I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2925 

To prohibit the use of funds for the operation or construction of family 

detention centers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2021 

Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. JONES, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. TLAIB, 

Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. WELCH) 

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

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of funds for the operation or construction 

of family detention centers, 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 ‘‘Freedom for Families 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Federal Government has intentionally 

2 separated and detained families seeking asylum in 

3 the United States purportedly to deter other foreign 

4 nationals from coming to the United States in the 

5 future. Such method of deterrence is ineffective, con6 trary to human rights norms, and likely violates 

7 United States and international law. 

8 (2) On September 7, 2018, the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security issued a proposed rule entitled 

10 ‘‘Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of 

11 Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children’’ 

12 (83 Fed. Reg. 45486 (September 7, 2018)) that at13 tempted to circumvent a 1997 court agreement com14 monly known as the ‘‘Flores Settlement Agreement’’ 

15 to undermine current legal protections for children 

16 and families and increase family detention. 

17 (3) Detaining families can have long-term con18 sequences on children, such as— 

19 (A) difficulty regulating emotions, achiev20 ing developmental milestones, and forming 

21 healthy relationships; 

22 (B) increased rates of anxiety, depression, 

23 and post-traumatic stress disorder; and 

24 (C) heightened risks of suicide and self25 harm. 


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1 (4) When family units are placed in family de2 tention facilities— 

3 (A) family members experience feelings of 

4 isolation and increased stress; 

5 (B) the ability of the parents to care for 

6 their children is compromised by the constraints 

7 of detention; and 

8 (C) the detention setting creates barriers 

9 to— 

10 (i) accessing counsel and legal serv11 ices; and 

12 (ii) successfully obtaining relief from 

13 removal. 

14 (5) Nondetention-based practices, such as fam15 ily case management and community-based pro16 grams, are effective and humane alternatives to fam17 ily detention. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON21 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con22 gress’’ means— 

23 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

24 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

25 and 


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1 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

2 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

3 of Representatives. 

4 (2) DETAIN.—With respect to an individual, the 

5 term ‘‘detain’’ means to compel an individual to stay 

6 in a location from which the individual cannot leave 

7 on his or her own free will. 

8 (3) FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CENTER.—The term 

9 ‘‘family residential center’’ means a facility that de10 tains 1 or more noncitizen families. 

11 (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 

12 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 

13 of the United States. 

14 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

16 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR FAMILY DE17 TENTION CENTERS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi19 sion of law, none of the amounts made available after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act for any fiscal year may 

21 be obligated or expended to operate or construct a family 

22 residential center, whether directly operated by U.S. Im23 migration and Customs Enforcement or by another gov24 ernmental or nongovernmental contractor. 

25 (b) PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 

2 is 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, none of the amounts made available before such 

4 date of enactment for the purpose of operating or 

5 constructing a family residential center may be used 

6 for such purpose. 

7 (2) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—None of the 

8 amounts made available before the date of the enact9 ment of this Act may be reprogrammed or trans10 ferred for the purpose of operating or constructing 

11 a family residential center. 

12 (c) ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION.— 

13 (1) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Amounts obligated 

14 to operate a family residential center as of the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act shall be transferred for 

16 the implementation and development of appropriate 

17 community-based nondetention programs consistent 

18 with international best practices for noncitizen fami19 lies. 

20 (2) NONPROFIT ENTITY CONTRACTING PART21 NER.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

23 contract with 1 or more community-based quali24 fied nonprofit service providers that have the 

25 trust of their communities for the operation of 


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1 appropriate community-based nondetention pro2 grams. 

3 (B) LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUALS WHO

4 MAY SERVE AS DESIGNEES.—The Secretary 

5 may only designate the responsibility under 

6 subparagraph (A) to an individual employed by 

7 the Office of the Secretary. 

8 (3) PARTICIPATION.—A noncitizen family enter9 ing the United States that is apprehended by the 

10 Secretary may be placed in a nondetention program 

11 under this subsection if the Secretary makes an indi12 vidualized determination that participation in the 

13 program will facilitate the family’s compliance with 

14 the immigration laws (as defined in section 101(a) 

15 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1101(a))). 

17 (4) LEGAL ORIENTATION.—To facilitate partici18 pant compliance with legal requirements, a non19 detention program under this subsection shall in20 clude— 

21 (A) a legal orientation for each participant 

22 in the program; and 

23 (B) meaningful access to counsel. 

24 (5) CASE MANAGEMENT TRAINING.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 provide case management training for all per3 sonnel of a nondetention program under this 

4 subsection, including personnel of— 

5 (i) the Department of Homeland Se6 curity; and 

7 (ii) the nonprofit entity contracted 

8 under paragraph (2). 

9 (B) BEST PRACTICES.—The training under 

10 subparagraph (A) shall— 

11 (i) be based on international and so12 cial welfare best practices relating to immi13 gration and refugee case management; and 

14 (ii) include consultation with civil soci15 ety experts with expertise in case manage16 ment. 

17 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

18 may be construed to endorse the separation of noncitizen 

19 families who enter the United States at or between ports 

20 of entry. 

21 SEC. 5. FEASIBILITY REVIEW OF TRANSFERRING ALTER22 NATIVES TO DETENTION PROGRAM. 

23 The Secretary shall review the feasibility of transfer24 ring case management programs out of the purview of 


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1 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the De2 partment of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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