Sponsors (22)
The bill increases access, confidentiality, and financial relief for people who were unaccompanied children and other immigrants—but does so at the cost of reduced fee revenue, added administrative burdens for agencies, potential short-term legal confusion, and narrower interagency data-sharing that may complicate some enforcement and fraud-detection efforts.
People who were unaccompanied alien children (and the immigrants they became) are exempted from multiple immigration and court fees, improving their ability to pursue asylum, EADs, SIJ applications, and to participate fully in immigration court proceedings.
People interacting with HHS programs (including immigrant households) gain stronger confidentiality protections because HHS-collected data under 42 U.S.C. § 87001 cannot be passed to DHS or used for immigration enforcement, increasing trust and willingness to provide accurate information.
Individuals (or third parties) who were charged fees that are now exempt will receive refunds within 180 days, returning out-of-pocket payments and clarifying reimbursement for payers.
Taxpayers and federal agencies could face net fiscal and administrative costs because exempting fees and refunding previously collected fees reduces fee revenue and requires DHS/DOJ to process large numbers of refunds quickly.
HHS and DHS (and programs that rely on cross-agency data) may have reduced ability to share information needed to detect immigration-related fraud or identify enforcement risks, potentially impeding certain investigations or program integrity efforts.
Federal and state officials may face additional administrative complexity and delays because agencies will need to verify prior unaccompanied child status to apply exemptions, which could slow processing of cases and benefits.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Exempts current/former unaccompanied alien children from many immigration fees, bars certain HHS-to-enforcement data sharing, and requires refunds within 180 days.
Introduced December 3, 2025 by Catherine Marie Cortez Masto · Last progress December 3, 2025
Exempts people who are or were determined to be unaccompanied alien children from many immigration-related fees (asylum filings, work permits, certain court and border fees, and special immigrant juvenile fees), prohibits HHS from sharing certain medical/body-exam information with immigration enforcement, removes and renumbers some prior statutory paragraphs, and requires agencies to refund any fees already paid within 180 days of enactment. The bill makes technical deletions/renumberings in laws enacted by a prior public law but adds a clear privacy protection and an obligation to return fees to affected individuals or payers.