II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3522 

To protect children affected by immigration enforcement actions, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2010 

Mr. FRANKEN (for himself, Mr. KOHL, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

FEINGOLD, Mr. DURBIN, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect children affected by immigration enforcement 

actions, 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 ‘‘Humane Enforcement 

5 and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘HELP Separated Children Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPREHENSION.—The term ‘‘apprehension’’ 

10 means the detention, arrest, or custody by officials 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3522 IS

1 of the Department of Homeland Security or cooper2 ating entities. 

3 (2) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ has the meaning 

4 given to the term in section 101(b)(1) of the Immi5 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)). 

6 (3) CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.—The term 

7 ‘‘child welfare agency’’ means the State or local 

8 agency responsible for child welfare services under 

9 subtitles B and E of title IV of the Social Security 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 

11 (4) COOPERATING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cooper12 ating entity’’ means a State or local entity acting 

13 under agreement with, or at the request of, the De14 partment of Homeland Security. 

15 (5) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘deten16 tion facility’’ means a Federal, State, or local gov17 ernment facility, or a privately owned and operated 

18 facility, that is used to hold individuals suspected or 

19 found to be in violation of the Immigration and Na20 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

21 (6) IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—The 

22 term ‘‘immigration enforcement action’’ means the 

23 apprehension of, detention of, or request for or 

24 issuance of a detainer for, 1 or more individuals for 

25 suspected or confirmed violations of the Immigration 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3522 IS

1 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) by the 

2 Department of Homeland Security or cooperating 

3 entities. 

4 (7) LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCY.—The term 

5 ‘‘local education agency’’ has the meaning given to 

6 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 (8) NGO.—The term ‘‘NGO’’ means a non9 governmental organization that provides social serv10 ices or humanitarian assistance to the immigrant 

11 community. 

12 SEC. 3. APPREHENSION PROCEDURES FOR IMMIGRATION 

13 ENFORCEMENT-RELATED ACTIVITIES. 

14 (a) NOTIFICATION.— 

15 (1) ADVANCE NOTIFICATION.—Subject to para16 graph (2), when conducting any immigration en17 forcement action, the Department of Homeland Se18 curity and cooperating entities shall notify the Gov19 ernor of the State, the local child welfare agency, 

20 and relevant State and local law enforcement before 

21 commencing the action, or, if advance notification is 

22 not possible, immediately after commencing such ac23 tion, of— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3522 IS

1 (A) the approximate number of individuals 

2 to be targeted in the immigration enforcement 

3 action; and 

4 (B) the primary language or languages be5 lieved to be spoken by individuals at the tar6 geted site. 

7 (2) HOURS OF NOTIFICATION.—Whenever pos8 sible, advance notification should occur during busi9 ness hours and allow the notified entities sufficient 

10 time to identify resources to conduct the interviews 

11 described in subsection (b)(1). 

12 (3) OTHER NOTIFICATION.—When conducting 

13 any immigration action, the Department of Home14 land Security and cooperating entities shall notify 

15 the relevant local education agency and local NGOs 

16 of the information described in paragraph (1) imme17 diately after commencing the action. 

18 (b) APPREHENSION PROCEDURES.—In any immigra19 tion enforcement action, the Department of Homeland Se20 curity and cooperating entities shall— 

21 (1) as soon as possible and not later than 6 

22 hours after an immigration enforcement action, pro23 vide licensed social workers or case managers em24 ployed or contracted by the child welfare agency or 

25 local NGOs with confidential access to screen and 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 3522 IS

1 interview individuals apprehended in such immigra2 tion enforcement action to assist the Department of 

3 Homeland Security or cooperating entity in deter4 mining if such individuals are parents, legal guard5 ians, or primary caregivers of a child in the United 

6 States; 

7 (2) as soon as possible and not later than 8 

8 hours after an immigration enforcement action, pro9 vide any apprehended individual believed to be a 

10 parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver of a 

11 child in the United States with— 

12 (A) free, confidential telephone calls, in13 cluding calls to child welfare agencies, attor14 neys, and legal services providers, to arrange 

15 for the care of children or wards, unless the De16 partment of Homeland Security has reasonable 

17 grounds to believe that providing confidential 

18 phone calls to the individual would endanger 

19 public safety or national security; and 

20 (B) contact information for— 

21 (i) child welfare agencies in all 50 

22 States, the District of Columbia, all United 

23 States territories, counties, and local juris24 dictions; and 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 3522 IS

1 (ii) attorneys and legal service pro2 viders capable of providing free legal advice 

3 or free legal representation regarding child 

4 welfare, child custody determinations, and 

5 immigration matters; 

6 (3) ensure that personnel of the Department of 

7 Homeland Security and cooperating entities do 

8 not— 

9 (A) interview individuals in the immediate 

10 presence of children; or 

11 (B) compel or request children to translate 

12 for interviews of other individuals who are en13 countered as part of an immigration enforce14 ment action; and 

15 (4) ensure that any parent, legal guardian, or 

16 primary caregiver of a child in the United States— 

17 (A) receives due consideration of the best 

18 interests of his or her children or wards in any 

19 decision or action relating to his or her deten20 tion, release, or transfer between detention fa21 cilities; and 

22 (B) is not transferred from his or her ini23 tial detention facility or to the custody of the 

24 Department of Homeland Security until the in25 dividual— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 3522 IS

1 (i) has made arrangements for the 

2 care of his or her children or wards; or 

3 (ii) if such arrangements are impos4 sible, is informed of the care arrangements 

5 made for the children and of a means to 

6 maintain communication with the children. 

