Empowering Law Enforcement Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1582 To provide for enhanced Federal enforcement of, and State and local assist- ance in the enforcement of, the immigration laws of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 12, 2021 Mr. TUBERVILLE (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for enhanced Federal enforcement of, and State and local assistance in the enforcement of, the immigra- tion laws of the United States, 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 ‘‘Empowering Law En- 4 forcement Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. STATE DEFINED. 6 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 7 such term in section 101(a)(36) of the Immigration and 8 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(36)). 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1582 IS SEC. 3. FEDERAL AFFIRMATION OF IMMIGRATION LAW EN- 1 FORCEMENT BY STATES AND POLITICAL SUB- 2 DIVISIONS OF STATES. 3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law and re- 4 affirming the existing inherent authority of States, law en- 5 forcement personnel of a State or a political subdivision 6 of a State have the inherent authority of a sovereign entity 7 to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or 8 transfer to Federal custody aliens in the United States 9 (including the transportation of such aliens across State 10 lines to detention centers), for the purpose of assisting in 11 the enforcement of the immigration laws of the United 12 States in the normal course of carrying out their law en- 13 forcement duties. This State authority has never been dis- 14 placed or preempted by Federal law. 15 SEC. 4. LISTING OF IMMIGRATION VIOLATORS IN THE NA- 16 TIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER DATA- 17 BASE. 18 (a) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE NATIONAL 19 CRIME INFORMATION CENTER.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 22 retary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Na- 23 tional Crime Information Center of the Department 24 of Justice (referred to in this section as the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1582 IS ‘‘NCIC’’) any information in the possession of the 1 Secretary related to— 2 (A) any alien against whom a final order 3 of removal has been issued; 4 (B) any alien who is subject to a voluntary 5 departure agreement; 6 (C) any alien who has remained in the 7 United States beyond the alien’s authorized pe- 8 riod of stay; and 9 (D) any alien whose visa has been revoked. 10 (2) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE AND USE IN- 11 FORMATION.—The information described in para- 12 graph (1) shall be submitted to the NCIC, and the 13 NCIC shall enter such information into the Immi- 14 gration Violators File of the NCIC database, regard- 15 less of whether— 16 (A) the alien received notice of a final 17 order of removal; 18 (B) the alien has already been removed; or 19 (C) sufficient identifying information is 20 available for the alien, such as a physical de- 21 scription of the alien. 22 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ABOUT IMMIGRA- 23 TION LAW VIOLATIONS IN THE NCIC DATABASE.—Sec- 24 tion 534(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1582 IS (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 1 end; 2 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para- 3 graph (5); and 4 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(4) acquire, collect, classify, and preserve 7 records of violations of the immigration laws of the 8 United States, regardless of whether the alien has 9 received notice of the violation, sufficient identifying 10 information is available for the alien, or the alien 11 has already been removed; and’’. 12 (c) PERMISSION TO DEPART VOLUNTARILY.—Sec- 13 tion 240B of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 14 U.S.C. 1229c) is amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place 16 that term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 17 Homeland Security’’; and 18 (2) in subsection (a)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘120 19 days’’ and inserting ‘‘30 days’’. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1582 IS SEC. 5. FEDERAL CUSTODY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS APPRE- 1 HENDED BY STATE OR LOCAL LAW ENFORCE- 2 MENT. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Immigration and 4 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.) is amended by 5 inserting after section 240C the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 240D. TRANSFER OF ILLEGAL ALIENS FROM STATE 7 TO FEDERAL CUSTODY. 8 ‘‘(a) ILLEGAL ALIEN DEFINED.—In this section, the 9 term ‘illegal alien’ means an alien who— 10 ‘‘(1) entered the United States without inspec- 11 tion or at any time or place other than that des- 12 ignated by the Secretary of Homeland Security; 13 ‘‘(2) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and, at 14 the time the alien was taken into custody by the 15 State or political subdivision, had failed— 16 ‘‘(A) to maintain the nonimmigrant status 17 in which the alien was admitted or to which it 18 was changed under section 248; or 19 ‘‘(B) to comply with the conditions of the 20 status described in subparagraph (A); 21 ‘‘(3) was admitted as an immigrant and subse- 22 quently failed to comply with the requirements of 23 such status; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1582 IS ‘‘(4) failed to depart the United States as re- 1 quired under a voluntary departure agreement or 2 under a final order of removal. 3 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—If the head of a law enforcement 4 entity of a State (or, if appropriate, a political subdivision 5 of the State), exercising authority with respect to the ap- 6 prehension or arrest of an illegal alien, submits a request 7 to the Secretary of Homeland Security that the alien be 8 taken into Federal custody, the Secretary shall— 9 ‘‘(1)(A) not later than 72 hours after the con- 10 clusion of the State charging process or dismissal 11 process (or if no State charging or dismissal process 12 is required, not later than 72 hours after the alien 13 is apprehended), take the alien into the custody of 14 the Federal Government and incarcerate the alien; 15 or 16 ‘‘(B) request that the relevant State or local 17 law enforcement agency temporarily detain or trans- 18 port the alien to a location for transfer to Federal 19 custody; and 20 ‘‘(2) designate at least 1 Federal, State, or 21 local prison or jail or a private contracted prison or 22 detention facility within each State as the central fa- 23 cility for law enforcement entities of such State to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1582 IS transfer custody of criminal or illegal aliens to the 1 Department of Homeland Security. 2 ‘‘(c) REIMBURSEMENT.