Protection of Children Act of 2017
Latest action. Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the yeas and naysThe constitutional right of one-fifth of those present to force every member's vote onto the public record. The mechanism behind every roll call you can look up.Read the full definition (opens a new tab): 15 - 12.
Protection of Children Act of 2017
This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to eliminate the special repatriation requirements for unaccompanied alien children (UAC) who are nationals or residents of a country contiguous to the United States. (The same removal requirements are applied to all UACs who are not victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons and who do not have a fear of returning to their country of nationality or last habitual residence.)
An immigration officer who finds an inadmissible UAC at a land border or port of entry shall return the child to his or her country of nationality or of last habitual residence. (Currently such authority is discretionary.)
The Department of State is authorized to negotiate agreements between the United States and other countries for the repatriation of children. (Under current law, State is required to negotiate agreements between the United States and countries contiguous to the United States for the repatriation of children.)
An unaccompanied child who is not a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons and who does not have a fear of returning to his or her country of nationality or last habitual residence but who is:
in removal proceedings, shall have a hearing before an immigration judge within 14 days;
in federal custody, shall be transferred to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) custody within 30 days; and
in HHS or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody, shall have access to legal counsel at no cost to the government.
HHS, before placing a child with an individual, shall provide DHS with the individual's name, Social Security number, date of birth, residence location, and immigration status, if known.
DHS shall investigate the immigration status of the individual with whom the child is placed and initiate removal proceedings if that individual is unlawfully present in the United States.
Such requirements are applied to any unauthorized child apprehended on or after June 15, 2012.
The summary continues for 1 more paragraph. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 12, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 12.
Civibrief does not map this action to a stage in the process. See the official record.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on June 21, 2017: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 12.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
John Carter (R-TX) introduced it on January 12, 2017, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 6 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 12, 2017, 3528 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3368 days ago, on June 21, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 12.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action