Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2222 To provide standards for facilities at which aliens in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security are detained, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To provide standards for facilities at which aliens in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security are detained, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dignity for Detained 4 Immigrants Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2222 IH SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of Congress that detention, even for 2 a short period of time, inflicts severe, irreparable harm 3 on children and should be avoided. 4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 7 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 8 gress’’ means— 9 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 10 Senate; 11 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 12 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 13 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 14 House of Representatives; and 15 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 16 of the House of Representatives. 17 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 18 means the Department of Homeland Security. 19 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 21 SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SE- 22 CURITY DETENTION FACILITIES. 23 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, by 25 regulation, establish detention standards for each facility 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2222 IH at which aliens in the custody of the Department are de- 1 tained. 2 (b) MINIMUM PROTECTION.—The standards estab- 3 lished under subsection (a) shall provide, at a minimum, 4 the level of protections for detainees described in the 5 American Bar Association’s Civil Immigration Detention 6 Standards (adopted in August 2012, and as modified in 7 August 2014). 8 (c) BIENNIAL UPDATES.—Not less frequently than 9 biennially, the Secretary shall review and update such 10 standards, as appropriate. 11 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT AND TRANSPARENCY. 12 (a) PERIODIC INSPECTIONS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—On a periodic basis, not less 14 frequently than annually, the Inspector General of 15 the Department (referred to in this section as the 16 ‘‘Inspector General’’) shall conduct an unannounced, 17 in-person inspection of each facility at which aliens 18 in the custody of the Department are detained to en- 19 sure that each such facility is in compliance with the 20 standards established under section 4. 21 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 22 conducting an inspection under paragraph (1), the 23 Inspector General shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2222 IH (A) submit a report to the Secretary con- 1 taining the results of such inspection; and 2 (B) make the report available to the public 3 on the internet website of the Department. 4 (3) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH STANDARDS.— 5 (A) INITIAL FAILURE.— 6 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Inspector 7 General determines that a facility has 8 failed to comply with the standards estab- 9 lished under section 4 for the first time 10 during any 2-year period, and such non- 11 compliance constitutes a deficiency that 12 threatens the health, safety, or the due 13 process rights of detainees— 14 (I) the Inspector General shall 15 notify the Secretary of such deter- 16 mination; and 17 (II) the Secretary shall— 18 (aa) in the case of a facility 19 not owned by the Department, 20 impose a meaningful fine of not 21 less than 10 percent of the value 22 of the contract with the facility; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2222 IH (bb) in the case of a facility 1 owned by the Department— 2 (AA) issue a written 3 warning to the facility not 4 later than 30 days after re- 5 ceiving such notification 6 from the Inspector General, 7 which shall include remedial 8 measures to be carried out 9 not later than 60 days after 10 the issuance of the warning; 11 and 12 (BB) not later than 60 13 days after the issuance of a 14 warning under subitem 15 (AA), certify to the Inspec- 16 tor General that the reme- 17 dial measures have been car- 18 ried out. 19 (ii) FOLLOW-UP INSPECTION.—Not 20 later than 180 days after the date on 21 which the Inspector General makes a noti- 22 fication under clause (i)(I), the Inspector 23 General shall conduct an in-person inspec- 24 tion of the facility to determine whether 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2222 IH the facility has achieved compliance with 1 the standards established under section 4. 2 (B) SUBSEQUENT FAILURES.—If the In- 3 spector General determines that a facility has 4 failed to comply with the standards established 5 under section 4 in 2 or more inspections under 6 paragraph (1) during any 2-year period, and 7 such noncompliance constitutes a deficiency 8 that threatens the health, safety, or the rights 9 of detainees— 10 (i) the Inspector General shall notify 11 the Secretary of such determination; and 12 (ii) the Secretary shall— 13 (I) in the case of a facility not 14 owned by the Department— 15 (aa) not later than 30 days 16 after receiving such notification, 17 transfer each detainee to a facil- 18 ity that does so comply; and 19 (bb) terminate the contract 20 with the owner or operator of the 21 facility; and 22 (II) in the case of a facility 23 owned by the Department— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2222 IH (aa) not later than 60 days 1 after receiving such notification, 2 transfer each detainee to a facil- 3 ity that does so comply; and 4 (bb) suspend the use of such 5 facility until such time as the In- 6 spector General— 7 (AA) certifies to the 8 Secretary that the facility is 9 in compliance with such 10 standards; and 11 (BB) makes available 12 to the public on the internet 13 website of the Department 14 information relating to the 15 remedial measures taken. 16 (b) DEATHS IN CUSTODY.— 17 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 24 hours 18 after the death of an alien in the custody of the De- 19 partment, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate 20 committees of Congress of such death. 21 (2) INVESTIGATIONS.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 23 after the death of an alien in the custody of the 24 Department, the Secretary shall conduct an in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2222 IH vestigation into such death, which shall include 1 a root cause analysis that identifies any 2 changes to policies, practices, training curricula, 3 staffing, or potential system-wide errors that 4 may reduce the probability of such an event in 5 the future. 