Freedom for Families Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2925 To prohibit the use of funds for the operation or construction of family detention centers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2021 Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. JONES, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MCGOV- ERN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prohibit the use of funds for the operation or construction of family detention centers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom for Families 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2925 IH (1) The Federal Government has intentionally 1 separated and detained families seeking asylum in 2 the United States purportedly to deter other foreign 3 nationals from coming to the United States in the 4 future. Such method of deterrence is ineffective, con- 5 trary to human rights norms, and likely violates 6 United States and international law. 7 (2) On September 7, 2018, the Secretary of 8 Homeland Security issued a proposed rule entitled 9 ‘‘Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of 10 Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children’’ 11 (83 Fed. Reg. 45486 (September 7, 2018)) that at- 12 tempted to circumvent a 1997 court agreement com- 13 monly known as the ‘‘Flores Settlement Agreement’’ 14 to undermine current legal protections for children 15 and families and increase family detention. 16 (3) Detaining families can have long-term con- 17 sequences on children, such as— 18 (A) difficulty regulating emotions, achiev- 19 ing developmental milestones, and forming 20 healthy relationships; 21 (B) increased rates of anxiety, depression, 22 and post-traumatic stress disorder; and 23 (C) heightened risks of suicide and self- 24 harm. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2925 IH (4) When family units are placed in family de- 1 tention facilities— 2 (A) family members experience feelings of 3 isolation and increased stress; 4 (B) the ability of the parents to care for 5 their children is compromised by the constraints 6 of detention; and 7 (C) the detention setting creates barriers 8 to— 9 (i) accessing counsel and legal serv- 10 ices; and 11 (ii) successfully obtaining relief from 12 removal. 13 (5) Nondetention-based practices, such as fam- 14 ily case management and community-based pro- 15 grams, are effective and humane alternatives to fam- 16 ily detention. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 20 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 21 gress’’ means— 22 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 23 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2925 IH (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 1 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 2 of Representatives. 3 (2) DETAIN.—With respect to an individual, the 4 term ‘‘detain’’ means to compel an individual to stay 5 in a location from which the individual cannot leave 6 on his or her own free will. 7 (3) FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CENTER.—The term 8 ‘‘family residential center’’ means a facility that de- 9 tains 1 or more noncitizen families. 10 (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 11 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 12 of the United States. 13 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR FAMILY DE- 16 TENTION CENTERS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 18 sion of law, none of the amounts made available after the 19 date of the enactment of this Act for any fiscal year may 20 be obligated or expended to operate or construct a family 21 residential center, whether directly operated by U.S. Im- 22 migration and Customs Enforcement or by another gov- 23 ernmental or nongovernmental contractor. 24 (b) PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2925 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 1 is 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 2 Act, none of the amounts made available before such 3 date of enactment for the purpose of operating or 4 constructing a family residential center may be used 5 for such purpose. 6 (2) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—None of the 7 amounts made available before the date of the enact- 8 ment of this Act may be reprogrammed or trans- 9 ferred for the purpose of operating or constructing 10 a family residential center. 11 (c) ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION.— 12 (1) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Amounts obligated 13 to operate a family residential center as of the date 14 of the enactment of this Act shall be transferred for 15 the implementation and development of appropriate 16 community-based nondetention programs consistent 17 with international best practices for noncitizen fami- 18 lies. 19 (2) NONPROFIT ENTITY CONTRACTING PART- 20 NER.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 22 contract with 1 or more community-based quali- 23 fied nonprofit service providers that have the 24 trust of their communities for the operation of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2925 IH appropriate community-based nondetention pro- 1 grams. 2 (B) LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUALS WHO 3 MAY SERVE AS DESIGNEES.—The Secretary 4 may only designate the responsibility under 5 subparagraph (A) to an individual employed by 6 the Office of the Secretary. 7 (3) PARTICIPATION.—A noncitizen family enter- 8 ing the United States that is apprehended by the 9 Secretary may be placed in a nondetention program 10 under this subsection if the Secretary makes an indi- 11 vidualized determination that participation in the 12 program will facilitate the family’s compliance with 13 the immigration laws (as defined in section 101(a) 14 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 15 1101(a))). 16 (4) LEGAL ORIENTATION.—To facilitate partici- 17 pant compliance with legal requirements, a non- 18 detention program under this subsection shall in- 19 clude— 20 (A) a legal orientation for each participant 21 in the program; and 22 (B) meaningful access to counsel. 23 (5) CASE MANAGEMENT TRAINING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2925 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 1 provide case management training for all per- 2 sonnel of a nondetention program under this 3 subsection, including personnel of— 4 (i) the Department of Homeland Se- 5 curity; and 6 (ii) the nonprofit entity contracted 7 under paragraph (2). 8 (B) BEST PRACTICES.—The training under 9 subparagraph (A) shall— 10 (i) be based on international and so- 11 cial welfare best practices relating to immi- 12 gration and refugee case management; and 13 (ii) include consultation with civil soci- 14 ety experts with expertise in case manage- 15 ment. 16 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 17 may be construed to endorse the separation of noncitizen 18 families who enter the United States at or between ports 19 of entry. 20 SEC. 5. FEASIBILITY REVIEW OF TRANSFERRING ALTER- 21 NATIVES TO DETENTION PROGRAM. 22 The Secretary shall review the feasibility of transfer- 23 ring case management programs out of the purview of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2925 IH U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the De- 1 partment of Homeland Security. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2925.IH H2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS