I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5879 
To provide protection for children affected by the immigration laws of the 
United States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 11, 2014 
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide protection for children affected by the immigra-
tion laws of the United States, 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 ‘‘Humane Enforcement 
and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act’’ or the 
‘‘HELP Separated Children Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPREHENSION.—The term ‘‘apprehension’’ 
means the detention or arrest by officials of the De-
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partment of Homeland Security or cooperating enti-
ties. 
(2) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi-
vidual who has not attained 18 years of age. 
(3) CHILD
WELFARE
AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘child welfare agency’’ means a State or local agen-
cy responsible for child welfare services under sub-
titles B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 
(4) COOPERATING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cooper-
ating entity’’ means a State or local entity acting 
under agreement with the Secretary. 
(5) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Homeland Security. 
(6) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘deten-
tion facility’’ means a Federal, State, or local gov-
ernment facility, or a privately owned and operated 
facility, that is used, in whole or in part, to hold in-
dividuals under the authority of the Director of U.S. 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including 
facilities that hold such individuals under a contract 
or agreement with the Director. 
(7) IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—The 
term ‘‘immigration enforcement action’’ means the 
apprehension of one or more individuals whom the 
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Department has reason to believe are removable 
from the United States by the Secretary or a cooper-
ating entity. 
(8) NGO.—The term ‘‘NGO’’ means a non-
governmental organization that provides social serv-
ices or humanitarian assistance to the immigrant 
community. 
(9) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means a bio-
logical or adoptive parent of a child, whose parental 
rights have not been relinquished or terminated 
under State law or the law of a foreign country, or 
a legal guardian under State law or the law of a for-
eign country. 
(10) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
SEC. 3. APPREHENSION PROCEDURES FOR IMMIGRATION 
ENFORCEMENT-RELATED ACTIVITIES. 
(a) APPREHENSION PROCEDURES.—In any immigra-
tion enforcement action, the Secretary and cooperating en-
tities shall— 
(1) as soon as possible, but generally not later 
than 2 hours after an immigration enforcement ac-
tion, inquire whether an individual is a parent or 
primary caregiver of a child in the United States 
and notify any such individual, in a language that 
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