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H.R. 541 · 116th Congress

Keep Families Together Act

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

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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 116th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

JND NadlerSponsor
202 cosponsors · 202 D
PAD Aguilar SBD Bishop EBD Blumenauer KBD Bass SBD Bonamici JBD Beatty JBD Brownley CBD Bustos ABD Bera DBD Beyer BBD Boyle NBD Barragán LBD Blunt Rochester ABD Brown JCD Cooper ECD Cummings WCD Clay JCD Costa 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 JCD Crow GCD Cisneros TCD Cox DDD Davis PDD DeFazio DDD DeGette RDD DeLauro MDD Doyle SDD Davis TDD Deutch SDD DelBene DDD Dingell VDD Demings MDD Dean EED Engel AED Eshoo DED Evans AED Espaillat VED Escobar BFD Foster MFD Fudge LFD Frankel RGD Grijalva JGD Garamendi TGD Gabbard RGD Gallego VGD Gonzalez JGD Gomez CGD García SGD Garcia AHD Hastings BHD Higgins JHD Himes DHD Heck SHD Horsford JHD Huffman DHD Haaland JHD Hayes KHD Hill JHD Harder SJD Jackson Lee EJD Johnson HJD Johnson PJD Jayapal MKD Kaptur RKD Kind WKD Keating JKD Kennedy DKD Kildee DKD Kilmer AKD Kuster RKD Kelly RKD Khanna RKD Krishnamoorthi JLD Lewis ZLD Lofgren NLD Lowey JLD Larson JLD Langevin RLD Larsen SLD Lynch DLD Lipinski DLD Loebsack BLD Luján ALD Lowenthal BLD Lawrence TLD Lieu ALD Lawson CLD Lamb ELD Luria ALD Levin CMD Maloney JMD McGovern GMD Meeks BMD McCollum GMD Moore DMD Matsui JMD McNerney SMD Maloney GMD Meng SMD Moulton AMD McEachin SMD Murphy TMD Malinowski JMD Morelle BMD McAdams END Norton GND Napolitano DND Norcross JND Neguse TOD O’Halleran IOD Omar FPD Pallone BPD Pascrell DPD Price EPD Perlmutter CPD Pingree DPD Payne MPD Pocan SPD Peters SPD Plaskett JPD Panetta APD Pressley KPD Porter MQD Quigley LRD Roybal-Allard BRD Rush CRD Ruppersberger TRD Ryan CRD Richmond RRD Ruiz KRD Rice JRD Raskin HRD Rouda BSD Scott JSD Serrano BSD Sherman ASD Smith JSD Schakowsky ASD Schiff LSD Sánchez DSD Scott ASD Sires JSD Sarbanes JSD Speier GSD Sablan KSD Schrader TSD Sewell BSD Schneider ESD Swalwell DSD Soto TSD Suozzi MSD Scanlon DSD Shalala ASD Spanberger GSD Stanton KSD Schrier BTD Thompson MTD Thompson DTD Titus PTD Tonko MTD Takano NTD Torres RTD Tlaib NVD Velázquez JVD Vargas MVD Veasey FVD Vela DWD Wasserman Schultz PWD Welch FWD Wilson BWD Watson Coleman JWD Wexton SWD Wild JYD Yarmuth MWD Waters BLD Lee MDD DeSaulnier PVD Visclosky RND Neal DMD Mucarsel-Powell ECD Case AOD Ocasio-Cortez AKD Kirkpatrick LTD Trahan MLD Levin HJD Jeffries ECD Cleaver DTD Trone

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

This bill limits the separation of families at or near U.S borders or ports of entry and imposes limits on the prosecution of asylum seekers.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Jan 14, 2019

Keep Families Together Act

This bill limits the separation of families at or near U.S borders or ports of entry and imposes limits on the prosecution of asylum seekers.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall not separate a child from a legal guardian at a port of entry or within 100 miles of a U.S. border unless

  • a state court terminates the legal guardian's rights;
  • a state child welfare agency or court determines it is in the child's best interests to be removed; or
  • the child is determined to be a trafficking victim or at risk of becoming one, the accompanying adult is most likely not the legal guardian, or the child is in danger of abuse or neglect.

Such separation shall end unless a licensed independent child welfare expert authorizes the separation within 48 hours.

DHS, DOJ, or HHS may not separate a child from a legal guardian solely to deter migration into the United States or to promote compliance with immigration laws.

DHS shall develop (1) training related to the bill's family separation requirements, and (2) guidance for how legal guardians may locate a separated child. HHS shall provide legal guardians weekly status updates about a separated child.

An asylum seeker who has expressed a credible or reasonable fear of persecution may not be prosecuted for certain immigration law violations until the asylum application has been finally adjudicated.

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 (Feb 25, 2019): Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Policy area: Immigration · Origin: House · Introduced: Jan 14, 2019

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

No recorded floor vote found.