Ensuring United Families at the Border Act
Current understanding
HR61 would statutorily override the Flores settlement agreement’s protections governing detention of migrant children, authorize (and in misdemeanor unlawful-entry cases mandate) family detention keeping parents and children together in DHS custody, and preempt state licensing requirements for facilities that detain minors. Practical effect: families apprehended at the border could be held together in immigration detention for longer periods without the current Flores time and condition limits, and states would lose leverage to regulate conditions at family detention centers.
Evidence log
- 2026-07-16 — To require certain protections for any dependent child whose parent is a detained alien, and for other purposes.: cross-connection with dependent-child-detained-alien-protections: Both address family unity and treatment of children in the context of immigration detention. (novelty: 2)
- 2026-06-26 — Unaccompanied Children Program Foundational Rule; Sponsor Assessment Update To Include Proof of Identity, Background Check, Placement, and Income Verification Standards: cross-connection with orr-uac-sponsor-vetting: Both address custody and release conditions for migrant children, with ORR sponsor vetting operating downstream of the detention framework the Act would alter. (novelty: 2)