VotedBy VotedBy ⌕
Election Day · Tue, Nov 3See how your members of Congress voted →

H.R. 6135 · 115th Congress

Keep Families Together Act

Key: what the circles and colors mean

Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:

IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.

Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.

Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 115th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

JND NadlerSponsor
195 cosponsors · 195 D
AAD Adams PAD Aguilar SBD Bishop EBD Blumenauer RBD Brady MBD Bordallo GKD Butterfield KBD Bass SBD Bonamici JBD Beatty JBD Brownley CBD Bustos ABD Bera DBD Beyer BBD Boyle NBD Barragán LBD Blunt Rochester ABD Brown JCD Clyburn JCD Cooper ECD Cummings MCD Capuano JCD Crowley WCD Clay JCD Costa ECD Cleaver KCD Castor YCD Clarke SCD Cohen JCD Courtney ACD Carson GCD Connolly JCD Chu DCD Cicilline MCD Cartwright JCD Castro TCD Cárdenas KCD Clark JCD Correa CCD Crist SCD Carbajal DDD Davis PDD DeFazio DDD DeGette RDD DeLauro LDD Doggett MDD Doyle SDD Davis TDD Deutch SDD DelBene JDD Delaney MDD DeSaulnier DDD Dingell VDD Demings EED Engel AED Eshoo KED Ellison EED Esty DED Evans AED Espaillat BFD Foster MFD Fudge LFD Frankel GGD Green LGD Gutiérrez RGD Grijalva AGD Green JGD Garamendi TGD Gabbard RGD Gallego VGD Gonzalez JGD Gomez AHD Hastings SHD Hoyer BHD Higgins JHD Himes CHD Hanabusa DHD Heck JHD Huffman SJD Jackson Lee EJD Johnson HJD Johnson HJD Jeffries PJD Jayapal MKD Kaptur RKD Kind WKD Keating JKD Kennedy DKD Kildee DKD Kilmer AKD Kuster RKD Kelly RKD Khanna RKD Kihuen RKD Krishnamoorthi SLD Levin JLD Lewis ZLD Lofgren NLD Lowey BLD Lee JLD Larson JLD Langevin RLD Larsen SLD Lynch DLD Lipinski DLD Loebsack BLD Luján ALD Lowenthal MLD Lujan Grisham BLD Lawrence TLD Lieu ALD Lawson CLD Lamb CMD Maloney JMD McGovern GMD Meeks BMD McCollum GMD Moore DMD Matsui JMD McNerney SMD Maloney GMD Meng SMD Moulton AMD McEachin SMD Murphy RND Neal RND Nolan END Norton GND Napolitano DND Norcross BOD O’Rourke TOD O’Halleran FPD Pallone BPD Pascrell NPD Pelosi DPD Price EPD Perlmutter CPD Pingree JPD Polis DPD Payne MPD Pocan SPD Peters SPD Plaskett JPD Panetta MQD Quigley LRD Roybal-Allard BRD Rush CRD Ruppersberger TRD Ryan CRD Richmond RRD Ruiz KRD Rice JRD Raskin JRD Rosen BSD Scott JSD Serrano BSD Sherman ASD Smith JSD Schakowsky ASD Schiff LSD Sánchez ASD Sires JSD Sarbanes CSD Shea-Porter JSD Speier GSD Sablan KSD Schrader TSD Sewell BSD Schneider ESD Swalwell DSD Soto TSD Suozzi BTD Thompson MTD Thompson NTD Tsongas DTD Titus PTD Tonko MTD Takano NTD Torres NVD Velázquez PVD Visclosky JVD Vargas FVD Vela MWD Waters DWD Wasserman Schultz TWD Walz PWD Welch FWD Wilson BWD Watson Coleman JYD Yarmuth JGD Gottheimer DSD Scott KSD Sinema MVD Veasey MSD Scanlon

190 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

This bill prohibits an agent or contractor of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, or the Department of Health and Human Services from removing a child who is under the age of 18 and has no permanent immigration status from his or her parent or legal guardian at or near the port of entry or within 100 miles of the U.S.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Jun 19, 2018

Keep Families Together Act

This bill prohibits an agent or contractor of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, or the Department of Health and Human Services from removing a child who is under the age of 18 and has no permanent immigration status from his or her parent or legal guardian at or near the port of entry or within 100 miles of the U.S. border unless:

  • an authorized state court determines that it is in the child's best interests to be removed;
  • a state or county child welfare official with expertise in child trauma and development determines that it is in the child's best interests to be removed because of abuse or neglect; or
  • the Chief Patrol Agent or the Area Port Director authorizes separation based on a documented finding that the child is a trafficking victim or is at significant risk of becoming a victim, a strong likelihood exists that the adult is not the parent or legal guardian, or the child is in danger of abuse or neglect.

A child may not be removed from a parent or guardian unless an independent licensed child welfare expert authorizes the separation within 48 hours of such removal.

An agency may not remove a child from a parent or legal guardian solely for the policy goals of deterring migration to the United States or of promoting immigration law compliance.

The bill sets forth presumptions: (1) in favor of family and sibling unity and parental rights, and (2) that detention is not in the best interests of families and children.

The bill limits the prosecution of asylum seekers.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Keep Families Together Act

Latest action (Jul 30, 2018): Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

Policy area: Immigration · Origin: House · Introduced: Jun 19, 2018

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.