6 (B) ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS.—Each root 7 cause analysis required by subparagraph (A) 8 shall be carried out— 9 (i) by appropriately qualified per- 10 sonnel, including 1 or more medical profes- 11 sionals qualified in a field relevant to the 12 death; and 13 (ii) in accordance with professional 14 medical standards for investigating sentinel 15 events in medical care facilities, including 16 the Sentinel Event Policy promulgated by 17 The Joint Commission. 18 (C) PUBLIC REPORT.—Not later than 60 19 days after such a death, the Secretary shall— 20 (i) issue a full report describing the 21 results of the investigation required by 22 subparagraph (A); and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2222 IH (ii) make the report available to the 1 public on the internet website of the De- 2 partment. 3 (D) REVIEW BY INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 4 Not later than 90 days after the death of an 5 alien in the custody of the Department, the In- 6 spector General shall conduct a review of the 7 report issued under subparagraph (C) with re- 8 spect to such death. 9 (3) DEFINITION OF DEATH OF AN ALIEN IN 10 THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT.—The term 11 ‘‘death of an alien in the custody of the Depart- 12 ment’’ means the death of an alien occurring while 13 the alien is under the supervision of the Depart- 14 ment, regardless of— 15 (A) the location of the death; or 16 (B) whether the death may have resulted 17 from a health problem that existed before or 18 during, or was exacerbated by, the detention of 19 the alien. 20 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than an- 22 nually, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 23 committees of Congress a report on the inspections 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2222 IH and oversight of facilities at which aliens in the cus- 1 tody of the Department are detained. 2 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by para- 3 graph (1) shall include, for the preceding year— 4 (A) a list of each detention facility found 5 by the Inspector General to be in noncompli- 6 ance with the standards established under sec- 7 tion 4; 8 (B) for each such facility, a description of 9 the remedial actions taken, or planned to be 10 taken, by the Secretary so as to achieve compli- 11 ance with such standards; and 12 (C) a determination as to whether such re- 13 medial actions have succeeded in bringing the 14 facility into compliance with such standards. 15 (d) CLASSIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS FOR PURPOSES 16 OF FOIA.—The reports required by subsections (a)(2) 17 and (b)(2)(C), and any contract between the Department 18 and a private or public entity that provides for the use 19 of a facility not owned by the Department to detain aliens 20 in the custody of the Department, are considered records 21 for purposes of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 22 and do not qualify for the exception under subsection 23 (b)(4) of such section. 24 (e) FACILITIES MATRIX.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2222 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—On the first day of each 1 month, the Secretary shall ensure that a publicly ac- 2 cessible internet website of the Department contains 3 the information described in paragraph (2) for each 4 facility at which aliens in the custody of the Depart- 5 ment are detained. 6 (2) ELEMENTS.—The information referred to in 7 paragraph (1) is, for each such facility, the fol- 8 lowing: 9 (A) The name and location of the facility. 10 (B) Whether the facility houses adults, 11 children, or both. 12 (C) The number of beds available in the 13 facility on the last day of the preceding month, 14 disaggregated by gender. 15 (D) The total number of aliens detained in 16 the facility on the last day of the preceding 17 month, disaggregated by gender and classifica- 18 tion as a child or as an adult. 19 (E) Whether the facility is used to detain 20 aliens for longer than 72 hours. 21 (F) Whether the facility is used to detain 22 aliens for longer than 7 days. 23 (G) The average number of aliens detained 24 in the facility during the current year and dur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2222 IH ing the preceding month, disaggregated by gen- 1 der and classification as a child or as an adult. 2 (H) Whether the facility is in compliance 3 with the standards established under section 4. 4 (I) In the case of a facility not owned by 5 the Department, a description of the nature of 6 the contract providing for the detention of 7 aliens at the facility. 8 (J) The average, median, 25th quartile, 9 and 50th quartile number of days that an alien 10 has been detained at the facility during the pre- 11 ceding month. 12 (f) ONLINE DETAINEE LOCATOR SYSTEM.—The Sec- 13 retary shall ensure that the online detainee locator system 14 maintained by the Department, or any successor system, 15 is updated not later than 12 hours after an alien is— 16 (1) taken into, or released from, custody by the 17 Department; 18 (2) transferred to, or detained in, a detention 19 facility; or 20 (3) removed from the United States. 21 (g) INFORMATION COLLECTED AND MAINTAINED 22 FOR ALIENS IN DHS CUSTODY.—The Secretary shall col- 23 lect and maintain, for each alien in the custody of the De- 24 partment, the following information: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2222.IH H2222 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2222 IH (1) The gender and age of the alien. 1 (2) The date on which the alien was taken into 2 such custody. 3 (3) The country of nationality of the alien. 4 (4) Whether the alien is considered a vulnerable 5 person (as such term is defined in section 236(c)(5) 6 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended 7 by section 9) or a primary caregiver. 8 (5) The provision of law pursuant to which the 9 Secretary is authorized to detain the alien. 10 (6) The name of the facility in which the alien 11 is detained. 12 (7) With respect to any transfer of the alien to 13 another detention facility— 14 (A) a description of the transfer of the 15 alien to the other detention facility; 16 (B) the reason for the transfer; and 17 (C) in the case of a transfer effectuated 18 despite presence of the alien’s legal counsel or 19 immediate relative in the jurisdiction of the 20 original detention [Text truncated for display. 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