About the bill
The Keep Families Together Act, numbered S. 3036, is the Democratic legislative proposal by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to end the current practice of separating children from parents detained for crossing the border illegally. The bill includes the following provision:
“An agency may not remove a child from a parent or legal guardian solely for the policy goal of deterring individuals from migrating to the United States or for the policy goal of promoting compliance with civil immigration laws.”
The bill includes exceptions if a state court, state or county child welfare agency, or the Chief Patrol Agent or Area Port Director determines separation is in the best interest for the safety of the child, such as in cases of human trafficking or abuse. It requires a written explanation …
Sponsor and status
115th Congress (2017–2019)
This bill was introduced on June 7, 2018, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
48 Cosponsors (46 Democrats, 2 Independents)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Cardin Statement on Trump Policy of Separating Children from Parents at U.S.-Mexico Border”
—
Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]
(Co-sponsor)
on Jun 15, 2018
“As Reports Increase Of Border Patrol Agents Tearing Children Away From Their Parents, Gillibrand Introduces Legislation With 31 Senate Colleagues To Halt Separation Of Immigrant Families”
—
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
(Co-sponsor)
on Jun 8, 2018
“Yarmuth, Democratic Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Halt Separation of Immigrant Families”
—
Rep. John Yarmuth [D-KY3, 2007-2022]
on Jun 19, 2018
History
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Jun 7, 2018
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Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
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Jan 31, 2019
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Reintroduced Bill —
Introduced
This activity took place on a related bill, S. 292 (116th). |
S. 3036 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number S. 3036. This is the one from the 115th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
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Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
