Title: Family Unity Rights and Protection Act
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Family Unity Rights and Protection Act
This bill requires the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, State, and Defense to ensure that alien children (i.e., children under the age of 18 removed from their parents or legal guardians at or near a port of entry or within 100 miles of the U.S. border pursuant to a zero tolerance policy for criminal illegal reentry) are reunited at the earliest possible date with their parents and guardians from whom they were separated. It also requires notification of parents and guardians of procedures for reuniting with such children and for the location of such children.
The bill requires the creation of an electronic registry for information used to locate such alien children and their parents and guardians. The information in such registry may only be used for locating such children and may not be used in any criminal prosecution or other immigration proceeding.
The bill also sets forth conditions on the termination of parental rights in immigration proceedings and requires the consolidation of asylum and immigration proceedings involving alien children.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6236 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6236

To require the reunification of families separated upon entry into the 
United States as a result of the ``zero-tolerance'' immigration policy 
 requiring criminal prosecution of all adults apprehended crossing the 
               border illegally, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2018

    Ms. Bass (for herself, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Norton, Ms. 
 Bordallo, Ms. McCollum, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Bonamici, Mrs. Napolitano, 
Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Ms. Eddie Bernice 
Johnson of Texas, Mrs. Torres, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Cardenas, 
  Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Adams, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Jackson 
    Lee, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Soto, Mr. 
Jeffries, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Polis, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. 
 Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. Clarke of New York, 
Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Keating, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. 
      Sires, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Vargas, Mr. 
Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Mr. Takano, Mr. David Scott of 
  Georgia, Mr. Clay, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Ms. 
 Maxine Waters of California, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Bishop 
    of Georgia, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Al Green of Texas, and Mrs. Watson 
   Coleman) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways 
    and Means, and Armed Services, 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 require the reunification of families separated upon entry into the 
United States as a result of the ``zero-tolerance'' immigration policy 
 requiring criminal prosecution of all adults apprehended crossing the 
               border illegally, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Family Unity Rights and Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FAMILY REUNIFICATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, and the 
Secretary of Defense together shall establish and implement coordinated 
policies, procedures, and strategies to ensure that each covered child 
is reunited at the earliest possible date with each parent or legal 
guardian from whom the child was separated.
    (b) Notification.--
            (1) Beneficiaries in the united states.--In carrying out 
        subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 
        conjunction with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 
        Attorney General, shall be responsible for notifying parents 
        and guardians who are in the United States of the procedures to 
        be used to reunite with each covered child who was removed from 
        their care and custody and who is in the United States, the 
        location or locations of each such covered child, and a means 
        to contact each such covered child.
            (2) Beneficiaries abroad.--In carrying out subsection (a), 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the 
        Secretary of State, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
        and the Attorney General, shall be responsible for carrying out 
        the duty described in paragraph (1) in a case in which either a 
        covered child or a parent or guardian of a covered child has 
        been removed from the United States under the immigration laws 
        (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))).
    (c) Registry.--
            (1) In general.--The duties described in subsections (a) 
        and (b) shall include the creation of an electronic registry 
        for covered children and their parents and guardians. These 
        individuals, whether detained, incarcerated, or not, shall be 
        afforded an opportunity to register, or have registered, 
        personal information about themselves, such as their name, date 
        and place of birth, nationality, current location, and contact 
        information. The registry shall be used by the Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense as one 
        tool among others in carrying out subsections (a) and (b).
            (2) Limitations on use.--Information in the registry, as 
        well as other information obtained by the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
        Secretary of State, or the Secretary of Defense in carrying out 
        subsections (a) and (b), shall be used solely to ensure that 
        each covered child is reunited at the earliest possible date 
        with each parent or legal guardian from whom the child was 
        separated. Such secretaries shall establish conditions for the 
        use of the information--
                    (A) to ensure that the information is not used in, 
                or in pursuit of, any criminal prosecution or other 
                proceeding under the immigration laws (as defined in 
                section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality 
                Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)));
                    (B) to limit the redissemination of such 
                information;
                    (C) to ensure the security, confidentiality, and 
                destruction of such information; and
                    (D) to protect any privacy rights of individuals 
                who are subjects of such information.
    (d) State Child Welfare.--The duties described in subsections (a) 
and (b) shall include the establishment and implementation of policies 
and procedures to inform the appropriate State child welfare agencies 
whether a parent or guardian of a covered child received the requisite 
notices and whether reasonable efforts were made to reunite the parent 
or guardian with each covered child who was removed from their care and 
custody prior to the State's filing of a petition to terminate parental 
rights.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 14 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 
of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of 
Defense collectively shall submit a report to the Congress describing 
the policies, procedures, and strategies established and implemented 
under subsection (a).
    (f) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``covered 
child'' means an unaccompanied alien child (as defined in section 
462(g)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2))) 
who was removed from the care and custody of a parent or legal guardian 
by a Federal official or employee at or near a port of entry, or within 
100 miles of a border of the United States, pursuant to the Zero-
Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry announced by the Attorney 
General on April 6, 2018.

SEC. 3. CONDITIONS ON TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS.

    Section 475(5)(E)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
675(5)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking ``; or'' and inserting the 
following: ``and a compelling reason in this subparagraph for the State 
to not file (or join in the filing of such a petition) shall include 
the removal of the parent from the United States or the involvement of 
the parent in (including detention or incarceration pursuant to) a 
civil proceeding under the immigration laws (as defined in section 
101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)(17))), or a criminal misdemeanor proceeding under section 
275(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(a)), 
unless the parent is unfit or unwilling to be a parent of the child. 
Before a State may file to terminate the parental rights under such 
this subparagraph, the State (or the county or other political 
subdivision of the State, as the case may be) shall make reasonable 
efforts--''
                                    ``(I) to identify, locate, and 
                                contact (including, if appropriate, 
                                through the diplomatic or consular 
                                offices of a country to which the 
                                parent or legal guardian was removed or 
                                where a parent, legal guardian, or 
                                relative resides) any parent or legal 
                                guardian of the child, and where 
                                possible, any potential adult relative 
                                of the child (as described in section 
                                471(a)(29));
                                    ``(II) to notify such a parent or 
                                legal guardian of the intent of the 
                                State (or the county or other political 
                                subdivision of the State, as 
                                applicable) to file (or join in the 
                                filing of) such a petition;
                                    ``(III) to reunify the child with 
                                any such parent or legal guardian; and
                                    ``(IV) provide and document 
                                appropriate services to the parent or 
                                legal guardian; or''.

SEC. 4. FAMILY ADJUDICATION.

    Section 235(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1225(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Family unity.--In the case of an alien under 18 years 
        of age who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a 
        designated port of arrival and including an alien who is 
        brought to the United States after having been interdicted in 
        international or United States waters) accompanied by one or 
        more family members (such as a parent, legal guardian, spouse, 
        son, daughter, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, or other 
        family member who has lived with the alien), all inspections of 
        the alien by immigration officers, and all immigration or 
        asylum interviews or proceedings involving the alien (such as 
        proceedings under this section or section 208, 209(b), or 240), 
        shall be consolidated, to the maximum extent authorized by law, 
        with those of each accompanying family member, in order to 
        maintain family unity and ensure that the rights of the alien 
        are protected, unless--
                    ``(A) a parent of the alien (unless the rights of 
                the parent have been terminated), or legal guardian of 
                the alien, requests otherwise;
                    ``(B) such consolidation will prejudice the rights 
                of the alien; or
                    ``(C) such consolidation will prejudice the rights 
                of any of the accompanying family members, in which 
                case such family member may request that such 
                consolidation, as applied to them, be discontinued.''.
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