[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5415 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5415
To require the Federal Government to report on efforts to locate,
establish contact with, conduct wellness checks on, and investigate any
suspicion of human trafficking related to approximately 85,000
unaccompanied alien children who crossed the U.S. southern border, were
released from Federal custody, and with whom subsequent contact has
been lost.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 12, 2023
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Ciscomani, Mr.
Griffith, Mr. Harris, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Lamborn, Mrs. Miller of Illinois,
Mr. Norman, Mr. Ogles, Mr. Sessions, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Weber of Texas,
Mr. Diaz-Balart, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Kelly
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Burgess, and Mr. Simpson)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Appropriations, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
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A BILL
To require the Federal Government to report on efforts to locate,
establish contact with, conduct wellness checks on, and investigate any
suspicion of human trafficking related to approximately 85,000
unaccompanied alien children who crossed the U.S. southern border, were
released from Federal custody, and with whom subsequent contact has
been lost.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Safeguarding Endangered Children,
Unaccompanied and at Risk of Exploitation Act of 2023'' or as the
``SECURE Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to statistics kept by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, at least 345,000 children have crossed the United
States southern border unaccompanied since early 2021.
(2) Thousands of these children have been victims of child
sex trafficking, forced child labor, or child sexual
exploitation and abuse, or some combination of these crimes.
(3) The Department of Health and Human Services, through
its Office of Refugee Resettlement, was and is responsible for
the well-being of these children up through repatriation or
placement in safe homes within the United States.
(4) The Department and the Office have lost contact with as
many as 85,000 of these migrant children after placing them
with sponsors in the United States and their locations and
well-being is currently unknown.
(5) The risk of child sex trafficking, forced child labor,
and sexual exploitation and abuse of these children is
immediate and grave.
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 75 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary
of Homeland Security, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation shall jointly submit a status report to the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Energy
and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland
Security of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland
Security and Government Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on the
Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions of the Senate on the status of all unaccompanied alien
children that have been in the custody and care of the Office of
Refugee Resettlement since January 1, 2021, and have been released to a
parent, family-member, or sponsor within the United States.
(b) Contents of Report.--Such status report shall include, at a
minimum, all information known by the Secretaries and FBI concerning--
(1) the age, sex, and location (including the city and
State) for each child;
(2) the number of days the child was in the custody and
care of the Secretary of Health and Human Services before
placement with a sponsor within the United States;
(3) whether they live with a non-relative or relative and
the degree of kinship;
(4) the number of related and unrelated adults living in
the child's home;
(5) the number of formerly unaccompanied alien children in
the home;
(6) an assessment (and the results thereof) of the child's
cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral well-being;
(7) an assessment (and the results thereof) of whether the
child is a victim of, or is at risk of being a victim of child
sexual exploitation and abuse or severe forms of trafficking in
persons as defined by Public Law 106-386, including an
explanation of the methodology used in each assessment;
(8) whether all the adults in the home have been subject to
a fingerprint-based check of national crime information
databases (as defined in section 534(f)(3)(A) of title 28,
United States Code);
(9) whether a fingerprint or other background check has
revealed an adult in the home has a record of a conviction for
child abuse or neglect, for spousal abuse, for a crime against
children (including child pornography), or for a crime
involving violence, including rape, sexual assault, or
homicide, a felony drug-related offense or three or more
misdemeanor drug offenses, or crimes of involving moral
turpitude; and
(10) the number of children that the Office of Refugee
Resettlement has tried to contact without success on at least
three separate attempts.
(c) Update and Resubmission of Report.--The joint status report
required by this section shall be updated and resubmitted every 60 days
to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs of the Senate,
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
(d) Termination Date.--The reporting requirements under this
section shall remain in effect until the unaccompanied alien children
described in subsection (a) have been adequately accounted for, or that
three years have elapsed since the first report, whichever comes first.
SEC. 4. FUNDING CONDITIONS.
(a) In General.--For each day the required status report is
submitted late to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Government
Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate,
and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate, as determined by the relevant committee chairs and ranking
members--
(1) $100,000 shall be rescinded from unobligated funds made
available for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the
Secretary for Health and Human Services;
(2) $100,000 shall be rescinded from unobligated funds made
available for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the
Secretary for Homeland Security; and
(3) $100,000 shall be rescinded from unobligated funds made
available for the salaries and expenses of the Office the
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(b) Limitation on Rescission.--The amount of funds rescinded for
each office shall not exceed $10,000,000 per fiscal year.
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