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Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Representative Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.-10), and Representative Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.-03) introduced the Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act. This legislation would reverse provisions in the Republican tax law (H.R. 1) that harm unaccompanied children who are seeking safety from trafficking, abuse, and exploitation in their home countries. At the announcement, the lawmakers were joined by Wendy Young, President of Kids in Need of Defense, and Scott Bassett, Managing Attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights’ Children’s Program.
“As members of Congress, it’s our duty to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “That includes the unaccompanied children who come to the United States after escaping trafficking and abuse. It’s essential that we reverse the Republican tax law’s cruel provisions and protect these kids.”
Passed in July, H.R. 1 imposed a new $5,000 Border Apprehension Fee on any child who arrives to the United States between ports of entry. This law also requires children to pay a mandatory asylum application fee, as well as new annual asylum maintenance fees for every year their case remains pending in the government’s yearslong backlog. For children fleeing human trafficking and extreme violence, these fees are often impossible to pay.
Additionally, H.R. 1 provides funding for intrusive body examinations of minors who are often the victims of abuse and trafficking. H.R. 1 also provides funding for deporting unaccompanied children who have not been screened for signs of trafficking or allowed a full review of their case before an immigration judge.
To reverse these provisions in the Republican tax law and protect unaccompanied children, the Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act would:
- Exempt unaccompanied children from all H.R. 1 fees tied to humanitarian protection, including asylum fees, annual maintenance fees, immigration court fees, and the $5,000 Border Apprehension Fee.
- Eliminate H.R. 1’s fee on abandoned, abused, or neglected children applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.
- Repeal the H.R. 1 provision funding deportations of “specified unaccompanied children” without robust trafficking screenings or full review before an immigration judge.
- Repeal H.R. 1 provisions funding intrusive body examinations of children in federal custody.
- Prohibit the use of Office of Refugee Resettlement funds to share children’s sponsor information with the Department of Homeland Security for enforcement purposes.
Read the bill here. Additional Senate co-sponsors include Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The first and only Latina senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada, calling on both the Biden and Trump administrations to protect DACA recipients, TPS holders and other immigrants, as well as leading commonsense legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Earlier this year, the Senator introduced the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act to fix the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status program. Cortez Masto has also demanded the Trump Administration take immediate action to ensure Department of Homeland Security stops conducting aggressive, extreme, and dangerous civil enforcement activities within 1,000 feet of school properties.
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