II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2219 To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 23, 2019 Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immi- gration and Customs Enforcement. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION OF RIGHT TO COUNSEL. 3 (a) RIGHT TO COUNSEL IN IMMIGRATION PRO- 4 CEEDINGS.— 5 (1) Subparagraph (A) of section 240(b)(4) of 6 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 7 1229a(b)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2219.IS S2219 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2219 IS ‘‘(A) the alien shall have the privilege of 1 being represented by counsel of the alien’s 2 choosing who is authorized to practice in such 3 proceedings,’’. 4 (2) Section 292 of the Immigration and Nation- 5 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362) is amended to read as fol- 6 lows: 7 ‘‘SEC. 292. RIGHT TO COUNSEL. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any removal, exclusion, or de- 9 portation proceeding or inspection under section 235(a), 10 235(b), 236, 238, 240, or 241, the person subject to such 11 proceeding shall be entitled to representation by such au- 12 thorized counsel as the person may choose. 13 ‘‘(b) REDRESS OPTIONS.—If counsel cannot person- 14 ally meet with a person subject to holding, detention, or 15 inspection at a port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border 16 Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 17 ment, as appropriate, shall provide redress options 18 through which counsel may communicate remotely with 19 the held or detained person during the first hour and 20 thereafter of such holding or detention, regardless of the 21 day or time when such holding or detention began. 22 ‘‘(c) RECORD OF ABANDONMENT OF LAWFUL PER- 23 MANENT RESIDENT STATUS OR WITHDRAWAL OF APPLI- 24 CATION FOR ADMISSION.—A person held or detained at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2219.IS S2219 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2219 IS a port of entry may not submit a valid Record of Abandon- 1 ment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status or Withdrawal 2 of Application for Admission if such person has been de- 3 nied access to counsel in accordance with this section. 4 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 ‘‘(1) INSPECTION.—The term ‘inspection’ does 6 not include primary inspection (as defined in the 7 policies of the Department of Homeland Security). 8 ‘‘(2) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ has the 9 meaning given the term in section 101(b)(3).’’. 10 (b) RIGHT TO COUNSEL OR REPRESENTATION.—Sec- 11 tion 555(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 12 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The right to be accom- 13 panied, represented, and advised by counsel or other quali- 14 fied representative under this subsection shall extend to 15 any person subject to a proceeding, examination, holding, 16 or detention described in section 292 of the Immigration 17 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362).’’. 18 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section, or 19 in any amendment made by this section, may be construed 20 to limit any preexisting right to counsel under section 292 21 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362), 22 as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 23 of this Act, or under any other law. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2219.IS S2219 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2219 IS SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS HELD OR DETAINED 1 AT PORTS OF ENTRY OR AT ANY CBP OR ICE 2 DETENTION FACILITY. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The holding or detention of indi- 4 viduals at a port of entry or at any holding or detention 5 facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection 6 or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement— 7 (1) shall be limited to the briefest term and the 8 least restrictive conditions practicable and consistent 9 with the rationale for such holding or detention; and 10 (2) shall include access to food, water, and rest- 11 room facilities. 12 (b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 13 may be construed to limit agencies from complying with 14 other legal authorities, policies, or standards with respect 15 to treatment of individuals held or detained at ports of 16 entry or at any holding or detention facility overseen by 17 U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration 18 and Customs Enforcement. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2219.IS S2219 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS