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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protection of Children 
Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL-
DREN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil-
berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by amending the heading to read 
as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED 
ALIEN CHILDREN.—’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) in the matter preceding clause 
(i), by striking ‘‘who is a national or 
habitual resident of a country that is 
contiguous with the United States’’; 
(II) in clause (i), by inserting 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(III) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a period; and 
(IV) by striking clause (iii); and 
(iii) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) in the matter preceding clause 
(i), by striking ‘‘(8 U.S.C. 1101 et 
seq.) 
may—’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘(8 
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 
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(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 
before the period the following: ‘‘and does 
not meet the criteria listed in subsection 
(a)(2)(A)’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un-
accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 
all that follows, and inserting the following: ‘‘an 
unaccompanied alien child in custody— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a child who does not 
meet the criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), 
shall transfer the custody of such child to the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services not 
later than 30 days after determining that such 
child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 
not meet such criteria; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of a child who meets the 
criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), may 
transfer the custody of such child to the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services after de-
termining that such child is an unaccompanied 
alien child who meets such criteria.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the 
end the following: 
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‘‘(D) INFORMATION
ABOUT
INDIVIDUALS 
WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 
‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED 
TO HOMELAND SECURITY.—Before placing 
a child with an individual, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall provide 
to the Secretary of Homeland Security, re-
garding the individual with whom the child 
will be placed, the following information: 
‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 
‘‘(II) The social security number 
of the individual. 
‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in-
dividual. 
‘‘(IV) The location of the individ-
ual’s residence where the child will be 
placed. 
‘‘(V) The immigration status of 
the individual, if known. 
‘‘(VI) Contact information for 
the individual. 
‘‘(ii) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY 
OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Not later than 
30 days after receiving the information 
listed in clause (i), the Secretary of Home-
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land Security, upon determining that an 
individual with whom a child is placed is 
unlawfully present in the United States 
and not in removal proceedings pursuant 
to chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1221 et 
seq.), shall initiate such removal pro-
ceedings.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (5)— 
(i) by inserting after ‘‘to the greatest 
extent practicable’’ the following: ‘‘(at no 
expense to the Government)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep-
resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 
counsel to represent them’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 
apprehended on or after the date that is 30 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IMMI-
GRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EITHER 
PARENT. 
Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— 
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(1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and whose reuni-
fication with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents 
is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or 
a similar basis found under State law’’; and 
(2) in clause (iii)— 
(A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(III) an alien may not be grant-
ed special immigrant status under this 
subparagraph if the alien’s reunifica-
tion with any one parent or legal 
guardian is not precluded by abuse, 
neglect, abandonment, or any similar 
cause under State law;’’. 
Æ 
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