S. 53

119 S53 IS: Preventing the Recycling of Immigrants is Necessary for Trafficking Suspension Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-01-09
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 53  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   January 9, 2025   Mrs. Blackburn  (for herself,  Mr. Cassidy ,  Mr. Daines ,  Ms. Ernst ,  Mr. Grassley ,  Mr. Hoeven ,  Mrs. Hyde-Smith ,  Mr. Rounds , and  Mr. Sheehy ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to fingerprint noncitizen minors entering the United States who are suspected of being victims of human trafficking, to require the Secretary to publicly disclose the number of such minors who are fingerprinted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials and the number of child traffickers who are apprehended by CBP, to impose criminal penalties on noncitizen adults who use unrelated minors to gain entry into the United States, and for other purposes.
1.
Short titles
This Act may be cited as the   Preventing the Recycling of Immigrants is Necessary for Trafficking Suspension Act   or the   PRINTS Act  .
2.
Authorization of fingerprinting of noncitizen children entering the United States to reduce child trafficking
Section 262(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1302(c) ) is amended to read as follows:
(c)
The Secretary of Homeland Security, working through U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in order to reduce the number of children who are trafficked into the United States, shall obtain a set of fingerprints from any alien younger than 14 years of age who is entering the United States if a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer suspects that such child is a victim of human trafficking, in accordance with the standards established pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ( 34 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. ).
 .
3.
Criminalizing recycling of minors
(a)
In general
 Chapter 69  of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
1430.
Recycling of minors
(a)
In general
Any person 18 years of age or older who knowingly uses, for the purpose of gaining entry into the United States, a minor to whom the individual is not a relative or guardian, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
(b)
Relative
In this section, the term  relative  means an individual related by consanguinity within the second degree, as determined by common law.
 .
(b)
Clerical amendment
The table of sections for  chapter 69  of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
1430. Recycling of minors.
  .
4.
Information sharing
With respect to any unaccompanied alien child (as defined in section 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 279(g) )) who is transferred from the custody of the Secretary of Homeland Security to the custody of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, on request, share with the Secretary of Health and Human Services the fingerprints collected under section 262(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by section 2.
5.
Reports
(a)
Annual report to Congress
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit an annual report to Congress that identifies the number of minors who were fingerprinted during the most recently completed fiscal year pursuant to the authority granted under section 262(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by section 2.
(b)
Online publication
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall post, on a monthly basis on a publicly accessible U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, the number of apprehensions during the previous month involving child traffickers who falsely claimed that a child accompanying them into the United States was a close relative.