7 (c) NONDISCLOSURE AND RETENTION OF INFORMA8 TION ABOUT APPREHENDED INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR

9 CHILDREN.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Information collected by 

11 child welfare agencies and NGOs in the course of 

12 the screenings and interviews described in subsection 

13 (b)(1) about an individual apprehended in an immi14 gration enforcement action may not be disclosed to 

15 Federal, State, or local government entities or to 

16 any person, except pursuant to written authorization 

17 from the individual or his or her legal counsel. 

18 (2) CHILD WELFARE AGENCY OR NGO REC19 OMMENDATION.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a 

20 child welfare agency or NGO may— 

21 (A) submit a recommendation to the De22 partment of Homeland Security or cooperating 

23 entities regarding whether an apprehended indi24 vidual is a parent, legal guardian, or primary 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 3522 IS

1 caregiver who is eligible for the protections pro2 vided under this Act; and 

3 (B) disclose information that is necessary 

4 to protect the safety of the child, to allow for 

5 the application of subsection (b)(4)(A), or to 

6 prevent reasonably certain death or substantial 

7 bodily harm. 

8 SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CHILDREN, LOCAL AND STATE COURTS, 

9 CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES, AND CONSULAR 

10 OFFICIALS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu12 rity shall ensure that all detention facilities operated by 

13 or under agreement with the Department of Homeland Se14 curity implement procedures to ensure that the best inter15 est of the child, including the best outcome for the family 

16 of the child, can be considered in any decision and action 

17 relating to the custody of children whose parent, legal 

18 guardian, or primary caregiver is detained as the result 

19 of an immigration enforcement action. 

20 (b) ACCESS TO CHILDREN, STATE AND LOCAL

21 COURTS, CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES, AND CONSULAR

22 OFFICIALS.—At all detention facilities operated by, or 

23 under agreement with, the Department of Homeland Se24 curity, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 3522 IS

1 (1) ensure that individuals who are detained by 

2 reason of their immigration status may receive the 

3 screenings and interviews described in section 

4 3(b)(1) not later than 6 hours after their arrival at 

5 the detention facility; 

6 (2) ensure that individuals who are detained by 

7 reason of their immigration status and are believed 

8 to be parents, legal guardians, or primary caregivers 

9 of children in the United States are— 

10 (A) permitted daily phone calls and regular 

11 contact visits with their children or wards; 

12 (B) able to participate fully, and to the ex13 tent possible in-person, in all family court pro14 ceedings and any other proceeding impacting 

15 upon custody of their children or wards; 

16 (C) able to fully comply with all family 

17 court or child welfare agency orders impacting 

18 upon custody of their children or wards; 

19 (D) provided with contact information for 

20 family courts in all 50 States, the District of 

21 Columbia, all United States territories, coun22 ties, and local jurisdictions; 

23 (E) granted free and confidential telephone 

24 calls to child welfare agencies and family 

25 courts; 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 3522 IS

1 (F) granted free and confidential telephone 

2 calls and confidential in-person visits with at3 torneys, legal representatives, and consular offi4 cials; 

5 (G) provided United States passport appli6 cations for the purpose of obtaining travel docu7 ments for their children or wards; 

8 (H) granted adequate time before removal 

9 to obtain passports and other necessary travel 

10 documents on behalf of their children or wards 

11 if such children or wards will accompany them 

12 on their return to their country of origin or join 

13 them in their country of origin; and 

14 (I) provided with the access necessary to 

15 obtain birth records or other documents re16 quired to obtain passports for their children or 

17 wards; and 

18 (3) facilitate the ability of detained parents, 

19 legal guardians, and primary caregivers to share in20 formation regarding travel arrangements with their 

21 children or wards, child welfare agencies, or other 

22 caregivers well in advance of the detained individ23 ual’s departure from the United States. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 3522 IS

1 SEC. 5. MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING. 

2 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall develop 

3 and implement memoranda of understanding or protocols 

4 with child welfare agencies and NGOs regarding the best 

5 ways to cooperate and facilitate ongoing communication 

6 between all relevant entities in cases involving a child 

7 whose parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver has 

8 been apprehended or detained in an immigration enforce9 ment action to protect the best interests of the child and 

10 the best outcome for the family of the child. 

11 SEC. 6. MANDATORY TRAINING. 

12 The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 

13 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and 

14 independent child welfare experts, shall require and pro15 vide in-person training on the protections required under 

16 sections 3 and 4 to all personnel of the Department of 

17 Homeland Security and of States and local entities acting 

18 under agreement with the Department of Homeland Secu19 rity who regularly come into contact with children or par20 ents in the course of conducting immigration enforcement 

21 actions. 

22 SEC. 7. RULEMAKING. 

23 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

25 promulgate regulations to implement this Act. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 3522 IS

1 SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

3 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

4 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu5 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

6 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

7 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

8 affected by the holding. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS