December 16, 2025 · House · RC 340

Kayla Hamilton Act

House Bill, H.R. 4371

What it did

The Kayla Hamilton Act, sponsored by Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), rewrites how the government handles children who crossed the US border without a parent. It requires that every child aged 12 and older be examined for gang-related tattoos or markings, that consulates be contacted for arrest records, and that a child who is 'known or suspected' of gang membership lose the protections of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

It bars release to sponsors who do not have legal status themselves, which in practice means a parent or aunt already living in the country. The suspicion standard needs no charge, no conviction, and no hearing. The bill is named for a 20-year-old killed in Maryland in 2022 by a man who had entered the US as a child. A yes vote adopted the new standard.

A no vote kept the current protections for children.

The House passed it 225-201 on December 16, 2025, with seven Democrats joining Republicans.

At the time of this vote, more than 3,800 children had been booked into ICE detention since January 2025.

Result: Passed 225-201

At the time of this vote: 3,800+ children booked into ICE detention in the first nine months of 2025 (AP analysis of Deportation Data Project records); 300+ children held at Dilley past the 20-day Flores limit; at least 30 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the most since 2004

The humane vote: No (NAY)

Official roll-call record

Members in this record who voted inhumanely (217)

Members in this record who voted humanely (197)