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 4 Security shall reimburse a State or a political sub- 5 division of a State for all reasonable expenses, as de- 6 termined by the Secretary, incurred by the State or 7 political subdivision in the detention and transpor- 8 tation of a criminal or illegal alien under subsection 9 (b)(1). 10 ‘‘(2) COST COMPUTATION.—The amount reim- 11 bursed for costs incurred in the detention and trans- 12 portation of a criminal or illegal alien under sub- 13 section (b)(1) shall be equal to the sum of— 14 ‘‘(A) the product of— 15 ‘‘(i) the average cost of incarceration 16 of a prisoner in the relevant State, as de- 17 termined by the chief executive officer of 18 the State (or, as appropriate, a political 19 subdivision of the State); and 20 ‘‘(ii) the number of days that the alien 21 was in the custody of the State or political 22 subdivision; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1582 IS ‘‘(B) the cost of transporting the criminal 1 or illegal alien from the point of apprehension 2 or arrest to— 3 ‘‘(i) the location of detention; and 4 ‘‘(ii) if the location of detention and of 5 custody transfer are different, to the cus- 6 tody transfer point. 7 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT FOR APPROPRIATE SECURITY.— 8 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that ille- 9 gal aliens incarcerated in Federal facilities under this sec- 10 tion are held in facilities that provide an appropriate level 11 of security. 12 ‘‘(e) SCHEDULE REQUIREMENT.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec- 14 tion, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall es- 15 tablish a regular circuit and schedule for the prompt 16 transfer of apprehended illegal aliens from the cus- 17 tody of States and political subdivisions of States to 18 Federal custody. 19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY FOR CONTRACTS.—The Sec- 20 retary of Homeland Security may enter into con- 21 tracts with appropriate State and local law enforce- 22 ment and detention officials to implement this sec- 23 tion.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1582 IS (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1 for the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 2 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 3 to section 240C the following: 4 ‘‘Sec. 240D. Transfer of illegal aliens from State to Federal custody.’’. SEC. 6. DETENTION OF DANGEROUS ALIENS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 241(a) of the Immigra- 6 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(a)) is amended— 7 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place 8 such term appears, except for the first reference in 9 paragraph (4)(B)(i), and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 10 Homeland Security’’; 11 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs 12 (B) and (C) and inserting the following: 13 ‘‘(B) BEGINNING OF PERIOD.—The re- 14 moval period begins on the latest of— 15 ‘‘(i) the date on which the order of re- 16 moval becomes administratively final; 17 ‘‘(ii) if the alien is not in the custody 18 of the Secretary of Homeland Security on 19 the date on which the order of removal be- 20 comes administratively final, the date on 21 which the alien is taken into such custody; 22 or 23 ‘‘(iii) if the alien is detained or con- 24 fined (except under an immigration proc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1582 IS ess) on the date on which the order of re- 1 moval becomes administratively final, the 2 date on which the alien is taken into the 3 custody of the Secretary of Homeland Se- 4 curity after the alien is released from such 5 detention or confinement. 6 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION OF PERIOD.— 7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The removal pe- 8 riod shall be extended beyond a period of 9 90 days and the Secretary of Homeland 10 Security may, in the Secretary’s sole dis- 11 cretion, keep the alien in detention during 12 such extended period if— 13 ‘‘(I) the alien fails or refuses to 14 make all reasonable efforts to comply 15 with the removal order, or to fully co- 16 operate with the Secretary’s efforts to 17 establish the alien’s identity and carry 18 out the removal order, including— 19 ‘‘(aa) making timely applica- 20 tion in good faith for travel or 21 other documents necessary for 22 the alien’s departure; or 23 ‘‘(bb) conspiring or acting to 24 prevent the removal of an alien 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1582 IS that is subject to an order of re- 1 moval; 2 ‘‘(II) a court, the Board of Immi- 3 gration Appeals, or an immigration 4 judge orders a stay of removal of an 5 alien who is subject to an administra- 6 tively final order of removal; 7 ‘‘(III) the Secretary lawfully 8 transfers custody of the alien to an- 9 other Federal agency or to a State or 10 local government agency in connection 11 with the official duties of such agency; 12 or 13 ‘‘(IV) a court or the Board of 14 Immigration Appeals orders a remand 15 to the immigration judge or to the 16 Board of Immigration Appeals while 17 the case is pending a decision on re- 18 mand (with the removal period begin- 19 ning anew on the date on which the 20 alien is ordered removed on remand). 21 ‘‘(ii) RENEWAL.—If the removal pe- 22 riod has been extended pursuant to clause 23 (i), a new removal period shall begin on 24 the date on which— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1582 IS ‘‘(I) the alien makes all reason- 1 able efforts to comply with the re- 2 moval order or to fully cooperate with 3 the Secretary of Homeland Security’s 4 efforts to establish the alien’s identity 5 and carry out the removal order; 6 ‘‘(II) the stay of removal is no 7 longer in effect; or 8 ‘‘(III) the alien is returned to the 9 custody of the Secretary. 10 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY DETENTION FOR 11 CERTAIN ALIENS.—The Secretary shall 12 keep an alien described in section 13 236(c)(1) in detention during the extended 14 period described in clause (i). 15 ‘‘(iv) SOLE FORM OF RELIEF.—An 16 alien may seek relief from detention under 17 this subparagraph by filing an application 18 for a writ of habeas corpus in accordance 19 with chapter 153 of title 28, United States 20 Code. No alien whose period of detention is 21 extended under this subparagraph shall 22 have the right to seek release on bond.’’; 23 (3) in paragraph (3)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1582.IS S1582 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1582 IS (A) by inserting ‘‘or is not detained pursu- 1 ant to paragraph (6)’’ after ‘‘removal period’’; 2 and 3 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘in 4 order to prevent the alien from absconding, for 5 the protection of the community, or for other 6 purposes related to the enforcement of the im- 7 migration laws’’ before the period at the en [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]