I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 61
To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthor-
ization Act of 2008 to clarify the standards for family detention, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY3, 2025
Mr. B
IGGSof Arizona (for himself, Mr. BURLISON, Mr. CRANE, and Mr.
N
EHLS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Pro-
tection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to clarify the stand-
ards for family detention, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring United Fam-4
ilies at the Border Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR FAMILY DE-6
TENTION. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil-8
berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 9
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H61.IH H61
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 61 IH
Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended by adding at 1
the end the following: 2
‘‘(j) C
ONSTRUCTION.— 3
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 4
provision of law, judicial determination, consent de-5
cree, or settlement agreement, the detention of any 6
alien child who is not an unaccompanied alien child 7
shall be governed by sections 217, 235, 236, and 8
241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 9
U.S.C. 1187, 1225, 1226, and 1231). There is no 10
presumption that an alien child who is not an unac-11
companied alien child should not be detained. 12
‘‘(2) F
AMILY DETENTION .—The Secretary of 13
Homeland Security shall— 14
‘‘(A) maintain the care and custody of an 15
alien, during the period during which the 16
charges described in clause (i) are pending, 17
who— 18
‘‘(i) is charged only with a mis-19
demeanor offense under section 275(a) of 20
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 21
U.S.C. 1325(a)); and 22
‘‘(ii) entered the United States with 23
the alien’s child who has not attained 18 24
years of age; and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H61.IH H61
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 61 IH
‘‘(B) detain the alien with the alien’s 1
child.’’. 2
(b) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-3
gress that the amendments in this section to section 235 4
of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 5
Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) are intended 6
to satisfy the requirements of the Settlement Agreement 7
in Flores v. Meese, No. 85–4544 (C.D. Cal) as approved 8
by the court on January 28, 1997, with respect to its in-9
terpretation in Flores v. Johnson, 212 F. Supp. 3d 864 10
(C.D. Cal. 2015), that the agreement applies to accom-11
panied minors. 12
(c) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 13
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-14
ment of this Act and shall apply to all actions that occur 15
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 16
(d) P
REEMPTION OF STATELICENSINGREQUIRE-17
MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ju-18
dicial determination, consent decree, or settlement agree-19
ment, no State may require that an immigration detention 20
facility used to detain children who have not attained 18 21
years of age, or families consisting of one or more of such 22
children and the parents or legal guardians of such chil-23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H61.IH H61
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 61 IH
dren, that is located in that State, be licensed by the State 1
or any political subdivision thereof. 2
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H61.IH H61
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB