Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act of 2025 responds to fee and sponsor-information provisions affecting unaccompanied children. It finds that unaccompanied children often flee violence, sexual abuse, trafficking, and persecution, and that TVPRA protections require child-sensitive screening, least restrictive placement, and a full and fair process. Operatively, the bill repeals or amends Public Law 119-21 fee provisions so they do not apply to anyone who is or was determined to be an unaccompanied alien child, and it separately bars DHS from imposing a fee on an alien, parent, or legal guardian applying for special immigrant juvenile status. It requires HHS to ensure sponsor information obtained under section 87001 of Public Law 119-21 is not shared with DHS or another federal agency for immigration law enforcement. It also requires DHS and the Attorney General to refund each affected fee within 180 days.
Who Benefits and How
Unaccompanied children benefit because the bill removes fee barriers that could block asylum, SIJ, work authorization, or immigration-court access. Special immigrant juvenile applicants benefit from an explicit no-fee rule for applications by children, parents, or guardians. Sponsors and potential sponsors benefit because HHS-held sponsor information would not be used for immigration enforcement. Child advocates and legal-service providers benefit from a simpler, less coercive process for children who otherwise may owe fees or fear sponsor data sharing.
Who Bears the Burden and How
DHS, USCIS, EOIR, and the Attorney General must stop collecting affected fees and process refunds within 180 days. HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement must maintain sponsor-information firewalls against immigration enforcement sharing. Federal taxpayers bear refund and administration costs. Immigration enforcement agencies lose access to a sponsor-information stream for enforcement purposes.
Key Provisions
- Repeals or amends Public Law 119-21 fee provisions for anyone who is or was determined to be an unaccompanied alien child.
- Bars DHS from imposing a fee on applications for special immigrant juvenile status by an alien, parent, or legal guardian.
- Requires HHS to prevent sponsor information obtained under Public Law 119-21 from being shared for immigration enforcement.
- Requires DHS and the Attorney General to refund affected fees within 180 days.
- Frames the policy around TVPRA protections, trafficking risk, and child-sensitive immigration proceedings.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Repeals or narrows immigration fee provisions from Public Law 119-21 for people who are or were unaccompanied children, bars immigration-enforcement sharing of certain sponsor information, and requires refunds of affected fees.
Key Policy Areas
Immigration, Children, Judiciary, Health and Human Services
Primary Purpose
Repeals or narrows immigration fee provisions from Public Law 119-21 for people who are or were unaccompanied children, bars immigration-enforcement sharing of certain sponsor information, and requires refunds of affected fees.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Unaccompanied children
- Special immigrant juvenile applicants
- Child sponsors
- Immigration legal service providers
- Child welfare advocates
Identified Costs
- DHS fee administrators
- USCIS adjudicators
- EOIR immigration court staff
- Attorney General
- HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement
- Immigration enforcement agencies
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement.
Mr. Goldman of New York (for himself, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. …
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Special immigrant juvenile applicants, Unaccompanied children
DHS fee administrators, DHS refund administrators, HHS refugee resettlement staff
Child sponsors, Child welfare advocates, Immigration legal service providers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
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