S. 5071: Children’s Safe Welcome Act of 2026
Quick Facts:
Bill Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Congress: 119
Date Introduced: July 22, 2026
Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (July 22, 2026)
Children’s Safe Welcome Act of 2026
This bill:
- Bars family separation of aliens;
- Requires deployment of child caregivers on the border to process alien children;
- Bans family detention centers;
- Places detention and release decisions with the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
- Requires the release of alien parents to accompany a released child;
- Strips immigration court of jurisdiction over unaccompanied alien children (UAC) cases and provides for nonadversarial hearings at USCIS for UACs;
- Requires taxpayer funded attorneys for UACs; and
- Bars sharing of information regarding UACs with DHS.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) (July 22, 2026)
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) (July 22, 2026)