End Child Trafficking Now Act
The End Child Trafficking Now Act would tighten requirements for uniting adults with accompanying minors who seek entry to the United States. It amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require a DNA test to confirm that an adult (18 or older) accompanying a minor is a related relative or guardian. If an adult cannot produce sufficient documentary proof of relation (or a witness) and refuses a DNA test, the adult would be inadmissible, and the minor could be treated as an unaccompanied alien child. The bill also creates a new federal crime, “recycling of minors,” criminalizing the use of a non-relative adult to bring a minor into the U.S. for entry purposes, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Along with adding a new DNA-testing regime, the bill defines key terms and includes related procedural steps for how DNA results are handled and what happens if the DNA test does not prove a relationship. In short, the bill makes it harder for adults to bring minors into the United States unless they can prove a familial or guardianship relationship, and it expands criminal penalties for those who try to “recycle” minors for entry.
Key Points
- 1Adds new Section 211A to the Immigration and Nationality Act establishing DNA-testing as a method to verify that an adult accompanying a minor is a relative or guardian, with an accompanying documentary option or a witness option otherwise.
- 2DNA testing is available only when DHS cannot determine the relationship from the documents and witnesses provided; the test would be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services at DHS’s request.
- 3If an adult refuses a required DNA test or cannot prove the relationship with adequate documents/witness testimony, the adult is inadmissible, and the accompanying minor is treated as an unaccompanied alien child.
- 4If DNA results do not prove a relationship, DHS conducts interviews to determine whether the adult is a relative or guardian; there is an enforcement provision allowing immigration officers to arrest the adult if not related and if there is suspected felony activity (e.g., human trafficking, recycling of minors, or alien smuggling).
- 5Creates a new federal crime, “Recycling of minors” (18 U.S.C. 1430), criminalizing knowingly using a minor not related as an entry instrument, with penalties up to 10 years in prison and/or fines; defines “relative” as a second-degree consanguineous relation per common law.
- 6Includes clerical amendments to insert the new section into the table of contents and to add the new crime to the chapter analysis.