# 119-hr-4371: Kayla Hamilton Act

119-hr-4371, Kayla Hamilton Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Fry, Russell [R-SC-7] (R-SC); status passed_house (as of 2026-08-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4371
- As of: 2026-08-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-4371
- Congress: 119
- Title: Kayla Hamilton Act
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-07-14
- Sponsor: Rep. Fry, Russell [R-SC-7] (R-SC)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-01

## Summary

**This bill would tighten how the federal government places and screens unaccompanied alien children.** It focuses on stronger placement rules and more detailed safety checks to block traffickers, gang involvement, and unsafe sponsors. - Would require a multi-part screening before any placement. Agencies must consult with the Department of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and juvenile justice officials, check for flight risk or danger to self or others, contact consulates for criminal records, and screen for gang involvement and gang-related tattoos for children age 12 and older. - Would forbid release on own recognizance and require placement in the least restrictive setting that serves the child’s best interests. It creates criteria to place children age 12 and older in secure facilities when they are flight risks, dangerous, have serious criminal histories or aggravated felonies, or show gang-related tattoos, arrests, pending charges, or convictions. - Would bar placement with sponsors who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and with adults who have specified disqualifying criminal histories, including sex offenses, trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse, murder, aggravated felonies, or offenses punishable by more than one year. HHS must provide DHS full information on each sponsor and every adult household resident, including names, Social Security numbers or ITINs, dates of birth, addresses, immigration status, contact information, Dru Sjodin sex-offender checks, public records background checks, and fingerprint-based national criminal history checks.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Nehls, Troy E. [R-TX-22] (R-TX), 2025-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moore, Barry [R-AL-1] (R-AL), 2025-07-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Votes

| Date | Chamber | Question | Result | Yea | Nay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z | house | On Motion to Recommit | Failed | 208 | 218 |
| 2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z | house | On Passage | Passed | 225 | 201 |

## Provisions PRIA read

- New rules cover pending immigrant child cases: cost, low. If enacted, the act would take effect on the date of enactment. The new custody and release rules would apply to decisions already pending and to any made after that date. They would also apply to any later review of a release decision. Cases with unaccompanied immigrant children would be handled u…
- Stricter checks for unaccompanied immigrant children: cost, low. If enacted, this bill would tighten how HHS and ORR screen and place unaccompanied immigrant children. In general, children would still be placed promptly in the least restrictive, best‑interest setting. For children age 12 or older, officials would contact consulates for arrest records and look fo…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2395: SHORT Act
- 119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-hr-6987: Public Charge Clarification Act of 2026
- 119-hr-1181: Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-4371 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4371)

## Related
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-2395: SHORT Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2395)
- [119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-21)
- [119-hr-6987: Public Charge Clarification Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6987)
- [119-hr-1181: Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1181)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4371 (as of 2026-08-01).