Access to Counsel Act of 2020

IB Union Calendar No. 332 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5581 [Report No. 116–412, Part I] 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 10, 2020 Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KILMER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned MARCH 5, 2020 Additional sponsors: Ms. ESHOO, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. CORREA, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Mr. KENNEDY MARCH 5, 2020 Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5581 RH MARCH 5, 2020 Committee on Homeland Security discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 10, 2020] 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5581 RH 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 ‘‘Access to Counsel Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE AT 6 PORTS OF ENTRY AND DEFERRED INSPEC- 7 TION. 8 (a) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE 9 DURING INSPECTION.—Section 235 of the Immigration and 10 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended by adding at 11 the end the following: 12 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE 13 DURING INSPECTION.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 15 Security shall ensure that a covered individual has a 16 meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel and 17 an interested party during the inspection process. 18 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 19 Homeland Security shall— 20 ‘‘(A) provide the covered individual a 21 meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel 22 and an interested party not later than one hour 23 after the secondary inspection process commences 24 and as necessary throughout the inspection proc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5581 RH ess, including, as applicable, during deferred in- 1 spection; 2 ‘‘(B) allow counsel and an interested party 3 to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, 4 including by providing to the examining immi- 5 gration officer information, documentation, and 6 other evidence in support of the covered indi- 7 vidual; and 8 ‘‘(C) to the greatest extent practicable, ac- 9 commodate a request by the covered individual 10 for counsel or an interested party to appear in- 11 person at the secondary or deferred inspection 12 site. 13 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT 14 RESIDENTS.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Home- 16 land Security may not accept Form I-407 17 Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent 18 Resident Status (or a successor form) from a 19 lawful permanent resident subject to secondary 20 or deferred inspection without providing such 21 lawful permanent resident a reasonable oppor- 22 tunity to seek advice from counsel prior to the 23 submission of the form. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5581 RH ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Home- 1 land Security may accept Form I-407 Record of 2 Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident 3 Status (or a successor form) from a lawful per- 4 manent resident subject to secondary or deferred 5 inspection if such lawful permanent resident 6 knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives, 7 in writing, the opportunity to seek advice from 8 counsel. 9 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(A) COUNSEL.—The term ‘counsel’ 11 means— 12 ‘‘(i) an attorney who is a member in 13 good standing of the bar of any State, the 14 District of Columbia, or a territory or a 15 possession of the United States and is not 16 under an order suspending, enjoining, re- 17 straining, disbarring, or otherwise restrict- 18 ing the attorney in the practice of law; or 19 ‘‘(ii) an individual accredited by the 20 Attorney General, acting as a representative 21 of an organization recognized by the Execu- 22 tive Office for Immigration Review, to rep- 23 resent a covered individual in immigration 24 matters. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5581 RH ‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov- 1 ered individual’ means an individual subject to 2 secondary or deferred inspection who is— 3 ‘‘(i) a national of the United States; 4 ‘‘(ii) an immigrant, lawfully admitted 5 for permanent residence, who is returning 6 from a temporary visit abroad; 7 ‘‘(iii) an alien seeking admission as an 8 immigrant in possession of a valid unex- 9 pired immigrant visa; 10 ‘‘(iv) an alien seeking admission as a 11 non-immigrant in possession of a valid un- 12 expired non-immigrant visa; 13 ‘‘(v) a refugee; or 14 ‘‘(vi) an alien who has been approved 15 for parole under section 212(d)(5)(A), in- 16 cluding an alien who is returning to the 17 United States in possession of a valid ad- 18 vance parole document. 19 ‘‘(C) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘inter- 20 ested party’ means— 21 ‘‘(i) a relative of the covered indi- 22 vidual; 23 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered indi- 24 vidual to whom an immigrant or non-im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5581 RH migrant visa has been issued, the petitioner 1 or sponsor thereof (including an agent of 2 such petitioner or sponsor); or 3 ‘‘(iii) a person, organization, or entity 4 in the United States with a bona fide con- 5 nection to the covered individual.’’. 6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub- 7 section (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date of the 8 enactment of this Act. 9 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act, or in 10 any amendment made by this Act, may be construed to 11 limit a right to counsel or any right to appointed counsel 12 under— 13 (1) section 240(b)(4)(A) (8 U.S.C. 14 1229a(b)(4)(A)), 15 (2) section 292 of the Immigration and Nation- 16 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362), or 17 (3) any other provision of law, including any 18 final court order securing such rights, 19 as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 20 this Act. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 332 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5581 [Report No. 116–412, Part I] 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. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. MARCH 5, 2020 Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment MARCH 5, 2020 Committee on Homeland Security discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H5581.RH H5581 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS