H.R. 9805 — Children’s Safe Welcome Act of 2026

This section prohibits separation of a noncitizen child from a parent, legal guardian, or nonparent family member while in DHS or HHS custody, except for temporary privacy requests or when clear and convincing evidence shows a national security threat, inadmissibility under specified INA grounds, or likely serious harm to the child. It bars DHS employees from making such determinations, requires HHS to hire licensed child welfare experts with trauma-informed care experience and language proficiency, mandates notifications of challenge rights, and directs reunification once risks are mitigated.

This section requires licensed child caregiver professionals at land ports of entry, Border Patrol stations on the southern border, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities to provide 24/7 onsite care for noncitizen children, including trauma-informed services, food, hygiene, and basic needs, with mixed-gender staffing. It requires release of children apprehended with a parent, adoptive parent, or legal guardian together with that adult, and release of children with nonparent family members determined to be appropriate sponsors, along with support from qualified nongovernmental community-based organizations. It prohibits operation of family detention facilities. It ends the separate screening track that allowed children from contiguous countries to be returned more quickly. Throughout, it replaces the term “unaccompanied alien child” with “unaccompanied noncitizen child.”

This section expands nonadversarial asylum processing by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to include unaccompanied noncitizen children (as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1232), children apprehended with a parent or legal guardian, and the parents or guardians of such children, regardless of the applicant's age or marital status at filing.

This section limits U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention of noncitizen children to initial processing only. It prohibits detention of any family with a noncitizen child for more than 72 hours and requires the Commissioner to prioritize the child's best interests and family unity in all related decisions.

This section establishes standards for U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities housing noncitizen children. It directs the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to develop procedures within 90 days for immediate HHS access to conduct medical and mental health screenings, provide hygiene and nutrition supplies, and begin reunification of unaccompanied children. It requires a review of the October 2015 National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search within 180 days, followed by revisions within 90 days and facility compliance within 180 days after revision. It mandates dedicated children's areas with specified features and licensed professional staffing, plus medical screenings by a licensed provider within 6 hours of arrival.

This section revises the definition of asylum officer in section 235(b)(1)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to cover only employees of the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (thus excluding officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection).

This section expresses the sense of Congress that, before opening or expanding an influx facility, the Secretary and the Director should explore all other avenues for placing an unaccompanied noncitizen child in the least restrictive, State-licensed setting that most approximates a family and meets the child's special needs.

This section defines "emergency" as an event of limited duration, such as a natural disaster, facility fire, civil disturbance, or medical concern, and "operational capacity" as the net bed capacity of Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities and other housing operated by State-licensed programs for unaccompanied noncitizen children.

This section limits the placement of unaccompanied noncitizen children in influx or emergency facilities. It caps any stay at 20 days, bars transfers of children younger than 16 years of age, those with special needs, pregnant or parenting children, and 13 other specified categories, and requires that family groups remain together with unlimited visitation.

This section directs the Director to develop, within 180 days of enactment, a plan to maintain and expand emergency capacity in licensed foster care homes and small congregate care facilities to eliminate the need for influx facilities, and to place unaccompanied noncitizen children with sponsors expeditiously during emergencies or influxes. It also requires the Director to maintain a supplemental placement list of at least 200 additional beds, with specified facility details, and to contact listed facilities when operational capacity reaches 75 percent for three consecutive days.

This section establishes standards for influx facilities housing unaccompanied noncitizen children. It requires compliance with childcare facility staffing ratios, case management, education, medical services, and Prison Rape Elimination Act standards on the first day of operation, and all title II standards within 30 days. Contractors must demonstrate experience with such children, maintain placement and emergency plans including COVID-19 testing and immunizations, and follow specified staffing and training protocols. The Director may waive standards for up to 30 days and must notify Congress of any licensing waiver. The section mandates FBI background checks before staff interact with children and bars hiring individuals with child abuse or trafficking convictions.

This section requires monthly comprehensive onsite monitoring visits by the Director and Ombudsperson to any influx facility, including evaluations of compliance with title II standards, the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, the Flores settlement agreement, section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and other applicable law, plus assessments of health care, mental health care, and legal services access, and private interviews with unaccompanied noncitizen children. It also authorizes unscheduled visits by the HHS Inspector General and monthly tours by approved stakeholders.

This section requires that each unaccompanied noncitizen child receive a free legal orientation presentation and legal screening within 10 days after transfer to the custody of the Secretary. The presentation must cover the right to apply for relief from removal, request voluntary departure, and receive a hearing before an immigration judge, with the Director required to prioritize delivery before release.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appoint counsel at government expense for each unaccompanied noncitizen child in custody, extending through all stages of removal proceedings and ancillary matters such as employment authorization. It mandates private meeting spaces and unrestricted contact with counsel, authorizes appropriations maintained separately from childcare funds, expands representation to placement and well-being issues, and directs the Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide case files and sponsor information within 7 days.

This section directs the Secretary to appoint independent child advocates for vulnerable unaccompanied noncitizen children in custody and after release. It expands such services to all housing and immigration court locations within 180 days after enactment, prioritizing sites with the highest numbers of children. The section grants advocates access to complete Office of Refugee Resettlement case files within 72 hours, requires best interest recommendations to HHS, DOJ, DHS, and federal, state, or tribal courts, mandates confidentiality of communications, ensures on-site immigration and child welfare attorneys, and authorizes necessary appropriations.

This section increases the total number of immigration judges by at least 75 during fiscal year 2027, requires the Attorney General to hire 75 additional judicial law clerks and 300 support staff at the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and directs sufficient technological, security, and facility resources for immigration proceedings. It prohibits use of funds for numeric case load performance standards that could impair fair adjudication. It also requires immigration judges to administratively close or terminate removal cases, and the Board of Immigration Appeals to remand cases for closure, when an individual appears prima facie eligible for a visa or other immigration benefit with a pending application before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

This section establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services an Office of the Ombudsperson for Unaccompanied Noncitizen Children to monitor and oversee compliance with the Act and amendments made by the Act. The Office operates independently of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Department of Homeland Security, is headed by an Ombudsperson appointed by the Secretary for terms of up to 4 years (removable only for cause), and must establish at least 7 regional offices, hire subject-matter experts, conduct site visits and investigations of abuse or licensing complaints within 30 days, and report violations to state agencies.

This section requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to collect weekly individual and aggregated data on each noncitizen child in DHS custody—including biographical details, apprehension and release dates, family information, and facility-level statistics on population, maximum concurrent holdings, and median hours in custody—and to submit the data to the Ombudsperson and the Senate and House Judiciary and Appropriations Committees while publishing aggregated figures monthly on a public DHS website. It also directs the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement to establish and maintain a systemic data collection system for unaccompanied noncitizen children, review the system every three years, and collect weekly facility-level data on placements, family reunification status, and law enforcement contacts.

This section requires annual audits of each childcare facility for unaccompanied noncitizen children, including site visits to assess compliance and state licensing status, with reports to the Ombudsperson within 7 days. It authorizes violation notifications and administrative appeals (during which new placements are barred), debarment from federal contracts for at least 3 years, civil actions in U.S. district courts limited to individual claims, civil penalties of up to $2,500 for interference with the Ombudsperson, referrals for breaches of duty, and misdemeanor penalties for discrimination or retaliation.

This section prohibits the Director from taking adverse actions against, or withdrawing funds from, Office of Refugee Resettlement-funded legal services providers, child advocate programs, or other entities that pursue judicial review or civil actions on behalf of unaccompanied noncitizen children. It also bars retaliation against individuals who file complaints with the Ombudsperson and against noncitizen children who report discrimination.

This section requires the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to permit Members of Congress to tour any facility housing detained individuals, including unaccompanied noncitizen children, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. upon written notice of the facility name and requested date (24 hours in advance for DHS facilities; 2 business days for HHS facilities). It allows accompanying press without still or video cameras and bars release of personally identifying information without consent, while capping attendance at 5 Members for facilities with 50 or fewer children and 10 Members for larger facilities.

This section requires fair and equal treatment of noncitizen children in immigration custody, including freedom from discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), language, disability, or HIV status. It also mandates that services be provided in a manner sensitive to each child's age, culture, and native language, while preserving protections under other federal or state anti-discrimination laws.

This section requires care providers to treat noncitizen children in immigration custody fairly and with dignity, without discrimination. It directs active efforts to maintain cultural connections for indigenous children, mandates privacy protections and use of correct names and pronouns for sexual orientation and gender identity, and imposes specific housing, restroom, dress, and search rules for LGBTQI children while prohibiting labeling, punishment, or isolation based on those characteristics.

This section requires the Director to maintain all unaccompanied noncitizen children's Office of Refugee Resettlement case files and records separately from their immigration A-Files and to ensure such files are inaccessible to the Department of Homeland Security.

This section prohibits the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General from using an unaccompanied noncitizen child's Office of Refugee Resettlement case file or record to deny any application for relief or to facilitate involuntary removal, including expedited removal, reinstatement of removal, and proceedings under sections 362 or 365 of the Public Health Service Act.

This section establishes confidentiality for the personal information and Office of Refugee Resettlement case files of unaccompanied noncitizen children, permitting disclosure only after the child consults with legal counsel and provides informed consent. For children under 12 years of age, only a parent, legal guardian, or sponsor may provide consent, and subsequent disclosure to a third party requires the same process.

This section prohibits the Office of Refugee Resettlement from sharing information about unaccompanied noncitizen children or prospective sponsors with the Attorney General or the Department of Homeland Security without informed consent of the child or sponsor and their legal counsel. It bars such sharing for immigration enforcement or relief from removal, with exceptions for national security, law enforcement, benefits eligibility determinations, and victim services with consent.

This section prohibits sharing of counseling information, records, and notes from unaccompanied noncitizen children with case management specialists or employees of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, HHS, DOJ, or DHS, except when the child presents a documented imminent threat to self or others or provides informed consent after consulting legal counsel. It also requires juvenile information, including records of separated children, to remain confidential regardless of immigration status and bars its disclosure to federal officials without a juvenile court order.

This section establishes protections for information and data collected from sponsors or prospective sponsors of unaccompanied children. It limits use and disclosure to family reunification, sponsor placement, or congressional oversight; renders the data immune from legal process and inadmissible in proceedings without consent; and bars HHS officers from using the data for other purposes, publishing identifiable information, or permitting access by non-sworn personnel.

This section provides that nothing in the Act may be construed to limit the rights of noncitizen children to preserve issues for judicial review or exercise independent rights; to affect, abrogate, modify, or replace the Flores settlement agreement; or to preclude class counsel from conducting investigations or seeking enforcement actions in district court.