I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2217 
To reduce the ability of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to 
engage in inappropriate civil immigration enforcement actions that harm 
unaccompanied alien children and to ensure the safety and welfare of 
unaccompanied alien children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 10, 2019 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Ms. OMAR, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, 
Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 
Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. HASTINGS, 
Mr. NADLER, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. SERRANO, 
Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. FRANKEL, Ms. 
BASS, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 
York, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. PERLMUTTER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To reduce the ability of U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement to engage in inappropriate civil immigration 
enforcement actions that harm unaccompanied alien chil-
dren and to ensure the safety and welfare of unaccom-
panied alien children. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Families, Not Facili-
ties Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) On May 13, 2018, a Memorandum of 
Agreement between U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol of 
the Department of Homeland Security, and the Of-
fice of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of 
Health and Human Services went into effect to 
allow for intergovernmental sharing of personal in-
formation about unaccompanied alien children, their 
prospective sponsors, and adult members of sponsor 
households. 
(2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment is using information obtained under the Memo-
randum of Agreement to conduct civil immigration 
enforcement actions against individuals residing in 
the homes of prospective sponsors of unaccompanied 
alien children. 
(3) These civil immigration enforcement actions 
have discouraged prospective sponsors of unaccom-
panied alien children, including family members, 
from coming forward to resettle children in the com-
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munity as they pursue lawful claims for humani-
tarian protection. 
(4) Onerous requirements for sponsors and 
raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement of sponsor households have discouraged 
qualified sponsors from coming forward, leading to 
unprecedented numbers of unaccompanied alien chil-
dren (approximately 11,705 in March 2019) being 
held in shelters overseen by the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement as of the date of enactment of this Act. 
(5) The Office of Refugee Resettlement is 
struggling to accommodate the growing number of 
unaccompanied alien children in its shelter network, 
resorting to placing children in temporary ‘‘emer-
gency influx’’ shelters. The Office contracted with 
BCFS to care for more than 6,200 children between 
June 2018 and January 2019 in a temporary shelter 
at the Tornillo-Guadalupe Land Port of Entry in 
Texas, a facility that the New York Times and other 
media sources described as a ‘‘tent city’’, and an-
nounced plans in January 2019 to nearly double the 
number of children held in a previously closed tem-
porary shelter in Homestead, Florida. 
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(6) Temporary shelters are inappropriate loca-
tions to hold unaccompanied alien children because 
such shelters— 
(A) have reduced standards of care, includ-
ing insufficient educational services; 
(B) offer limited access to clinical and 
legal services; and 
(C) are not cost-effective, resulting in the 
expenditure of more than $750 per day in tax-
payer funds for each child housed in Tornillo 
shelter, for example. 
(7) Facilities operated under a contract with 
the Office of Refugee Resettlement have faced unac-
ceptable allegations of abuse and neglect of unac-
companied alien children that merit additional inves-
tigation and oversight. 
(8) The Office of Refugee Resettlement is le-
gally required to place children in the least restric-
tive setting that is in the best interest of the child. 
(9) Services offered at facilities funded by the 
Office of Refugee Resettlement are required to in-
clude classroom education, mental and medical 
health services, case management, socialization and 
recreation activities, and family reunification serv-
ices that facilitate the safe and timely release of un-
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accompanied alien children to family members or 
other sponsors that can care for them. 
(10) Providing legal and case management serv-
ices to all children while they are housed in a facility 
funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and 
after their release from such a facility is a cost-effec-
tive and humane way of ensuring that the Office of 
Refugee Resettlement meets its statutory obligation 
to place children in least restrictive settings. 
SEC. 3. USE OF SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235(c)(3) of the William 
Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthoriza-
tion Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232(c)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘In mak-
ing such a determination, the Secretary may not 
consider the immigration status of the proposed cus-
todian.’’ after ‘‘well-being.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) PROHIBITING USE OF CERTAIN IN-
FORMATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity may not use information provided by an 
unaccompanied alien child or information ini-
tially obtained by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services to make a suitability deter-
mination under subparagraph (A), a home 
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study determination under subparagraph (B), 
or a secure facility determination under para-
graph (2)(A) for the purpose of apprehending, 
detaining, 
or 
removing 
from 
the 
United 
States— 
‘‘(i) the unaccompanied alien child; 
‘‘(ii) the proposed custodian or cur-
rent custodian; 
‘‘(iii) a resident of the home in which 
the proposed custodian or current custo-
dian resides; 
‘‘(iv) the proposed sponsor or current 
sponsor; or 
‘‘(v) a resident of the home in which 
the proposed sponsor or current sponsor 
resides.’’. 
(b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
(1) FLORES
SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT.—The 
amendments made by subsection (a) may not be con-
strued to supersede the terms of the stipulated set-
tlement agreement filed on January 17, 1997, in the 
United States District Court for the Central District 
of California in Flores v. Reno, CV 85–4544–RJK, 
(commonly known as the ‘‘Flores settlement agree-
ment’’). 
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(2) CHILD WELFARE.—The amendments made 
by subsection (a) may not be construed to prevent 
the Secretary of Homeland Security from using in-
formation obtained by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services to investigate or report to the ap-
propriate law enforcement agency or child welfare 
agency instances of trafficking, abuse, or neglect. 
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR ENFORCE-
MENT, DETENTION, AND REMOVAL OPER-
ATIONS. 
No Federal funds may be used by U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement for any enforcement, detention, 
or removal activity that violates section 235(c)(3) of the 
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reau-
thorization Act of 2008, as amended by section 3(a). 
SEC. 5. TRANSFER OF U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS EN-
FORCEMENT FUNDING. 
Of the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2019 to 
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for enforce-
ment and removal operations— 
(1) $30,000,000 shall be transferred to the Of-
fice of Inspector General of the Department of 
Homeland Security to investigate child separation 
and inspect detention facilities overseen by U.S. Im-
migration and Customs Enforcement; 
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(2) $180,000,000 shall be transferred to the 
Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide the post- 
release legal, case management, and child advocate 
services described in section 6; and 
(3) $10,000,000 shall be transferred to the Ad-
ministration for Children and Families to bolster the 
efforts of the Task Force to Prevent and End 
Human Trafficking. 
SEC. 6. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF UNACCOMPANIED 
ALIEN CHILDREN. 
(a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘post- 
release case management services’’ means services that— 
(1) are provided by a social worker, employed 
by a nonprofit entity, who meets with the child indi-
vidually and with the family to develop an individ-
ualized service plan; and 
(2) allow children to successfully transition into 
their communities by— 
(A) assisting with school enrollment and 
acculturation; 
(B) locating medical and therapeutic serv-
ices; 
(C) making referrals to area legal services; 
and 
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(D) navigating new family settings and 
other individual needs. 
(b) REQUIRED SERVICES.—The Office of Refugee 
Resettlement shall— 
(1) provide post-release case management to all 
children upon release or as the need arises for the 
duration of their immigration proceedings; and 
(2) facilitate efforts to connect every unaccom-
panied child, including each child with a sponsor, 
with legal representation for his or her immigration 
proceedings. 
(c) THE OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AD-
VISORY COMMITTEE ON SHELTERS FOR UNACCOMPANIED 
ALIEN CHILDREN.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, in compliance with the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), shall im-
mediately establish the Advisory Committee on Shel-
ters for Unaccompanied Alien Children (referred to 
in this subsection as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’) to 
advise the Office of Refugee Resettlement on mat-
ters regarding shelters and placements for unaccom-
panied alien children relating to education, immigra-
tion law, physical and mental health, trauma-in-
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