S.Amdt. 1974

SA 1974. Ms. SMITH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill H.R. 2579, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
to allow the premium tax credit with respect to unsubsidized COBRA
continuation coverage; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SECTION __. HELPING SEPARATED CHILDREN.

(a) Short Titles.--This section may be cited as the
``Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections for Separated
Children Act'' or the ``HELP Separated Children Act''.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Apprehension.--The term ``apprehension'' means the
detention or arrest by officials of the Department or
cooperating entities.
(2) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual who is
younger than 18 years of age.
(3) Child welfare agency.--The term ``child welfare
agency'' means a State or local agency responsible for child
welfare services under subtitles B and E of title IV of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
(4) Cooperating entity.--The term ``cooperating entity''
means a State or local entity acting under agreement with the
Secretary.
(5) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Homeland Security.
(6) Detention facility.--The term ``detention facility''
means a Federal, State, or local government facility, or a
privately owned and operated facility, that is used, in whole
or in part, to hold individuals under the authority of the
Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
including facilities that hold such individuals under a
contract or agreement with the Director.
(7) Immigration enforcement action.--The term ``immigration
enforcement action'' means the apprehension of one or more
individuals whom the Department has reason to believe are
removable from the United States by the Secretary or a
cooperating entity.
(8) Parent.--The term ``parent'' means a biological or
adoptive parent of a child, whose parental rights have not
been relinquished or terminated under State law or the law of
a foreign country, or a legal guardian under State law or the
law of a foreign country.
(9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Homeland Security.
(c) Apprehension Procedures for Immigration Enforcement-
related Activities.--
(1) Apprehension procedures.--In any immigration
enforcement action, the Secretary and cooperating entities
shall--
(A) as soon as possible, but generally not later than 2
hours after an immigration enforcement action, inquire
whether an individual is a parent or primary caregiver of a
child in the United States and provide any such individuals
with--
(i) the opportunity to make a minimum of 2 telephone calls
to arrange for the care of such child in the individual's
absence; and
(ii) contact information for--

(I) child welfare agencies and family courts in the same
jurisdiction as the child; and
(II) consulates, attorneys, and legal service providers
capable of providing free legal advice or representation
regarding child welfare, child custody determinations, and
immigration matters;

(B) notify the child welfare agency with jurisdiction over
the child if the child's parent or primary caregiver is
unable to make care arrangements for the child or if the
child is in imminent risk of serious harm;
(C) ensure that personnel of the Department and cooperating
entities do not, absent medical necessity or extraordinary
circumstances, compel or request children to interpret or
translate for interviews of their parents or of other
individuals who are encountered as part of an immigration
enforcement action; and
(D) ensure that any parent or primary caregiver of a child
in the United States--
(i) absent medical necessity or extraordinary
circumstances, is not transferred from his or her area of
apprehension until the individual--

(I) has made arrangements for the care of such child; or
(II) if such arrangements are unavailable or the individual
is unable to make such arrangements, is informed of the care
arrangements made for the child and of a means to maintain
communication with the child;

(ii) absent medical necessity or extraordinary
circumstances, and to the extent practicable, is placed in a
detention facility that is--

(I) proximate to the location of apprehension; and
(II) proximate to the child's habitual place of residence;
and

(iii) receives due consideration of the best interests of
such child in any decision or action relating to his or her
detention, release, or transfer between detention facilities.
(2) Requests to state and local entities.--If the Secretary
requests a State or local entity to hold in custody an
individual whom the Department has reason to believe is
removable pending transfer of that individual to the custody
of the Secretary or to a detention facility, the Secretary
shall also request that the State or local entity provide the
individual the protections specified in subparagraphs (A) and
(B) of paragraph (1) if that individual is found to be the
parent or primary caregiver of a child in the United States.
(3) Protections against trafficking preserved.--Nothing in
this subsection may be construed to impede, delay, or limit
the obligations of the Secretary, the Attorney General, or
the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 235
of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232), section 462 of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279), or the
Stipulated Settlement Agreement filed in the United States
District Court for the Central District of California on
January 17, 1997 (CV 85-4544-RJK) (commonly known as the
``Flores Settlement Agreement'').
(d) Access to Children, State and Local Courts, Child
Welfare Agencies, and Consular Officials.--At all detention
facilities, the Secretary shall--
(1) prominently post in a manner accessible to detainees
and visitors and include in detainee handbooks information on
the protections of this subtitle as well as information on
potential eligibility for parole or release;
(2) absent extraordinary circumstances, ensure that
individuals who are detained by the Department and are
parents of children in the United States are--
(A) permitted regular phone calls and contact visits with
their children;
(B) provided with contact information for child welfare
agencies and family courts in the relevant jurisdictions;
(C) able to participate fully and, to the extent possible,
in person in all family court proceedings and any other
proceedings that may impact their right to custody of their
children;
(D) granted free and confidential telephone calls to
relevant child welfare agencies and family courts as often as
is necessary to ensure that the best interest of their
children, including a preference for family unity whenever
appropriate, can be considered in child welfare agency or
family court proceedings;
(E) able to fully comply with all family court or child
welfare agency orders impacting custody of their children;
(F) provided access to United States passport applications
or other relevant travel document applications for the
purpose of obtaining travel documents for their children;
(G) afforded timely access to a notary public for the
purpose of applying for a passport for their children or
executing guardianship or other agreements to ensure the
safety of their children; and
(H) granted adequate time before removal to obtain
passports, apostilled birth certificates, travel documents,
and other necessary records on behalf of their children if
such children will accompany them on their return to their
country of origin or join them in their country of origin;
and
(3) if doing so would not impact public safety or national
security, facilitate the ability of detained alien parents
and primary caregivers to share information regarding travel
arrangements with their consulate, children, child welfare
agencies, or other caregivers in advance of the detained
alien individual's departure from the United States.
(e) Mandatory Training.--The Secretary, in consultation
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and
independent child welfare and family law experts, shall
develop and provide training on the protections required
under subsections (c) and (d) to all personnel of the
Department, cooperating entities, and detention facilities
operated by or under agreement with the Department who
regularly engage in immigration enforcement actions,
including detention, and

[[Page S1089]]

in the course of such actions come into contact with
individuals who are parents or primary caregivers of children
in the United States.
(f) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate
regulations to implement subsections (c) and (d).
(g) Severability.--If any provision of this section, any
amendment made by this section, or the application of any
such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is
held to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this
section, the remaining amendments made by this section, and
the application of such provisions and amendments to any
person or circumstance shall not be affected by such holding.
______