Kayla Hamilton Act
Sponsored By: Senator John Cornyn
Introduced
Summary
Tightened placement and vetting rules for unaccompanied alien children. The Kayla Hamilton Act would amend existing child placement laws to require coordinated, risk‑based decisions, stronger background checks, and closer information sharing across agencies.
Show full summary
- Families and children: Establishes a “Safe and Secure Placements” framework that would require the Department of Health and Human Services to consult with Homeland Security and the Justice Department before any placement, screen for gang indicators, and obtain criminal records for unaccompanied children age 12 and older to assess flight risk and danger to self or others.
- Sponsors and households: Before placement, HHS would have to provide DHS detailed information about the sponsor and every adult resident including name, Social Security number or ITIN, dates of birth, address, immigration status, contact details, and results of background checks such as the national sex offender registry and fingerprint‑based criminal history checks.
- Agencies and public safety: The bill would allow secure placements through immigration proceedings for children deemed flight risks or dangers and would bar placement with individuals who have specified serious criminal histories while giving the Attorney General authority to designate other disqualifying offenses.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 3 mixed.
ORR must follow TVPRA and favor least restrictive
This bill would require the Office of Refugee Resettlement to make placement decisions using the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act placement rules. It would also require HHS to promptly place a child in the least restrictive setting that is in the child's best interest unless a listed exception applies.
Screening and secure placement for ages 12 and up
This bill would require HHS to screen children age 12 and older for gang activity and to contact the child's consulate for arrest and conviction records. It would allow placing a child 12 or older in a secure facility during immigration proceedings if the child is a flight risk, dangerous, or has certain gang or criminal indicators. The bill would prohibit release on the child's own recognizance in those cases.
Stricter sponsor checks and data sharing
This bill would require HHS to give DHS detailed identifying information for any prospective sponsor and every adult household resident before a placement. It would require sex-offender registry checks, public-records checks, and national fingerprint-based criminal checks. The bill would also bar placement with noncitizen sponsors and with people or household members who have certain serious convictions, and it lets the Attorney General add other disqualifying offenses.
When rules take effect and exemptions
This bill would make its placement and custody rules effective on the date of enactment and apply them to pending and future cases. It would also let DHS, HHS, State, and the Attorney General skip normal Paperwork Reduction Act or Administrative Procedure Act steps if the officials decide those steps would impede quick implementation.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
John Cornyn
TX • R
Cosponsors
Ted Cruz
TX • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Lindsey Graham
SC • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Marsha Blackburn
TN • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Thomas Tillis
NC • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Cynthia Lummis
WY • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Bill Cassidy
LA • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Ted Budd
NC • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Tommy Tuberville
AL • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Eric Schmitt
MO • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
Katie Britt
AL • R
Sponsored 10/23/2025
John Kennedy
LA • R
Sponsored 10/27/2025
James Risch
ID • R
Sponsored 2/10/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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