DREAMers, Immigrants, and Refugees (DIRe) Legal Aid Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 656 To require the Attorney General to make grants to nonprofit organizations to offer legal assistance to certain aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, DACA recipients, and refugees, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 17, 2019 Mr. CORREA (for himself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. NOR- TON, Mr. COHEN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SPEIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WILD, Ms. OMAR, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. WATERS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. WELCH, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SCHNEI- DER, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. VELA, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. SOTO, and Mr. GOMEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Attorney General to make grants to nonprofit organizations to offer legal assistance to certain aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, DACA recipi- ents, and refugees, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H656.IH H656 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 656 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DREAMers, Immi- 2 grants, and Refugees (DIRe) Legal Aid Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 6 shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, make 7 grants to nonprofit legal services providers with immigra- 8 tion law expertise to provide legal services and advice with 9 respect to the immigration laws (and any executive branch 10 orders, regulations, rules, memoranda, or other guidance 11 under such laws) to aliens who— 12 (1) are present in the United States; 13 (2) are described in subsection (b); and 14 (3) have been ordered removed, are in removal 15 proceedings, or are at risk of being denied entry or 16 admission into the United States. 17 (b) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien is described in 18 this subsection if— 19 (1) the alien is lawfully admitted to the United 20 States for permanent residence; 21 (2) the alien received a grant of deferred action 22 under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 23 program established pursuant to the memorandum 24 of the Secretary of Homeland Security dated June 25 15, 2012; or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H656.IH H656 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 656 IH (3) the alien, or the alien’s spouse or parent, 1 has been admitted, or has been determined to be 2 qualified for admission, as a refugee. 3 (c) DISSEMINATION OF CONTACT INFORMATION.— 4 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide aliens 5 described in subsection (a) with the contact information 6 for providers receiving funds under this section and shall 7 afford aliens in detention an opportunity to speak in per- 8 son or by telephone to, and arrange representation by, 9 such a provider. 10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 11 are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to carry out 12 this section. 13 SEC. 3. STUDY ON DISPARITIES IN OUTCOMES FOR ALIENS 14 IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS BASED ON HAV- 15 ING LEGAL REPRESENTATION. 16 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, act- 18 ing through the Under Secretary for Science and Tech- 19 nology, shall carry out a study on the relative outcomes 20 for individuals in removal proceedings who have legal rep- 21 resentation as compared to individuals who lack legal rep- 22 resentation and shall submit to the Congress recommenda- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H656.IH H656 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 656 IH tions for correcting any disparities in outcomes found 1 through such study. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H656.IH H656 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS