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H.R. 11016: No Kids as Bait Act

This bill would place limits on how federal immigration authorities and some cooperating state or local officers can interact with children when trying to find or arrest an immigrant parent or other adult family member.

What it would prohibit

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could not take a child into custody as a way to help locate or arrest:
- a parent, step-parent, or legal guardian;
- an adult relative; or
- for unaccompanied children, a sponsor or another adult in the sponsor’s household.
DHS could not make a child act as an interpreter or translator during an immigration enforcement interview of a parent or another person.

Documentation requirement

If a child is taken into custody under immigration law, DHS would have to write down the legal reason for the detention within 72 hours and provide that documentation to:

the child;
the child’s parent or legal guardian; and
the child’s attorney, if there is one.

The documentation would have to include any applicable notice to appear and administrative warrant.

State and local enforcement

These same restrictions would also apply to state or local law enforcement officers who are acting under a federal immigration agreement known as a 287(g) agreement.

Information sharing limits

The bill would also restrict information sharing between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and DHS in cases involving unaccompanied children:

HHS could not share immigration-status information about a sponsor, potential sponsor, or certain household members with DHS for civil immigration enforcement.
DHS could not use such information if it received it from HHS for civil immigration enforcement.

Oversight and reporting

The inspectors general of DHS and HHS would have to report to Congress, and make the report public, within 180 days after the law takes effect and every 180 days after that. The report would cover whether DHS, HHS, and covered state or local agencies are complying with the law.

Definition of child

For this bill, a “child” means anyone under 18.

Relevant Companies

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This is an AI-generated summary of the bill text. There may be mistakes.

Actions

2 actions

Date	Action
Nov. 12, 2026	Introduced in House
Nov. 12, 2026	Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

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