[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4887 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4887

   To protect certain victims of human trafficking by expanding the 
 authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant such aliens 
                continued presence in the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 2024

     Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mrs. Gillibrand) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To protect certain victims of human trafficking by expanding the 
 authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant such aliens 
                continued presence in the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Continued Presence Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 107(c)(3) of the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:
                            ``(i) Investigations and prosecutions.--If 
                        a law enforcement official files an application 
                        stating that an alien may be a victim of a 
                        severe form of trafficking, the Secretary of 
                        Homeland Security may permit the alien to 
                        remain in the United States to facilitate the 
                        investigation or prosecution of a trafficking-
                        related offense.'';
                    (B) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (v);
                    (C) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iv) and 
                moving such clause so that it appears immediately after 
                clause (iii);
                    (D) by striking clause (iii) and inserting the 
                following:
                            ``(ii) While pursuing a civil action.--The 
                        Secretary of Homeland Security shall permit an 
                        alien who is a victim of a severe form of 
                        trafficking and has filed a civil action under 
                        section 1595 of title 18 to remain in the 
                        United States until such action is concluded. 
                        If the Secretary, after consultation with the 
                        Attorney General, determines that the alien has 
                        failed to exercise due diligence in pursuing 
                        such action, the Secretary may revoke the order 
                        permitting the alien to remain in the United 
                        States.
                            ``(iii) Length; extensions.--The Secretary 
                        of Homeland Security shall grant continued 
                        presence under this subparagraph for a period 
                        of not less than 2 years and may extend such 
                        status beyond 2 years, at the discretion of the 
                        Secretary. If the alien has a pending 
                        immigration benefit application, continued 
                        presence shall be extended until such 
                        application is approved, withdrawn, or denied 
                        upon final appeal, unless the Secretary 
                        determines that continued presence is no longer 
                        warranted.'';
                    (E) in clause (iv), as redesignated, by striking 
                ``Federal law enforcement officials described in clause 
                (i)'' and inserting ``law enforcement officials''; and
                    (F) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(vi) Employment authorization.--During 
                        the period the alien is authorized to remain in 
                        the United States under this paragraph, the 
                        Secretary of Homeland Security shall--
                                    ``(I) authorize the alien to engage 
                                in employment in the United States; and
                                    ``(II) provide the alien with an 
                                `employment authorized' endorsement or 
                                other appropriate work permit.
                            ``(vii) Protection from immigration 
                        enforcement.--While a grant of continued 
                        presence is in effect under this paragraph, 
                        Federal law enforcement officials may only take 
                        civil immigration enforcement actions against 
                        an alien described in clause (i) or (iii)--
                                    ``(I) based on conduct committed 
                                after continued presence is authorized; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) following consultation with 
                                the law enforcement official who filed 
                                the application for continued 
                                presence.'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by striking ``Law enforcement'' and inserting 
                the following:
                            ``(i) Outside the united states.--Law 
                        enforcement'';
                    (B) in clause (i), as redesignated, by striking 
                ``subparagraph (A)(i)'' and inserting ``clause (i) or 
                (iii) of subparagraph (A)''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Inside the united states.--Law 
                        enforcement officials may submit written 
                        requests to the Secretary of Homeland Security 
                        for deferred action and employment 
                        authorization for certain relatives of any 
                        alien whose continued presence is permitted 
                        under clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph 
                        (A).'';
            (3) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
                    ``(C) Law enforcement office policies, training, 
                and material.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
                Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney 
                General, and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment 
                Opportunity Commission shall--
                            ``(i) develop policies and procedures for 
                        their respective agency that encourage the use 
                        of and immediate application for continued 
                        presence by the respective agency upon 
                        identification of an individual covered under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i) in appropriate cases;
                            ``(ii) develop materials, in consultation 
                        with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to 
                        encourage and assist their respective Federal 
                        agency personnel and other law enforcement 
                        officials to request continued presence in 
                        appropriate cases; and
                            ``(iii) distribute the materials developed 
                        pursuant to clause (ii) and provide training on 
                        such materials to their respective Federal 
                        agency personnel and other law enforcement 
                        officials.''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Defined term.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `law enforcement official' means any employee of a 
                Federal, State, tribal, territorial, or local law 
                enforcement agency, labor agency, children's protective 
                services agency, or other civil, criminal, judicial or 
                administrative authority that has responsibility and 
                authority for the detection, investigation, or 
                prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in 
                persons.''.
    (b) Rulemaking.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
promulgate regulations to implement the amendments made by subsection 
(a).
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