Friday, July 18, 2014

Smith Bill Would Require Advanced Notice When Unaccompanied Minors Moved to State

      Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced H.R. 5129, legislation which would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to give states advanced notice when unaccompanied minors are to be placed in a state. 
HHS recently announced more than 200 unaccompanied, undocumented immigrant minors have been moved to Nebraska this year.  However, the State of Nebraska was never given this information by HHS, and the department has not provided details about the children and where they are living in the state.
“As our nation continues to find solutions to the surge of unaccompanied children crossing our border, it is critical HHS communicate with state governments when these children are placed in our communities,” said Smith.  “States like Nebraska need this information to better anticipate the impacts on social services, school systems, community health, and state and local budgets.”
H.R. 5129 is the House companion bill to legislation introduced by Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) and co-sponsored by Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) in the U.S. Senate.  Smith’s bill was introduced with original co-sponsors Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE).  

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