Skip to content
CIVIC HERALD
HR 4371 · 119th Congress · HouseOther

Kayla Hamilton Act

In plain language: This bill significantly restricts who can take custody of unaccompanied immigrant children and mandates locked detention for certain youth. Children age 12 and older must undergo embassy criminal background checks and physical exams for gang tattoos, and those flagged for gang ties, criminal records, or flight risk must be held in secure facilities until their immigration cases end. To be released from federal custody, children could only be placed with sponsors who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and have no household members with serious criminal records. Before any placement, the government must provide the personal details and immigration statuses of all adults in the sponsor's household to the Department of Homeland Security.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—not determinable from the text provided; the bill applies to unaccompanied immigrant children in federal custody and prospective sponsors but specifies no population figures
Fiscal magnitude—not determinable from the text provided; the bill imposes mandatory custody, screening, and placement rules but specifies no appropriations or dollar amounts
Reach64provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
Your matchSign in →See how this matches your values.

Issues

What this bill touches.

Security vs. privacy−48Enforcement & security−60

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it burdens

  • unaccompanied immigrant children age 12 and olderMust undergo physical examinations for gang-related tattoos or markings, have their foreign criminal records requested from their home country's embassy or consulate, and face mandatory placement in secure detention facilities for the duration of immigration proceedings if they are deemed flight risks, have gang markings, or have gang-related or serious criminal records.provisional
  • unaccompanied immigrant childrenAre prohibited from being released on their own recognizance and cannot be placed with prospective sponsors who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, or whose household members have certain criminal convictions.provisional
  • prospective sponsors without U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residencyAre disqualified from receiving custody of an unaccompanied immigrant child based on their lack of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident status.provisional
  • prospective sponsors and their adult household membersMust have their names, Social Security numbers or ITINs, dates of birth, addresses, immigration status, contact information, and fingerprint-based background check results transmitted by HHS to the Department of Homeland Security prior to a child's placement.provisional
  • Department of Health and Human ServicesMust consult with DHS and DOJ, request foreign records from embassies, examine children age 12 and older for gang markings, and transmit detailed personal and background check information for prospective sponsors and adult household members to DHS before making placement determinations.provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to consult with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice before placing an unaccompanied immigrant child to evaluate flight risk, public safety danger, criminal history, and protection from human trafficking.

    Sec. 3(1)(2)(A)(i)provisional

  2. Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to examine unaccompanied immigrant children age 12 and older for gang-related tattoos and markings and to request foreign criminal and arrest records from their home country's embassy or consulate.

    Sec. 3(1)(2)(A)(ii)provisional

  3. Mandates placing unaccompanied immigrant children age 12 and older in secure facilities for the duration of their immigration proceedings if they are flight risks, have gang tattoos, or have gang-related or serious criminal records.

    Sec. 3(1)(2)(C)provisional

  4. Bars placing an unaccompanied immigrant child with any sponsor who is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, or who has been convicted of—or lives with an adult convicted of—a felony or other specified crimes.

    Sec. 3(1)(2)(D)provisional

  5. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to transmit identifying details, immigration status, contact information, and fingerprint-based background check results for prospective sponsors and all adult household members to the Department of Homeland Security before releasing a child.

    Sec. 3(2)(B)(D)provisional

How your members of Congress line up

Loading your members of Congress…

Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Dec 17, 2025Received in the Senate.
  2. Dec 16, 2025The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
  3. Dec 16, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  4. Dec 16, 2025On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 225 - 201 (Roll no. 340). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H5921-5922)
  5. Dec 16, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 225 - 201 (Roll no. 340). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H5921-5922)
  6. Dec 16, 2025On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 208 - 218 (Roll no. 339).
  7. Dec 16, 2025Rule H. Res. 951 passed House.
  8. Dec 16, 2025Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 951 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4776, H.R. 1366, H.R. 845, H.R. 3616, H.R. 3632 and H.R. 4371. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4776, under a structured rule and H.R. 1366, H.R. 845, H.R. 3616, H.R. 3632, and H.R. 4371 under a closed rule. The resolution provides one motion to recommit on each bill.
  9. Oct 17, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 119-345.
  10. Oct 17, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 119-345.
  11. Sep 10, 2025Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 16 - 13.
  12. Jul 14, 2025Introduced in House
  13. Jul 14, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 9 days ago

Checking your session…