# 119-hr-61: Ensuring United Families at the Border Act

119-hr-61, Ensuring United Families at the Border Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5] (R-AZ); status introduced (as of 2026-10-04).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-61
- As of: 2026-10-04
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-61
- Congress: 119
- Title: Ensuring United Families at the Border Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-01-03
- Sponsor: Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5] (R-AZ)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Immigration
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-04

## Summary

**Expands federal authority to detain children who arrive with adults and to hold families together in immigration custody.** It would change how the law treats children who are not "unaccompanied" and set a federal framework for detaining certain parents with their under‑18 children.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Burlison, Eric [R-MO-7] (R-MO), 2025-01-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2] (R-AZ), 2025-01-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Nehls, Troy E. [R-TX-22] (R-TX), 2025-01-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More detention for immigrant families: cost, high. If enacted, DHS would use INA sections 217, 235, 236, and 241 to detain accompanied children, with no presumption against detention. Parents charged only with the 8 U.S.C. 1325(a) misdemeanor who entered with a child under 18 would be kept in DHS custody. DHS would detain the parent together with t…
- No state licenses for child detention: cost, medium. If enacted, States would be barred from requiring licenses for immigration detention centers that hold children or families. This would remove state licensing oversight for those facilities. The change would apply regardless of other laws or settlements. It would take effect on enactment and apply…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-2189: To modernize Federal firearms laws to account for advancements in technology and less-than-lethal weapons, and for other purposes.
- 119-hr-22: SAVE Act
- 119-hr-404: Hearing Protection Act
- 119-hr-4668: End the Vaccine Carveout Act
- 119-hr-2126: FOCA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1301: Death Tax Repeal Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-61 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/61)

## Related
- [119-hr-2189: To modernize Federal firearms laws to account for advancements in technology an…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2189)
- [119-hr-22: SAVE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-22)
- [119-hr-404: Hearing Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-404)
- [119-hr-4668: End the Vaccine Carveout Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4668)
- [119-hr-2126: FOCA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2126)
- [119-hr-1301: Death Tax Repeal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1301)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-61 (as of 2026-10-04).