Ensuring United Families at the Border Act
The Ensuring United Families at the Border Act would amend the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to clarify and expand the standards for detaining families at the border. The bill states that for a child who is not unaccompanied, detention should be governed by the relevant sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and it rejects a presumption against detaining an accompanying child. It requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain an alien who is charged with a misdemeanor for improper entry at 8 U.S.C. 1325(a) together with the child who accompanied them, keeping the parent in custody during the pending charges. The bill also asserts that its amendments align with the Flores settlement for accompanied minors, takes effect upon enactment, and preempts state licensing requirements for detention facilities housing such children or families. In short, the bill would broaden and formalize the detention of families (specifically those where a parent is charged with a misdemeanor entry offense and the child is under 18) and remove state licensing barriers for facilities used to detain these families, while aligning the approach with Flores-related interpretations for accompanied minors.
Key Points
- 1Clarifies detention standards for non-unaccompanied alien children by directing that their detention be governed by key INA provisions (sections 217, 235, 236, and 241), and rejects any presumption against detaining accompanied children.
- 2Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to detain a parent charged only with a misdemeanor entry offense together with the parent’s child who is under 18, and to maintain care and custody during the period the charges are pending.
- 3States that the amendments are intended to satisfy the Flores v. Meese settlement interpretation for accompanied minors.
- 4Takes effect on enactment and applies to actions before, on, or after enactment.
- 5Preempts state licensing requirements, prohibiting states from requiring that detention facilities housing such children or families be licensed by the state or its political subdivisions.