Continued Presence Improvement Act
Bill: S.5261 | Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. (D-MD)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Continued Presence Improvement Act
This bill expands immigration-related protections for non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who are victims of human trafficking.
Currently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may permit such an individual to remain in the United States for a certain period of time if (1) the individual may be a potential witness to the trafficking, and (2) a federal law enforcement agency has applied to DHS for such permission on the individual's behalf. Under this bill, DHS may grant such relief even if the individual is not a potential witness. Furthermore, the bill expands the types of agencies that may apply for permission on the individual's behalf to include agencies such as local law enforcement and other authorities that have responsibility for investigating or prosecuting human trafficking.
The bill also limits the enforcement of immigration laws against an individual who has received permission from DHS to remain in the United States.

To protect certain victims of human trafficking by expanding the 
 authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant such aliens 
                continued presence in the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Continued Presence Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.

    Section 107(c)(3) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
(22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) in clause (i)--
                            (i) by striking ``Federal'';
                            (ii) by striking ``is'' and inserting ``may 
                        be'';
                            (iii) by striking ``and may be a potential 
                        witness to such trafficking''; and
                            (iv) by striking ``may permit the alien to 
                        remain in the United States to facilitate the 
                        investigation and'' and inserting ``may permit 
                        the continued presence of the alien in the 
                        United States for the duration of an 
                        investigation or'';
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking ``Federal law 
                enforcement officials described in clause (i)'' and 
                inserting ``law enforcement officials'';
                    (C) in clause (iii)--
                            (i) in the clause header, by striking 
                        ``Continuation of presence'' and inserting 
                        ``Civil action'';
                            (ii) by striking ``shall'' and inserting 
                        ``may'';
                            (iii) by striking ``described in clause (i) 
                        who'' and inserting ``who is a victim of a 
                        severe form of trafficking and''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``Continued presence shall be extended beyond 
                        an investigation or prosecution described in 
                        clause (i) if the alien has a pending 
                        immigration benefit application until such 
                        application is approved, withdrawn, or denied, 
                        unless the Secretary determines that continued 
                        presence is no longer warranted.''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(v) Employment authorization .--During 
                        the period the alien is authorized to remain in 
                        the United States under this paragraph, the 
                        Secretary of Homeland Security shall--
                                    ``(I) authorize the alien to engage 
                                in employment in the United States; and
                                    ``(II) provide the alien with an 
                                `employment authorized' endorsement or 
                                other appropriate work permit.
                            ``(vi) Law enforcement official.--In this 
                        paragraph, the term `law enforcement official' 
                        means personnel from a Federal, State, tribal, 
                        territorial, or local law enforcement agency, 
                        labor agency, children's protective services 
                        agency, or other civil, criminal, judicial or 
                        administrative authority that has the 
                        responsibility and authority for the detection, 
                        investigation, or prosecution of severe forms 
                        of trafficking in persons.
                            ``(vii) Protection from immigration 
                        enforcement.--While a grant of continued 
                        presence is in effect under this paragraph, 
                        Federal law enforcement officials may only take 
                        civil immigration enforcement actions against 
                        an alien described in clause (i) or (iii)--
                                    ``(I) based on conduct committed 
                                after continued presence is authorized; 
                                or
                                    ``(II) following consultation with 
                                the law enforcement official who filed 
                                the application for continued 
                                presence.'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by striking ``Law enforcement'' and inserting 
                the following:
                            ``(i) Outside the united states.--Law 
                        enforcement'';
                    (B) in clause (i), as redesignated, by striking 
                ``subparagraph (A)(i)'' and inserting ``clause (i) or 
                (iii) of subparagraph (A)''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Inside the united states.--Law 
                        enforcement officials may submit written 
                        requests to the Secretary of Homeland Security 
                        for deferred action and employment 
                        authorization for certain relatives of any 
                        alien whose continued presence is permitted 
                        under clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph 
                        (A).''; and
            (3) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
                    ``(C) Law enforcement office policies, training, 
                and material.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
                Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney 
                General, and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment 
                Opportunity Commission shall--
                            ``(i) develop policies and procedures for 
                        their respective agencies that encourage the 
                        use of and immediate application for continued 
                        presence by the respective agency upon 
                        identification of a victim of a severe form of 
                        trafficking in persons under subparagraph 
                        (A)(i) in appropriate cases;
                            ``(ii) develop materials, in consultation 
                        with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to 
                        encourage and assist their respective Federal 
                        agency personnel and other law enforcement 
                        officials to request continued presence in 
                        appropriate cases; and
                            ``(iii) distribute the materials developed 
                        pursuant to clause (ii) and provide training on 
                        such materials to their respective Federal 
                        agency personnel and other law enforcement 
                        officials.''.
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