Bill > HR61

This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to clarify standards for family detention at the U.S. border. Specifically, the legislation removes previous limitations on detaining children who are not unaccompanied, allowing immigration authorities to detain children accompanied by their parents under the same rules that apply to other immigration enforcement scenarios. The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to maintain custody of adults who have entered the U.S. with a child and are charged only with the misdemeanor offense of illegal entry, mandating that such adults be detained together with their children. Additionally, the bill prevents individual states from imposing their own licensing requirements on immigration detention facilities housing children and families, effectively creating a uniform federal standard. The legislation is intended to address and potentially modify previous legal interpretations of the Flores Settlement Agreement, which historically set standards for the treatment of migrant children in detention. The changes would apply retroactively and immediately upon the act's enactment, meaning they would cover past, present, and future immigration enforcement actions.

Justice

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/61/all-info