Ensuring United Families at the Border Act

H.R. 61, the Ensuring United Families at the Border Act, would modify federal immigration detention policies for children who are not U.S. citizens. The bill would remove the presumption against detaining non-unaccompanied migrant children and would require that detention of such minors be governed only by specific sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, potentially overriding a 1997 settlement agreement known as the Flores agreement that currently imposes protections on detained migrant children, including requirements for their release or placement in nonsecure facilities after certain timeframes.

The bill would also require the Department of Homeland Security to detain parents and children together when an adult enters the country unlawfully with a child and faces only a misdemeanor charge for unlawful entry. Additionally, the bill would prohibit states from imposing their own licensing requirements on immigration detention facilities that hold minors or families with children. Currently in committee, if enacted, these changes would significantly alter how migrant families are detained at the border and would limit state-level regulatory authority over such facilities.