Equal Justice for Immigrants Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3775 To increase legal representation for certain aliens, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2019 Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. JOHNSON of Geor- gia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SOTO, and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To increase legal representation for certain aliens, 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 ‘‘Equal Justice for Im- 4 migrants Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. VULNERABLE POPULATION DEFINED. 6 In this Act, the term ‘‘vulnerable population’’ means, 7 with respect to an alien, that the alien— 8 (1) is an asylum seeker or victim of torture or 9 trafficking; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3775.IH H3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3775 IH (2) has special religious, cultural, or spiritual 1 considerations; 2 (3) is pregnant or nursing; 3 (4) is younger than 21 years of age or older 4 than 60 years of age; 5 (5) identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans- 6 gender, or intersex; 7 (6) is a victim or witness of a crime; 8 (7) has a mental disorder or physical disability; 9 (8) is incapable of filling out forms in English; 10 or 11 (9) has been determined by an immigration 12 judge or the Secretary of Homeland Security to be 13 experiencing severe trauma or to be a survivor of 14 torture or gender-based violence, based on informa- 15 tion obtained during intake, from the individual’s at- 16 torney or legal services provider, or through credible 17 self-reporting. 18 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 19 IMMIGRATION AND NATION- 20 ALITY ACT 21 SEC. 101. MIGRANT PROTECTION PROTOCOLS. 22 (a) TREATMENT OF ALIENS ARRIVING FROM CON- 23 TIGUOUS TERRITORY.—Section 235(b)(2)(C) of the Immi- 24 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(2)(C)) is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3775.IH H3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3775 IH amended by inserting before the period at the end the fol- 1 lowing: ‘‘with the affirmative consent of the alien’’. 2 (b) INTERVIEW APPLICANTS.—In the case of an alien 3 who is a member of a vulnerable population and applying 4 for admission as a refugee under section 207 of the Immi- 5 gration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of Homeland 6 Security shall ensure that the number of interviews re- 7 quired of such an alien is not overly burdensome. 8 (c) ASYLUM OFFICER DEFINED.—Section 9 235(b)(1)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 10 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(E)) is amended— 11 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 12 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 13 end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(iii) is an employee of U.S. Citizen- 16 ship and Immigration Services.’’. 17 TITLE II—IMMIGRATION 18 PROCEEDINGS 19 SEC. 201. IMMIGRATION JUDGE REQUIREMENTS. 20 The Attorney General may not require an immigra- 21 tion judge to adhere to a case production quota or any 22 other time-based metric and may not evaluate the per- 23 formance of an immigration judge using any such quota 24 or time based metric. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3775.IH H3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3775 IH SEC. 202. REPRESENTATION. 1 (a) RIGHT TO COUNSEL.—The Immigration and Na- 2 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended— 3 (1) in section 238(b)(4)(B), by striking ‘‘(at no 4 expense to the government)’’; 5 (2) in section 240(b)(4)(A), by striking ‘‘, at no 6 expense to the Government,’’; and 7 (3) by amending section 292 to read as follows: 8 ‘‘RIGHT TO COUNSEL 9 ‘‘SEC. 292. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any proceeding before an im- 11 migration judge and in any appeal proceeding before the 12 Attorney General from any such proceedings, the person 13 concerned, including an unaccompanied alien child or an 14 alien who is an individual with a disability (as such term 15 is defined in Section 7(20) of the Rehabilitation Act of 16 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705)), shall have the privilege of being 17 represented by such counsel, authorized to practice in such 18 proceedings, as the person shall choose. 19 ‘‘(b) INDIGENT ALIENS.—In the case of an indigent 20 alien, an immigration judge shall appoint, at the alien’s 21 request, counsel to represent the alien in any proceeding 22 described in subsection (a).’’. 23 (b) ACCESS TO COUNSEL FOR UNACCOMPANIED 24 ALIEN CHILDREN.—Section 235(c)(5) of the William Wil- 25 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3775.IH H3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3775 IH Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232(c)(5)) is amended by striking 1 ‘‘to the greatest extent practicable and consistent with sec- 2 tion 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 3 1362)’’. 4 (c) COURT DATE.—Section 240(a) of the Immigra- 5 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(a)) is amended 6 by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(4) DEPORTATION.—An alien that is eligible 8 for a removal proceeding under this Act may not be 9 removed prior to the date of such proceeding.’’. 10 TITLE III—JUDICIAL REVIEW 11 SEC. 301. EXTENSION ON PETITION FOR REVIEW. 12 Section 242(b) of the Immigration and Nationality 13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1252(b)) is amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (1)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘30 days’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘60 days’’; and 17 (B) by inserting before the period at the 18 end the following: ‘‘, except that a court may 19 extend the deadline for a period of not more 20 than 30 days upon a showing of good cause or 21 excusable neglect’’; and 22 (2) in paragraph (3)(B)— 23 (A) by striking ‘‘does not’’ and inserting 24 ‘‘shall’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3775.IH H3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3775 IH (B) by striking ‘‘, unless the court orders 1 otherwise’’. 2 SEC. 302. NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAL. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 4 Board of Immigration Appeals affirms an order of removal 5 issued pursuant to section 240, the Attorney General shall 6 provide written notice of the right to appeal to the alien 7 (or, if personal service is not practicable, through service 8 by mail to the alien or to the alien’s counsel of record, 9 if any) specifying the deadline for seeking judicial review 10 under section 242 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 11 (8 U.S.C. 1252) and the appropriate court of appeals. 12 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General shall 13 amend such regulations as may be necessary to implement 14 subsection (a). 15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall take ef- 16 fect on the date that is 120 days after the date of enact- 17 ment of this Act. 18 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS 19 SEC. 401. VIDEO CONFERENCE TECHNOLOGY. 20 Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 21 of this Act, the Attorney General, acting through the Di- 22 rector of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, 23 shall submit to Congress a report on the effect of video 24 conference hearings on the outcome of such hearings. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3775.IH H3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3775 IH SEC. 402. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 2 this Act $726,200,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 3 through 2021. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3775.IH H3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS