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S. 1445: Central America Reform and Enforcement Act

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S. 1445: Central America Reform and Enforcement Act

116th Congress · introduced 2019-05-14 · Immigration · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S2820-2831)

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2019-05-14 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S2820-2831) Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Central America Reform and Enforcement Act

Plain summary

Central America Reform and Enforcement Act This bill establishes programs to address the humanitarian crisis in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (the Northern Triangle countries) and to handle asylum-seekers from those countries. The Department of State shall report to Congress a five-year interagency strategy to address the factors driving migration from Central America. The bill establishes various new immigration-related penalties, such as making it unlawful to knowingly destroy any government-deployed border-control device (e.g., fence or camera). The State Department shall work to expand the capacity of other countries to provide asylum. The State Department shall establish at least four Designated Application Processing Centers in the Northern Triangle countries and Mexico to adjudicate asylum applications and admit qualified aliens from the Northern Triangle countries as refugees. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall provide certain assessments and health care services to unaccompanied alien children. The rights of a parent or guardian over an unaccompanied alien child may be terminated only pursuant to a court order. The Office of Refugee Resettlement shall conduct certain background checks on prospective sponsors of an unaccompanied alien child. To receive certain funding, a local educational agency must ensure that unaccompanied alien children are served. An unaccompanied alien child shall be appointed free counsel in immigration proceedings. The Department of Justice shall increase the number of immigration judges and Board of Immigration Appeals staff attorneys. The Department of Homeland Security, HHS, and the State Department shall develop a process for repatriating unaccompanied children to their country of origin. This process must require a determination of the child's best interests.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Central America Reform and Enforcement Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] · 37 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] reported raising $1.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Securities
Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong116-s1445 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116