Ensuring United Families at the Border Act
Ensuring United Families at the Border Act
Plain Language Summary
# Plain Language Summary: Ensuring United Families at the Border Act **What the bill would do:** This bill would change how the federal government handles families caught entering the country illegally. Currently, a 1997 court settlement (the Flores agreement) limits how long immigrant children can be detained and requires they be placed in safe conditions. This bill would override that settlement, allowing the government to detain children longer and keep families together in detention facilities instead of separating them. If an adult is arrested for illegally crossing the border with a child and faces only a misdemeanor charge, the bill requires both to be detained together. **Who it affects and key provisions:** The bill primarily affects immigrant families apprehended at the southern border, particularly children and their parents.
It removes legal restrictions that currently protect detained immigrant children's welfare and gives the Department of Homeland Security broader authority to detain minors. The stated goal is to keep families together during immigration proceedings, though it does so through detention rather than alternative methods used today. **Current status:** The bill was introduced in the 119th Congress by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and is currently in committee, meaning it has not yet been voted on by the full House or Senate.
CRS Official Summary
Ensuring United Families at the Border ActThis bill addresses the treatment of children who are non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law), including by statutorily establishing that there is no presumption that such a child (other than an unaccompanied child) should not be detained for immigration purposes.Specifically, the bill states that the detention of such minors shall be governed by specified sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act and not any other provision of law, judicial ruling, or settlement agreement.(A 1997 settlement agreement, commonly known as the Flores agreement, imposes requirements relating to the treatment of detained alien minors, including requiring such minors to be released or placed in a nonsecure facility after a certain amount of time in detention.)If an adult enters the United States unlawfully with their child, the Department of Homeland Security must detain the adult and child together if the only criminal charge against the adult is a misdemeanor for unlawful entry.This bill also prohibits states from imposing licensing requirements on immigration detention facilities used to detain minors or families with minors.
Latest Action
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.