S. 4389 — HELP Separated Children Act

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including "child" as an individual younger than 18 years of age, "detention facility" as any Federal, State, local, or privately operated facility used to hold individuals under the authority of the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (including short-term holding facilities and custody spaces), "immigration enforcement action" as the apprehension of one or more individuals believed to be removable under section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and "parent" to encompass biological or adoptive parents, legal guardians, and kin caregivers.

This section requires the Secretary and any cooperating entity to identify parents among individuals detained or arrested during immigration enforcement actions. Specifically, the Secretary must inquire whether a detained individual is a parent of a child in the United States, and document the information, as soon as practicable but generally not later than 2 hours after the enforcement action. The Secretary must also inquire about any changes to the individual's parental status at every official interaction with detention facility personnel and not less than 10 days before the individual's removal from the United States.

This section establishes procedures for the Secretary of Homeland Security and cooperating entities during immigration enforcement actions involving an apprehended parent of a child in the United States. It requires the opportunity to make telephone calls to arrange child care, provision of contact information for legal service providers, consulates, and child welfare agencies in the parent's preferred language, and notification to child welfare agencies only if the parent cannot arrange care or the child faces imminent risk of serious harm. The section prohibits excessive use of force, compelling children to interpret or translate, and deception of children in the presence of any child, except in cases of medical necessity or extraordinary circumstances; it also requires opportunities for parents to communicate with and reassure children present during enforcement, and mandates that parents generally not be transferred for 48 hours until care arrangements are made, with placement in facilities facilitating visitation near the child's residence. The section extends these protections when the Secretary requests state or local entities to hold removable individuals in custody and preserves existing obligations under the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, the Homeland Security Act, and the Flores Settlement Agreement.

This section requires the Secretary to ensure that each immigration detention facility provides detained parents of children in the United States with opportunities to maintain contact with their children through free phone and video calls and visits, participate in family court and child welfare proceedings, obtain necessary travel and custody documents, and consult with counsel, child welfare agencies, and courts. It also directs the Secretary to designate points of contact at each facility and field office to facilitate compliance with child welfare case plans and court orders, and to appoint a national coordinator responsible for training, data collection on parental status, guidance to stakeholders, and coordination of reunification efforts before and after removal.

This section directs the Secretary to prioritize the best interests of the child when exercising prosecutorial discretion in immigration enforcement actions against the parent, including decisions on whether to prosecute immigration violations, transfer the parent to a more distant detention facility, release the parent to continue caring for the child, or pursue alternatives to detention.

This section authorizes the Secretary to facilitate, on a case-by-case basis, the reentry into the United States through parole of a previously removed parent who demonstrates (1) a pending or ongoing termination of parental rights or other family court hearing in the United States, (2) a humanitarian need of the parent’s child such as a medical emergency, or (3) the death of the parent’s child for purposes of attending the funeral in the United States.

This section directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and independent child welfare and family law experts, to develop and provide training on the protections required under sections 4 and 5, including methods to minimize trauma to children and to detect signs of abuse or neglect. The training must be provided to all Department employees, cooperating entities, and detention facilities who hold positions related to parental interests, regularly engage in immigration enforcement actions including detention, or come into contact with parents of children in the United States during such actions; current personnel must receive the training not later than 180 days after the date of enactment and annually thereafter, while newly hired personnel must receive it upon commencing duty and annually thereafter.

This section requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to collect and maintain data on parents in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and their children. Beginning 180 days after enactment and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary must collect information on the number and percentage of detained parents with children in the United States or in the child welfare system; the number and percentage of such parents apprehended, released, or subject to removal orders (including those electing to take children with them or leave them in the United States); training provided to ICE personnel on parental rights; the average number of child visits to detained parents; the average and median distance between detention facilities and children's domiciles; and the number and distance of facility transfers. The Secretary must submit reports containing this information for the preceding 180-day period to the Senate Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Education and Workforce, with the initial report also describing data collection protocols and subsequent reports including training statistics; make the reports publicly available on the Department's website; and ensure consistent collection methods across years while protecting personally identifiable information.

This section provides a severability clause specifying that if any provision of this Act, any amendment made by this Act, or the application of any such provision or amendment is held unconstitutional, the remaining provisions, amendments, and applications remain in effect.