I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2417 

To 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 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. CARTER of Texas (for himself, Mr. BIGGS, and Mr. NEHLS) introduced 

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

A BILL 

To 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL2 DREN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil4 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

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

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by amending the heading to read 

9 as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED

10 ALIEN CHILDREN.—’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

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

14 habitual resident of a country that is 

15 contiguous with the United States’’; 

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

17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

19 and’’ and inserting a period; and 

20 (IV) by striking clause (iii); and 

21 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

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

24 seq.) may—’’ and inserting ‘‘(8 

25 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 


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1 (II) in clause (i), by inserting be2 fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 

3 the following: ‘‘may’’; and 

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

5 before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol6 lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (5)(D)— 

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

9 by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 

10 alien child from a contiguous country sub11 ject to the exceptions under subsection 

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

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

14 and 

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

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

17 which shall include a hearing before an im18 migration judge not later than 14 days 

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

20 (2) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

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

23 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘be24 lieved not to meet the criteria listed in sub25 section (a)(2)(A)’’; and 


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

2 before the period the following: ‘‘and does 

3 not meet the criteria listed in subsection 

4 (a)(2)(A)’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un6 accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 

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

8 unaccompanied alien child in custody— 

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

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

11 shall transfer the custody of such child to the 

12 Secretary of Health and Human Services not 

13 later than 30 days after determining that such 

14 child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 

15 not meet such criteria; or 

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

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

18 transfer the custody of such child to the Sec19 retary of Health and Human Services after de20 termining that such child is an unaccompanied 

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

22 (3) in subsection (c)— 

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

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS

2 WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 

3 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED

4 TO HOMELAND SECURITY.—Before placing 

5 a child with an individual, the Secretary of 

6 Health and Human Services shall provide 

7 to the Secretary of Homeland Security, re8 garding the individual with whom the child 

9 will be placed, the following information: 

10 ‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 

11 ‘‘(II) The social security number 

12 of the individual. 

13 ‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in14 dividual. 

15 ‘‘(IV) The location of the individ16 ual’s residence where the child will be 

17 placed. 

18 ‘‘(V) The immigration status of 

19 the individual, if known. 

20 ‘‘(VI) Contact information for 

21 the individual. 

22 ‘‘(ii) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY

23 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Not later than 

24 30 days after receiving the information 

25 listed in clause (i), the Secretary of HomeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2417.IH H2417

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1 land Security, upon determining that an 

2 individual with whom a child is placed is 

3 unlawfully present in the United States 

4 and not in removal proceedings pursuant 

5 to chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration 

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

7 seq.), shall initiate such removal pro8 ceedings.’’; and 

9 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

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

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

12 expense to the Government)’’; and 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep14 resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 

15 counsel to represent them’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 

18 apprehended on or after the date that is 30 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 3. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IMMI21 GRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EITHER 

22 PARENT. 

23 Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Na24 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and whose reuni2 fication with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents 

3 is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or 

4 a similar basis found under State law’’; and 

5 (2) in clause (iii)— 

6 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (B) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

9 after the semicolon; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(III) an alien may not be grant12 ed special immigrant status under this 

13 subparagraph if the alien’s reunifica14 tion with any one parent or legal 

15 guardian is not precluded by abuse, 

16 neglect, abandonment, or any similar 

17 cause under State law;’’. 

Æ 


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