Alternatives to Detention Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 532 To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to use alternatives to detention for certain vulnerable immigrant populations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 14, 2019 Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. COHEN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TAKANO, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to use alter- natives to detention for certain vulnerable immigrant populations, 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 ‘‘Alternatives to Deten- 4 tion Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 532 IH SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVES TO DETAINING UNDOCUMENTED IN- 1 DIVIDUALS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu- 3 rity shall establish programs that provide alternatives to 4 detaining individuals under the immigration laws (as de- 5 fined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Na- 6 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))), whether such deten- 7 tion is pending a decision on whether the individual is to 8 be removed from the United States or after the issuance 9 of a removal order. The programs shall provide for a con- 10 tinuum of supervision mechanisms and options, including 11 community-based supervision and community support. 12 The Secretary may contract with nongovernmental com- 13 munity-based organizations to provide services under such 14 programs, which may include case management services, 15 appearance assistance services, and screenings of individ- 16 uals who have been detained. 17 (b) DETERMINATION OF VULNERABLE POPULATION 18 OR CAREGIVER STATUS REQUIRED.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 48 hours 20 after taking an individual described in subsection (a) 21 into custody, the Secretary or the immigration judge 22 shall make a determination whether an individual 23 may participate in an alternatives to detention pro- 24 gram and determine the appropriate level of super- 25 vision. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 532 IH (2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the individual is mem- 1 ber of a vulnerable population described in sub- 2 section (c), is a parent of a child under 18 years of 3 age, or is dependent caregiver or a family caregiver, 4 the individual may not be detained and must be 5 placed in an alternatives to detention program that 6 is a community-based supervision program. 7 (3) EXCEPTIONS.—Alternative to detention pro- 8 grams shall not be used— 9 (A) for individuals detained under section 10 236A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 11 (8 U.S.C. 1226a); or 12 (B) when release on bond or recognizance 13 is determined to be a sufficient measure to en- 14 sure appearances at immigration proceedings 15 and public safety. 16 (c) VULNERABLE POPULATION.—In determining 17 whether to place a detainee in an alternatives to detention 18 program, the Secretary shall consider whether the de- 19 tainee— 20 (1) is an asylum seeker or victim of torture or 21 trafficking; 22 (2) has special religious, cultural, or spiritual 23 considerations; 24 (3) is pregnant or nursing; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 532 IH (4) is under 21 years of age or older than 60 1 years of age; 2 (5) identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans- 3 gender, or intersex; 4 (6) is a victim or witness of a crime; 5 (7) has a mental disorder or physical disability; 6 or 7 (8) has been determined by an immigration 8 judge or the Secretary of Homeland Security to be 9 experiencing severe trauma or to be a survivor of 10 torture or gender-based violence, based on informa- 11 tion obtained during intake, from the individual’s at- 12 torney or legal services provider, or through credible 13 self-reporting. 14 (d) COORDINATOR OF ALTERNATIVES TO DETEN- 15 TION AND FAMILY REUNIFICATION.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 17 Security shall establish in the Department of Home- 18 land Security the position of Coordinator of Alter- 19 natives to Detention and Family Reunification (‘‘Co- 20 ordinator’’). The Coordinator shall be selected by the 21 President and shall be appointed by, and report di- 22 rectly to, the Secretary. Subject to the availability of 23 appropriations, the Secretary shall make available to 24 the Coordinator such personnel, funds, and other re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 532 IH sources as may be appropriate to enable the Coordi- 1 nator to carry out the Coordinator’s mission. 2 (2) MISSION AND DUTIES OF COORDINATOR.— 3 (A) MISSION.—The Coordinator’s mission 4 shall be to work with the executive departments 5 (as defined in section 101 of title 5, United 6 States Code) to coordinate— 7 (i) the use of alternatives to detention 8 programs; and 9 (ii) the reunification of parents with 10 children separated from them by the Sec- 11 retary at or near a port of entry into the 12 United States, or within 100 miles of an 13 international border of the United States. 14 (B) DUTIES OF COORDINATOR.— 15 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Coordinator 16 shall serve as the primary point of contact 17 within the executive branch with the Con- 18 gress, State and local governments, the 19 private sector, and community leaders re- 20 garding the policies and programs de- 21 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara- 22 graph (A). Working with the input of the 23 executive departments, the Coordinator 24 shall be responsible for managing informa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 532 IH tion flow, requests for actions, and discus- 1 sions regarding such policies and programs 2 with the Congress, State and local govern- 3 ments, the private sector, and community 4 leaders. 5 (ii) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 6 after the date of the appointment of the 7 Coordinator, the Coordinator shall issue a 8 report to the Congress on the status of— 9 (I) detentions under the immi- 10 gration laws (as defined in section 11 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 12 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 13 1101(a)(17))) pending a decision on 14 whether an individual is to be re- 15 moved or after the issuance of a re- 16 moval order; and 17 (II) reunification of parents and 18 children separated by the Secretary at 19 or near a port of entry into the 20 United States, or within 100 miles of 21 an international border of the United 22 States. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 532 IH (C) DUTIES OF EXECUTIVE DEPART- 1 MENTS.—The heads of the executive depart- 2 ments— 3 (i) shall respond promptly to any re- 4 quest by the Coordinator; 5 (ii) shall, consistent with applicable 6 law, provide such information as the Coor- 7 dinator deems necessary to carry out the 8 Coordinator’s mission; and 9 (iii) otherwise shall cooperate with the 10 Coordinator to the greatest extent prac- 11 ticable to facilitate the performance of the 12 Coordinator’s mission. 13 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub- 14 section shall be construed to impair or otherwise af- 15 fect— 16 (A) the authority granted by law to an ex- 17 ecutive department or the head thereof; 18 (B) the functions of the Director of the Of- 19 fice of Management and Budget relating to 20 budget, administrative, or legislative proposals; 21 or 22 (C) the chain of command over the Armed 23 Forces provided in section 162(b) of title 10, 24 United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 532 IH (4) SUNSET.—This subsection shall cease to be 1 effective on the date that is 3 years after the date 2 of the enactment of this Act. 3 (e) PARENTS AND OTHER CAREGIVERS.—For pur- 4 poses of this section: 5 (1) The term ‘‘dependent caregiver’’ means an 6 individual who lives with, and provides more than 7 one-half of the financial support required by, a fam- 8 ily member who is— 9 (A) under 18 years of age; or 10 (B) unable to engage in substantial em- 11 ployment due to a physical or mental health 12 condition or disability. 13 (2) The term ‘‘family caregiver’’ means an indi- 14 vidual who lives with, and provides more than one- 15 half of the personal care required by, a family mem- 16 ber who is— 17 (A) under 18 years of age; or 18 (B) unable to engage in substantial em- 19 ployment due to a physical or mental health 20 condition or disability. 21 (3) The term ‘‘family member’’, with respect to 22 an individual receiving personal care services or fi- 23 nancial support, means an individual who is— 24 (A) a parent; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 532 IH (B) a spouse; 1 (C) a child; 2 (D) a step-family member; or 3 (E) an extended family member. 4 (4) The term ‘‘parent’’ means— 5 (A) a biological or adoptive parent of a 6 child, whose parental rights have not been relin- 7 quished or terminated under State law or the 8 law of a foreign country; or 9 (B) a legal guardian under State law or 10 the law of a foreign country. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Jan 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H532.IH H532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS