Eagle Corps Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2980 To provide for the establishment of the Entry Adjudication through General Legal Expertise Corps, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. CRAWFORD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the establishment of the Entry Adjudication through General Legal Expertise Corps, 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 ‘‘Eagle Corps Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ENTRY ADJUDICATION THROUGH GENERAL LEGAL 6 EXPERTISE CORPS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; COMPOSITION; PURPOSE.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2980 IH (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—For the purpose of ame- 1 liorating delays in the adjudication of cases by the 2 immigration courts and other inefficiencies in the 3 administration of the immigration laws, there is es- 4 tablished, within the Executive Office of Immigra- 5 tion Review within the Department of Justice, the 6 Entry Adjudication through General Legal Expertise 7 Corps (or EAGLE Corps) (hereinafter in this Act 8 referred to as the ‘‘Corps’’), which shall consist of— 9 (A) such civilian employees of the United 10 States as the Attorney General may appoint; 11 and 12 (B) such other individuals who are not em- 13 ployees of the United States. 14 (2) PURPOSE.—The Corps shall be utilized by 15 the Attorney General to provide legal services for the 16 United States before the immigration courts. The 17 Corps shall also include employees to provide admin- 18 istrative and support services. 19 (3) TERM.—Each member of the Corps shall 20 serve for a period not to exceed 24 months. 21 (b) RECRUITMENT AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS.— 22 (1) The Attorney General may conduct at law 23 schools the Loan Repayment Program. Such recruit- 24 ing programs shall include efforts to recruit individ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2980 IH uals who will serve in the Corps other than pursuant 1 to obligated service under the Loan Repayment Pro- 2 gram. 3 (2) In the case of attorneys who have an inter- 4 est and a commitment to providing legal services for 5 the United States before the immigration courts, the 6 Attorney General may establish fellowship programs 7 to enable such attorneys to gain exposure to and ex- 8 pertise in the provision of such legal services. To the 9 maximum extent practicable, the Attorney General 10 shall ensure that any such programs are established 11 in conjunction with other legal training programs. 12 (c) TRAVEL AND MOVING EXPENSES; PERSONS EN- 13 TITLED; REIMBURSEMENT; LIMITATION.— 14 (1) The Attorney General may reimburse an ap- 15 plicant for a position in the Corps for the actual and 16 reasonable expenses incurred in traveling to and 17 from the applicant’s place of residence to an eligible 18 site to which the applicant may be assigned. The At- 19 torney General may establish a maximum total 20 amount that may be paid to an individual as reim- 21 bursement for such expenses. 22 (2) The Attorney General may also reimburse 23 the applicant for the actual and reasonable expenses 24 incurred for the travel of 1 family member to accom- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2980 IH pany the applicant to such site. The Attorney Gen- 1 eral may establish a maximum total amount that 2 may be paid to an individual as reimbursement for 3 such expenses. 4 (3) In the case of an individual who has entered 5 into a contract for obligated service under the Schol- 6 arship Program or under the Loan Repayment Pro- 7 gram, the Attorney General may reimburse such in- 8 dividual for all or part of the actual and reasonable 9 expenses incurred in transporting the individual, the 10 individual’s family, and the family’s possessions to 11 the site of the individual’s assignment. The Attorney 12 General may establish a maximum total amount that 13 may be paid to an individual as reimbursement for 14 such expenses. 15 (d) MONTHLY PAY ADJUSTMENTS.—The Attorney 16 General may, under regulations promulgated by the Attor- 17 ney General, adjust the monthly pay of each member of 18 the Corps. During the 24 months in which such a member 19 is so engaged in the delivery of legal services, the monthly 20 pay of that member may be increased by an amount which 21 when added to the member’s monthly pay and allowances 22 will provide a monthly income competitive with the aver- 23 age monthly income from a practice of an individual who 24 is a member of the profession of the Corps member, who 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2980 IH has equivalent training, and who has been in practice for 1 a period equivalent to the period during which the Corps 2 member has been in practice. 3 (e) EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.— 4 The Attorney General shall ensure that adequate staff is 5 provided to the Service with respect to effectively admin- 6 istering the program for the Corps. 7 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 8 (1) The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart- 9 ment of Justice. 10 (2) The term ‘‘Loan Repayment Program’’ 11 means the Loan Repayment Program established 12 under section 4. 13 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes, in addition to 14 the several States, only the District of Columbia, the 15 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth 16 of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, 17 Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of 18 the Pacific Islands. 19 (4) The term ‘‘Corps’’ means the Entry Adju- 20 dication through General Legal Expertise Corps. 21 (5) The term ‘‘Corps member’’ means each of 22 the officers, employees, and individuals of which the 23 Corps consists pursuant to paragraph (1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2980 IH (6) The term ‘‘legal services’’ means legal rep- 1 resentation in any proceeding before an immigration 2 court. 3 SEC. 3. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 4 The Secretary of Education shall, subject to such 5 terms and conditions as the Secretary, in consultation 6 with the Attorney General, may by rule establish, repay 7 or cancel the outstanding balance of principal and interest 8 due on the Federal loans and private education loans of 9 a borrower. The term ‘‘Federal loan’’ means a loan made, 10 insured, or guaranteed under title IV of the Higher Edu- 11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). The term 12 ‘‘private education loan’’ has the meaning given the term 13 in section 140 of the Truth in Lending Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2980.IH H2980 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS