Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act of 2025
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Goldman of New York (for himself, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act of 2025 exempts unaccompanied migrant children from the new immigration fees and restrictions created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21). It aims to restore protections for these vulnerable children that were established under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, ensuring they can pursue asylum and humanitarian relief without cost barriers.
Who Benefits and How
Unaccompanied alien children benefit most directly - they are exempted from paying fees for asylum applications, work permits, court proceedings, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applications. Family members who sponsor these children benefit from privacy protections, as the bill prohibits sharing their information with immigration enforcement agencies, reducing their risk of deportation. Immigration legal services nonprofits may see increased ability to help children who could not afford fees. Anyone who already paid fees under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would receive refunds.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice bear the burden of processing fee refunds within 180 days and losing the fee revenue stream from this population. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) loses access to sponsor information that could be used for enforcement actions. Federal taxpayers ultimately bear the cost of reduced fee revenue and refund processing. The Office of Refugee Resettlement faces new compliance requirements to protect sponsor information.
Key Provisions
- Exempts unaccompanied alien children from 11 different fee provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Prohibits DHS from charging fees for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applications
- Bars HHS from sharing sponsor information with DHS or other agencies for immigration enforcement
- Requires refunds of all fees already paid under affected provisions within 180 days
- Repeals provisions that allowed summary removal of unaccompanied children and body examinations
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Exempts unaccompanied alien children from fee requirements and other restrictive provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21), reinstating protections under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Carve out vulnerable unaccompanied children from restrictive immigration provisions enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, restoring TVPRA protections."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Unaccompanied alien children seeking asylum or humanitarian protection
- Families sponsoring unaccompanied children (protection from immigration enforcement)
- Child welfare advocates and legal service providers
- Office of Refugee Resettlement operations
Likely Burden Bearers
- Department of Homeland Security (must refund fees, cannot use sponsor information for enforcement)
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (reduced enforcement tools against sponsors)
- Federal budget (fee revenue reduction and refund costs)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Homeland Security
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Homeland Security
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General
Note: 'The Secretary' refers to Secretary of Homeland Security in Sections 3 and 7, but refers to Secretary of Health and Human Services in Section 6.
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
As defined in section 462(g)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2)) - a child who has no lawful immigration status in the United States, has not attained 18 years of age, and has no parent or legal guardian in the United States or no parent or legal guardian available to provide care and physical custody.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology