Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1208 To provide standards for facilities at which aliens in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security are detained, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide standards for facilities at which aliens in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security are detained, 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 ‘‘Dignity for Detained 4 Immigrants Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that detention, even for 7 a short period of time, inflicts severe, irreparable harm 8 on children and should be avoided. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1208 IS SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 3 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 4 gress’’ means— 5 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 6 Senate; 7 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 8 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 9 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 10 House of Representatives; and 11 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 12 of the House of Representatives. 13 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 14 means the Department of Homeland Security. 15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 17 SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SE- 18 CURITY DETENTION FACILITIES. 19 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, by 21 regulation, establish detention standards for each facility 22 at which aliens in the custody of the Department are de- 23 tained. 24 (b) MINIMUM PROTECTION.—The standards estab- 25 lished under subsection (a) shall provide, at a minimum, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1208 IS the level of protection for detainees described in the Amer- 1 ican Bar Association’s Civil Immigration Detention Stand- 2 ards (adopted in August 2012, and as modified in August 3 2014). 4 (c) BIENNIAL UPDATES.—Not less frequently than 5 biennially, the Secretary shall review and update such 6 standards, as appropriate. 7 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT AND TRANSPARENCY. 8 (a) PERIODIC INSPECTIONS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—On a periodic basis, not less 10 frequently than annually, the Inspector General of 11 the Department (referred to in this section as the 12 ‘‘Inspector General’’) shall conduct an unannounced, 13 in-person inspection of each facility at which aliens 14 in the custody of the Department are detained to en- 15 sure that each such facility is in compliance with the 16 standards established under section 4. 17 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 18 conducting an inspection under paragraph (1), the 19 Inspector General shall— 20 (A) submit a report to the Secretary con- 21 taining the results of such inspection; and 22 (B) make the report available to the public 23 on the internet website of the Department. 24 (3) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH STANDARDS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1208 IS (A) INITIAL FAILURE.— 1 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Inspector 2 General determines that a facility has 3 failed to comply with the standards estab- 4 lished under section 4 for the first time 5 during any 2-year period, and such non- 6 compliance constitutes a deficiency that 7 threatens the health, safety, or rights of 8 detainees— 9 (I) the Inspector General shall 10 notify the Secretary of such deter- 11 mination; and 12 (II) the Secretary shall— 13 (aa) in the case of a facility 14 not owned by the Department, 15 impose a meaningful fine of not 16 less than 10 percent of the value 17 of the contract with the facility; 18 and 19 (bb) in the case of a facility 20 owned by the Department— 21 (AA) issue a written 22 warning to the facility not 23 later than 30 days after re- 24 ceiving such notification 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1208 IS from the Inspector General, 1 which shall include remedial 2 measures to be carried out 3 not later than 60 days after 4 the issuance of the warning; 5 and 6 (BB) not later than 60 7 days after the issuance of a 8 warning under subitem 9 (AA), certify to the Inspec- 10 tor General that the reme- 11 dial measures have been car- 12 ried out. 13 (ii) FOLLOW-UP INSPECTION.—Not 14 later than 180 days after the date on 15 which the Inspector General makes a noti- 16 fication under clause (i)(I), the Inspector 17 General shall conduct an in-person inspec- 18 tion of the facility to determine whether 19 the facility has achieved compliance with 20 the standards established under section 4. 21 (B) SUBSEQUENT FAILURES.—If the In- 22 spector General determines that a facility has 23 failed to comply with the standards established 24 under section 4 in 2 or more inspections under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1208 IS paragraph (1) during any 2-year period, and 1 such noncompliance constitutes a deficiency 2 that threatens the health, safety, or rights of 3 detainees— 4 (i) the Inspector General shall notify 5 the Secretary of such determination; and 6 (ii) the Secretary shall— 7 (I) in the case of a facility not 8 owned by the Department— 9 (aa) not later than 30 days 10 after receiving such notification, 11 transfer each detainee to a facil- 12 ity that does so comply; and 13 (bb) terminate the contract 14 with the owner or operator of the 15 facility; and 16 (II) in the case of a facility 17 owned by the Department— 18 (aa) not later than 60 days 19 after receiving such notification, 20 transfer each detainee to a facil- 21 ity that does so comply; and 22 (bb) suspend the use of such 23 facility until such time as the In- 24 spector General— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1208 IS (AA) certifies to the 1 Secretary that the facility is 2 in compliance with such 3 standards; and 4 (BB) makes available 5 to the public on the internet 6 website of the Department 7 information relating to the 8 remedial measures taken. 9 (b) DEATHS IN CUSTODY.— 10 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 24 hours 11 after the death of an alien in the custody of the De- 12 partment, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate 13 committees of Congress of such death. 14 (2) INVESTIGATIONS.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 16 after the death of an alien in the custody of the 17 Department, the Secretary shall conduct an in- 18 vestigation into such death, which shall include 19 a root cause analysis that identifies any 20 changes to policies, practices, training curricula, 21 staffing, or potential systemwide errors that 22 may reduce the probability of such an event in 23 the future. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1208 IS (B) ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS.—Each root 1 cause analysis required by subparagraph (A) 2 shall be carried out— 3 (i) by appropriately qualified per- 4 sonnel, including 1 or more medical profes- 5 sionals qualified in a field relevant to the 6 cause of death; and 7 (ii) in accordance with professional 8 medical standards for investigating sentinel 9 events in medical care facilities, including 10 the Sentinel Event Policy promulgated by 11 The Joint Commission. 12 (C) PUBLIC REPORT.—Not later than 60 13 days after such a death, the Secretary shall— 14 (i) issue a full report describing the 15 results of the investigation required by 16 subparagraph (A); and 17 (ii) make the report available to the 18 public on the internet website of the De- 19 partment. 20 (D) REVIEW BY INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 21 Not later than 90 days after the death of an 22 alien in the custody of the Department, the In- 23 spector General shall conduct a review of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1208 IS report issued under subparagraph (C) with re- 1 spect to such death. 2 (3) DEFINITION OF DEATH OF AN ALIEN IN 3 THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT.—The term 4 ‘‘death of an alien in the custody of the Depart- 5 ment’’ means the death of an alien occurring while 6 the alien is under the supervision of the Depart- 7 ment, regardless of— 8 (A) the location of the death; or 9 (B) whether the death may have resulted 10 from a health problem that existed before or 11 during, or was exacerbated by, the detention of 12 the alien. 13 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than an- 15 nually, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 16 committees of Congress a report on the inspections 17 and oversight of facilities at which aliens in the cus- 18 tody of the Department are detained. 19 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by para- 20 graph (1) shall include, for the preceding year— 21 (A) a list of detention facilities found by 22 the Inspector General to be in noncompliance 23 with the standards established under section 4; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1208 IS (B) for each such facility, a description of 1 the remedial actions taken, or planned to be 2 taken, by the Secretary so as to achieve compli- 3 ance with such standards; and 4 (C) a determination as to whether such re- 5 medial actions have succeeded in bringing the 6 facility into compliance with such standards. 7 (d) CLASSIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS FOR PURPOSES 8 OF FOIA.—The reports required by subsections (a)(2) 9 and (b)(2)(C) and any contract between the Department 10 and a private or public entity that provides for the use 11 of a facility not owned by the Department to detain aliens 12 in the custody of the Department are considered records 13 for purposes of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 14 and do not qualify for the exception under subsection 15 (b)(4) of such section. 16 (e) FACILITIES MATRIX.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—On the first day of each 18 month, the Secretary shall ensure that a publicly ac- 19 cessible internet website of the Department contains 20 the information described in paragraph (2) for each 21 facility at which aliens in the custody of the Depart- 22 ment are detained. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1208 IS (2) ELEMENTS.—The information referred to in 1 paragraph (1) is, for each such facility, the fol- 2 lowing: 3 (A) The name and location of the facility. 4 (B) Whether the facility houses adults, 5 children, or both. 6 (C) The number of beds available in the 7 facility on the last day of the preceding month, 8 disaggregated by gender. 9 (D) The total number of aliens detained in 10 the facility on the last day of the preceding 11 month, disaggregated by gender and classifica- 12 tion as a child or as an adult. 13 (E) Whether the facility is used to detain 14 aliens for longer than 72 hours. 15 (F) Whether the facility is used to detain 16 aliens for longer than 7 days. 17 (G) The average number of aliens detained 18 in the facility during the current year and dur- 19 ing the preceding month, disaggregated by gen- 20 der and classification as a child or as an adult. 21 (H) Whether the facility is in compliance 22 with the standards established under section 4. 23 (I) In the case of a facility not owned by 24 the Department, a description of the nature of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1208 IS the contract providing for the detention of 1 aliens at the facility. 2 (J) The average, median, 25th quartile, 3 and 50th quartile number of days that an alien 4 has been detained at the facility during the pre- 5 ceding month. 6 (f) ONLINE DETAINEE LOCATOR SYSTEM.—The Sec- 7 retary shall ensure that the online detainee locator system 8 maintained by the Department, or any successor system, 9 is updated not later than 12 hours after an alien is— 10 (1) taken into, or released from, custody by the 11 Department; 12 (2) transferred to, or detained in, a detention 13 facility; or 14 (3) removed from the United States. 15 (g) INFORMATION COLLECTED AND MAINTAINED 16 REGARDING ALIENS IN DHS CUSTODY.—The Secretary 17 shall collect and maintain, for each alien in the custody 18 of the Department, the following information: 19 (1) The gender and age of the alien. 20 (2) The date on which the alien was taken into 21 such custody. 22 (3) The country of nationality of the alien. 23 (4) Whether the alien is considered a vulnerable 24 person (as such term is defined in section 236(c)(5) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1208.IS S1208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1208 IS of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended 1 by section 9) or a primary caregiver. 2 (5) The provision of law pursuant to which the 3 Secretary is authorized to detain the alien. 4 (6) The name of the facility in which the alien 5 is detained. 6 (7) With respect to any transfer of the alien to 7 another detention facility— 8 (A) a description of the transfer of the 9 alien to the other detention facility; 10 (B) the reason for the transfer; and 11 (C) in the case of a transfer effectuated 12 despite presence of the alien’s legal counsel or 13 immediate relative in the jurisdiction of the 14 original detention facility, a justification for 15 such transfer. 16 (8) The status and basis of any removal pro- 17 ceedings of which the alien is the subject. 18 (9) The initial custod [Text truncated for display. 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