1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Continued Presence Improvement Act”.
Continued Presence Improvement Act
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.
2. Trafficking victims
Section 107(c)(3) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(c)(3)) is amended—
in subparagraph (A)—
in clause (i)—
by striking “Federal”;
by striking “is” and inserting “may be”;
by striking “and may be a potential witness to such trafficking”; and
by striking “may permit the alien to remain in the United States to facilitate the investigation and” and inserting “may permit the continued presence of the alien in the United States for the duration of an investigation or”;
in clause (ii), by striking “Federal law enforcement officials described in clause (i)” and inserting “law enforcement officials”;
in clause (iii)—
in the clause header, by striking “Continuation of presence” and inserting “Civil action”;
by striking “shall” and inserting “may”;
by striking “described in clause (i) who” and inserting “who is a victim of a severe form of trafficking and”; and
by adding at the end the following: “Continued presence shall be extended beyond an investigation or prosecution described in clause (i) if the alien has a pending immigration benefit application until such application is approved, withdrawn, or denied, unless the Secretary determines that continued presence is no longer warranted.”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(v) 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.
“(vi) Law enforcement official—In this paragraph, the term law enforcement official means personnel from 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 the responsibility and authority for the detection, investigation, or prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in persons.
“(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; or
“(II) following consultation with the law enforcement official who filed the application for continued presence.”
in subparagraph (B)—
by striking “Law enforcement” and inserting the following:
“(i) Outside the united states—Law enforcement”
in clause (i), as redesignated, by striking “subparagraph (A)(i)” and inserting “clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph (A)”; and
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).”
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 agencies that encourage the use of and immediate application for continued presence by the respective agency upon identification of a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons 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.”