{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/10/crime/blackburn-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-vet-unaccompanied-alien-children-prevent-placement-of-uacs-with-criminal-sponsors", "Blackburn, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Vet Unaccompanied Alien Children & Prevent Placement of UACs with Criminal Sponsors", "2025-10-23", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) introduced the Kayla Hamilton Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct thorough background and criminal record checks on unaccompanied alien children (UACs) and potential sponsors prior to their placement. This legislation is named in honor of Kayla Hamilton, a young woman who was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered by a 17-year-old MS-13 gang member and UAC who illegally entered the country through the southern border and was released by the Biden administration to a sponsor.\n\n\u201cThe Biden administration\u2019s reckless, open-border policies led to devastating consequences for unaccompanied alien children, including Kayla Hamilton, who was brutally murdered by an MS-13 gang member,\u201d said Sen. Blackburn. \u201cThe Kayla Hamilton Act would protect the safety of unaccompanied alien children by requiring criminal background checks to ensure these children are not placed with dangerous individuals.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor four disastrous years, the Biden administration skirted our nation\u2019s immigration laws, leading to Kayla Hamilton\u2019s life being cut tragically short by an MS-13 gang member who should have never been released into the United States,\u201d said Sen. Cornyn. \u201cMy legislation, which would require the federal government to conduct thorough background and criminal record checks on unaccompanied alien children and potential sponsors prior to their placement, is named in Kayla\u2019s memory and that of the many other victims of heinous crimes committed by illegal aliens.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll that the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services had to do was make one phone call to El Salvador, and they would have known that my daughter\u2019s murderer was an MS-13 gang member, and he had a criminal record of illicit gang activity,\u201d said \u201cAngel Mom\u201d Tammy Nobles. \u201cTo prevent such tragedies from happening again, the Kayla Hamilton Act will mandate background checks on unaccompanied minors and the sponsors, so that no person will be at risk. No one else should ever again have to suffer the way my daughter Kayla did. The Biden-Harris Administration\u2019s policies prioritized the comfort of illegal aliens, like Kayla\u2019s murderer, over the safety of innocent Americans. The Kayla Hamilton Act is necessary to ensure background checks of unaccompanied alien children occur before they are released. If that had happened in the case of Kayla\u2019s murderer, authorities would have known he was an MS-13 gang member. The House of Representatives has considered this legislation in a markup, and it is beyond time for the Senate do the same.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Biden administration took advantage of weak immigration laws to release Walter Javier Martinez, an illegal alien and MS-13 gang member, who then raped and murdered Kayla Hamilton,\u201d said Sen. Cruz. \u201cThose loopholes should be closed immediately to prevent future atrocities. The Kayla Hamilton Act does exactly that and honors Kayla\u2019s life. I urge my colleagues to pass it.\u201d\n\n\u201cKayla\u2019s story is another heartbreaking reminder of the chaos and danger brought into our country by the Biden Administration\u2019s open-border policies,\u201d said Sen. Britt. \u201cThe Kayla Hamilton Act establishes common-sense guardrails, such as requiring the collection of records related to criminal behavior and potential gang activity for unaccompanied alien children, so we can do everything possible to prevent future tragedies like Kayla\u2019s murder.\u201d\n\n\u201cBiden\u2019s open border cost Kayla Hamilton her life. Thankfully, President Trump secured our border and rolled back disastrous Democrat policies that put our children and communities in harm\u2019s way,\u201d said Sen. Cassidy. \u201cThis legislation ensures future Democrat administrations cannot neglect needed background checks and release dangerous criminals into the country.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor more than four years, the Biden administration\u2019s disastrous, open-door policies allowed criminals and violent gangs like MS-13 to flood into our country and put Americans at risk,\u201d said Sen. Lummis. \u201cThe tragic murder of Kayla Hamilton was preventable and is a devastating consequence of Democrats\u2019 willful neglect of the border and failure to properly vet unaccompanied minors. I am proud to join Senator Cornyn and my colleagues in cosponsoring the Kayla Hamilton Act, which will allow us to remove those dangerous loopholes and prevent illegal killers from infiltrating our communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cCrimes that are committed by illegal aliens who shouldn\u2019t be here in the first place are 100% preventable,\u201d said Sen. Tuberville. \u201cKayla Hamilton\u2019s story is yet another tragic example of the Biden administration prioritizing illegal aliens over the safety of American citizens. Our bill is a crucial step in the right direction to ensure crimes like this never happen again.\u201d\n\nAdditional cosponsors include Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Congressman Russell Fry (S.C.-07) introduced this legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now pending a vote on the House floor.\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nThe Kayla Hamilton Act would require thorough background and criminal record checks on UACs prior to their release to a sponsor and prohibit the release of any UAC into the custody of criminals or illegal aliens. The bar to placement applies not only to individuals seeking to sponsor a UAC, but also any adult living in the household of the potential sponsor who has a criminal history.\n\nThe bill also requires the federal government to:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/10/crime/blackburn-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-vet-unaccompanied-alien-children-prevent-placement-of-uacs-with-criminal-sponsors"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.5678271409124136, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}