I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7068 
To close loopholes in the immigration laws that serve as incentives to aliens 
to attempt to enter the United States unlawfully, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 16, 2018 
Mr. GOODLATTE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To close loopholes in the immigration laws that serve as 
incentives to aliens to attempt to enter the United States 
unlawfully, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘End Catch and Release Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN 
Sec. 101. Repatriation of unaccompanied alien children. 
Sec. 102. Clarification of standards for family detention. 
Sec. 103. Special immigrant juvenile status for immigrants unable to reunite 
with either parent. 
TITLE II—ASYLUM REFORM 
Sec. 201. Credible fear interviews. 
Sec. 202. Jurisdiction of asylum applications. 
Sec. 203. Recording expedited removal and credible fear interviews. 
Sec. 204. Safe third country. 
Sec. 205. Renunciation of asylum status pursuant to return to home country. 
Sec. 206. Notice concerning frivolous asylum applications. 
Sec. 207. Anti-fraud investigative work product. 
Sec. 208. Penalties for asylum fraud. 
Sec. 209. Statute of limitations for asylum fraud. 
Sec. 210. Technical amendments. 
TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED 
ALIEN CHILDREN 
SEC. 101. 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’’; 
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(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); 
(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.)—’’; 
(II) in clause (i), by inserting be-
fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 
the following: ‘‘may’’; and 
(III) in clause (ii), by inserting 
before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 
(iv) in subparagraph (C)— 
(I) by amending the heading to 
read as follows: ‘‘AGREEMENTS WITH 
FOREIGN COUNTRIES.—’’; and 
(II) in the matter preceding 
clause (i), by striking ‘‘The Secretary 
of State shall negotiate agreements 
between the United States and coun-
tries contiguous to the United States’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of State 
may negotiate agreements between the 
United States and any foreign country 
that the Secretary determines appro-
priate’’; 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(3) 
through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re-
spectively, and inserting after paragraph (2) the 
following: 
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR INTERVIEWING UNAC-
COMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN.—An unaccompanied 
alien child shall be interviewed by a dedicated U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services immigration 
officer with specialized training in interviewing child 
trafficking victims. Such officer shall be in plain 
clothes and shall not carry a weapon. The interview 
shall occur in a private room.’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (6)(D) (as so redesig-
nated)— 
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 
by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 
alien child from a contiguous country sub-
ject to exceptions under subsection (a)(2),’’ 
and inserting ‘‘who does not meet the cri-
teria listed in paragraph (2)(A)’’; and 
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(ii) in clause (i), by inserting before 
the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 
which shall include a hearing before an im-
migration judge not later than 14 days 
after being screened under paragraph (4)’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 
before the semicolon the following: ‘‘be-
lieved not to meet the criteria listed in sub-
section (a)(2)(A)’’; and 
(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 
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child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 
not meet such criteria; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of 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: 
‘‘(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, if available. 
‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in-
dividual. 
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‘‘(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) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a 
child who was apprehended on or after the 
effective date of this clause, and before the 
date of the enactment of this subpara-
graph, who the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services placed with an individual, 
the Secretary shall provide the information 
listed in clause (i) to the Secretary of 
Homeland Security not later than 90 days 
after such date of enactment.’’; 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’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 
apprehended on or after the date of enactment. 
SEC. 102. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR FAMILY DE-
TENTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil-
berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(j) CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, judicial determination, consent de-
cree, or settlement agreement, the detention of any 
alien child who is not an unaccompanied alien child 
shall be governed by sections 217, 235, 236, and 
241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1187, 1225, 1226, and 1231). There exists 
no presumption that an alien child who is not an un-
accompanied alien child should not be detained, and 
all such determinations shall be in the discretion of 
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
‘‘(2) RELEASE OF MINORS OTHER THAN UNAC-
COMPANIED ALIENS.—In no circumstances shall an 
alien minor who is not an unaccompanied alien child 
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be released by the Secretary of Homeland Security 
other than to a parent or legal guardian. 
‘‘(3) FAMILY
DETENTION.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall— 
‘‘(A) maintain the care and custody of an 
alien, during the period during which the 
charges described in clause (i) are pending, 
who— 
‘‘(i) is charged only with a mis-
demeanor offense under section 275(a) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1325(a)); and 
‘‘(ii) entered the United States with 
the alien’s child who has not attained 18 
years of age; and 
‘‘(B) detain the alien with the alien’s 
child.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and shall apply to all actions that occur 
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(c) PREEMPTION OF STATE LICENSING REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ju-
dicial determination, consent decree, or settlement agree-
ment, no State may require that an immigration detention 
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facility used to detain children who have not attained 18 
years of age, or families consisting of one or more of such 
children and the parents or legal guardians of such chil-
dren, that is located in that State, be licensed by the State 
or any political subdivision thereof. 
SEC. 103. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IM-
MIGRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EI-
THER PARENT. 
Section 101(a)(27)(J)(i) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)(i)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘1 or both of the immigrant’s parents’’ and in-
serting ‘‘either of the immigrant’s parents’’. 
TITLE II—ASYLUM REFORM 
SEC. 201. CREDIBLE FEAR INTERVIEWS. 
Section 235(b)(1)(B)(v) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(B)(v)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘claim’’ and all that follows, and inserting ‘‘claim, 
as determined pursuant to section 208(b)(1)(B)(iii), and 
such other facts as are known to the officer, that the alien 
could establish eligibility for asylum under section 208, 
and it is more probable than not that the statements made 
by, and on behalf of, the alien in support of the alien’s 
claim are true.’’. 
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SEC. 202. JURISDICTION OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS. 
Section 208(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended by striking subparagraph 
(C). 
SEC. 203. RECORDING EXPEDITED REMOVAL AND CRED-
IBLE FEAR INTERVIEWS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity shall establish quality assurance procedures and take 
steps to effectively ensure that questions by employees of 
the Department of Homeland Security exercising expe-
dited removal authority under section 235(b) of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)) are asked 
in a uniform manner, to the extent possible, and that both 
these questions and the answers provided in response to 
them are recorded in a uniform fashion. 
(b) FACTORS RELATING TO SWORN STATEMENTS.— 
Where practicable, any sworn or signed written statement 
taken of an alien as part of the record of a proceeding 
under section 235(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(A)) shall be accom-
panied by a recording of the interview which served as the 
basis for that sworn statement. 
(c) INTERPRETERS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
a competent interpreter, not affiliated with the govern-
ment of the country from which the alien may claim asy-
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