Affording Congress an Opportunity To Address Family Separation
Signed: June 20, 2018
Published: June 25, 2018
Document Number: 2018-13696
šSummary
This executive order directs the federal government to keep families together in detention, when possible, while parents and children who entered the U.S. unlawfully go through criminal improper-entry cases and immigration proceedings. It affects non-citizen parents and children detained after crossing at or between ports of entry, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, other federal agencies, and the Department of Justice. It instructs DHS to maintain custody of families as a unit unless keeping a child with a parent would risk the childās welfare, and it tells DOD and other agencies to provide or build facilities to house families if needed and lawful. It also directs the Attorney General to ask a federal court to change the Flores settlement so families can be detained together for the full length of their cases, and to prioritize court proceedings involving detained families.
š¼Business Impact
This order most directly affects employers that rely on immigrant laborāespecially agriculture, food processing, construction, hospitality, logistics, and staffing firmsābecause it signals more aggressive immigration enforcement and faster processing of detained-family cases, which can increase workforce volatility and hiring delays. It also creates near-term contracting opportunities for businesses that provide detention-related services (facility construction/retrofit, security, food service, medical/behavioral health, transportation, case-management tech), but those vendors should expect heightened scrutiny on child welfare standards, licensing, and subcontractor compliance. Compliance-wise, businesses should tighten Iā9/EāVerify practices, audit staffing agencies and subcontractors for work authorization controls, and prepare for more frequent site visits or disruptions in border-region operations and supply chains. Immediate actions: run an internal Iā9 audit with counsel, update contingency staffing plans (cross-training, alternate labor sources, retention incentives), and if you sell to government, review procurement eligibility and human-rights/conditions-of-confinement requirements before bidding.
Full Text
Executive Order 13841 of June 20, 2018
Affording Congress an Opportunity To Address Family Separation
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1 . Policy. It is the policy of this Administration to rigorously enforce our immigration laws. Under our laws, the only legal way for an alien to enter this country is at a designated port of entry at an appropriate time. When an alien enters or attempts to enter the country anywhere else, that alien has committed at least the crime of improper entry and is subject to a fine or imprisonment under section 1325(a) of title 8, United States Code. This Administration will initiate proceedings to enforce this and other criminal provisions of the INA until and unless Congress directs otherwise. It is also the policy of this Administration to maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources. It is unfortunate that Congress's failure to act and court orders have put the Administration in the position of separating alien families to effectively enforce the law.
Sec. 2 . Definitions. For purposes of this order, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Alien family” means
(i) any person not a citizen or national of the United States who has not been admitted into, or is not authorized to enter or remain in, the United States, who entered this country with an alien child or alien children at or between designated ports of entry and who was detained; and
(ii) that person's alien child or alien children.
(b) “Alien child” means any person not a citizen or national of the United States who
(i) has not been admitted into, or is not authorized to enter or remain in, the United States;
(ii) is under the age of 18; and
(iii) has a legal parent-child relationship to an alien who entered the United States with the alien child at or between designated ports of entry and who was detained.
Sec. 3 . Temporary Detention Policy for Families Entering this Country Illegally. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary), shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, maintain custody of alien families during the pendency of any criminal improper entry or immigration proceedings involving their members.
(b) The Secretary shall not, however, detain an alien family together when there is a concern that detention of an alien child with the child's alien parent would pose a risk to the child's welfare.
(c) The Secretary of Defense shall take all legally available measures to provide to the Secretary, upon request, any existing facilities available for the housing and care of alien families, and shall construct such facilities if necessary and consistent with law. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible for reimbursement for the use of these facilities. ( printed page 29436)
(d) Heads of executive departments and agencies shall, to the extent consistent with law, make available to the Secretary, for the housing and care of alien families pending court proceedings for improper entry, any facilities that are appropriate for such purposes. The Secretary, to the extent permitted by law, shall be responsible for reimbursement for the use of these facilities.
(e) The Attorney General shall promptly file a request with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to modify the Settlement Agreement in Flores v. Sessions, CV 85-4544 (“ Flores settlement”), in a manner that would permit the Secretary, under present resource constraints, to detain alien families together throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any removal or other immigration proceedings.
Sec. 4 . Prioritization of Immigration Proceedings Involving Alien Families. The Attorney General shall, to the extent practicable, prioritize the adjudication of cases involving detained families.
Sec. 5 . General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 20, 2018.