Rep. Goldman, Sen. Cortez Masto, And Rep. Ramirez Introduce Legislation To Protect Unaccompanied Children From Republicans’ H.R. 1

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03) introduced the Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act today, new bicameral legislation that reverses punitive provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill that threaten the safety and legal rights of unaccompanied children seeking refuge in the United States. 

 

“Republicans turned their billionaire tax giveaway into a weapon against the most vulnerable children on earth,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Kids who have fled trafficking and abuse should not be forced to pay thousands of dollars just to ask our government for safety. Our bill restores basic decency, repeals these cruel fees, and protects children from being rushed back into danger without due process. Protecting unaccompanied children has always been bipartisan and it is our moral and legal duty to ensure it remains that way.” 

 

Senator Cortez Masto said, “As members of Congress, it’s our duty to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. That includes the unaccompanied children who come to the United States after escaping trafficking and abuse. It’s essential that we reverse the Republican tax law’s cruel provisions and protect these kids.” 

 

Congresswoman Delia Ramirez said, "The Trump Administration and Republicans have made it clear that all immigrants, even immigrant children, are targets in their mass detention-for-profit scheme. As they infused over $150B taxpayer dollars into their fascist agenda, they simultaneously stripped unaccompanied children seeking asylum of essential protections. Instead of care and safety, unaccompanied children are now met with more trauma, pain, and uncertainty. We must ensure the safety and guarantee due process for unaccompanied children and that is why I am a proud co-lead of the Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act of 2025." 

 

Kind President Wendy Young said, “H.R. 1 severely undermines core protections and anti-trafficking safeguards for children who arrive in the United States alone. The new immigration fees and massive fee increases it imposes make seeking protection in the United States cost-prohibitive for children, and easier for traffickers to leverage debt to endanger children. Senator Cortez Masto and Representatives Dan Goldman and Delia Ramirez’s Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act is essential to ensuring that unaccompanied children are not denied access to protection because of cost.” 

 

H.R.1’s unprecedented and exorbitant fees function as a financial wall that prevents children from seeking safety and exposes them to heightened risk of trafficking, exploitation, and deportation back into dangerous conditions. It imposes a new five-thousand-dollar Border Apprehension Fee on any child who arrives between ports of entry while fleeing violence or trafficking, a pathway that is often the only realistic option for children escaping imminent harm. It requires children to pay a mandatory asylum application fee, as well as new annual asylum maintenance fees for every year their case remains pending in the government’s years long backlog. It also increases basic immigration court fees from roughly 100 or 200 dollars to 900 dollars, placing essential motions and appeals far out of reach for children who need a fair chance to present their cases. Additionally, H.R. 1 provides funding for intrusive and traumatizing body examinations which threaten the safety and wellbeing of minors who are victims of abuse and trafficking. The bill also provides funding for summary deportations of unaccompanied children who have not been robustly screened for signs of trafficking or allowed a full review of their case before an immigration judge. 

 

The Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act would: 

Congressman Goldman has made upholding the safety and well-being of vulnerable children navigating our immigration system a top priority since taking office. 

 

This summer, Congressman Goldman led 77 of his colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee to direct the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to submit a report to Congress detailing the status of unaccompanied children’s immigration proceedings. The letter also asks the Committee to include language in its FY2026 report encouraging EOIR to continue using specialized juvenile dockets to improve fairness, efficiency, and child protection in immigration court proceedings. 

 

Earlier this year, Goldman led 97 of his colleagues in sending a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urging them to immediately reinstate legal services for over 26,000 unaccompanied migrant children in the United States. 

 

Last Congress, Goldman, alongside Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Congresswoman Maria Salazar (FL-27) introduced the bipartisan ‘Children’s Court Act’ to combat the immigration court backlog and strengthen due process rights for children. U.S. Representatives Hillary Scholten (D-MI), and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) also joined as original cosponsors of this legislation.