formerly unaccompanied 

12 alien children in the home; 

13 (6) an assessment (and the results thereof) of 

14 the child’s cognitive, emotional, physical, and behav15 ioral well-being; 

16 (7) an assessment (and the results thereof) of 

17 whether the child is a victim of, or is at risk of being 

18 a victim of child sexual exploitation and abuse or se19 vere forms of trafficking in persons as defined by 

20 Public Law 106–386, including an explanation of 

21 the methodology used in each assessment; 

22 (8) whether all the adults in the home have 

23 been subject to a fingerprint-based check of national 

24 crime information databases (as defined in section 

25 534(f)(3)(A) of title 28, United States Code); 


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1 (9) whether a fingerprint or other background 

2 check has revealed an adult in the home has a 

3 record of a conviction for child abuse or neglect, for 

4 spousal abuse, for a crime against children (includ5 ing child pornography), or for a crime involving vio6 lence, including rape, sexual assault, or homicide, a 

7 felony drug-related offense or three or more mis8 demeanor drug offenses, or crimes of involving moral 

9 turpitude; and 

10 (10) the number of children that the Office of 

11 Refugee Resettlement has tried to contact without 

12 success on at least three separate attempts. 

13 (c) UPDATE AND RESUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The 

14 joint status report required by this section shall be up15 dated and resubmitted every 60 days to the Committee 

16 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, the 

17 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

18 Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security of 

19 the House of Representatives, the Committee on Home20 land Security and Government Affairs of the Senate, the 

21 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Com22 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

23 Senate. 

24 (d) TERMINATION DATE.—The reporting require25 ments under this section shall remain in effect until the 


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1 unaccompanied alien children described in subsection (a) 

2 have been adequately accounted for, or that three years 

3 have elapsed since the first report, whichever comes first. 

4 SEC. 4. FUNDING CONDITIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each day the required status 

6 report is submitted late to the Committee on the Judiciary 

7 of the House of Representatives, the Committee on En8 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the 

9 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep10 resentatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and 

11 Government Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on the 

12 Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on Health, 

13 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, as deter14 mined by the relevant committee chairs and ranking mem15 bers— 

16 (1) $100,000 shall be rescinded from unobli17 gated funds made available for the salaries and ex18 penses of the Office of the Secretary for Health and 

19 Human Services; 

20 (2) $100,000 shall be rescinded from unobli21 gated funds made available for the salaries and ex22 penses of the Office of the Secretary for Homeland 

23 Security; and 

24 (3) $100,000 shall be rescinded from unobli25 gated funds made available for the salaries and exVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:59 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5415.IH H5415

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1 penses of the Office the Director of the Federal Bu2 reau of Investigation. 

3 (b) LIMITATION ON RESCISSION.—The amount of 

4 funds rescinded for each office shall not exceed 

5 $10,000,000 per fiscal year. 

Æ 


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