[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6397 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6397
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 3, 2025
Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. Adams, Mr. Amo,
Ms. Ansari, Ms. Balint, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr.
Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Carson, Mr. Carter
of Louisiana, Mr. Casar, Mr. Casten, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mrs.
Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr.
Cohen, Mr. Correa, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms.
Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. DeGette, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Dexter, Mrs.
Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans of
Pennsylvania, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Friedman, Mr. Frost, Mr.
Garamendi, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Garcia of California, Ms. Garcia
of Texas, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Green of Texas, Mrs.
Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Mr. Huffman,
Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Leger
Fernandez, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Matsui, Ms. McClellan,
Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. McIver, Mr. Meeks, Mr.
Menendez, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin,
Mr. Nadler, Mr. Norcross, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Mr.
Pallone, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Pressley, Mr.
Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Randall, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Rivas, Ms. Ross,
Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms.
Simon, Mr. Soto, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Swalwell, Mr.
Takano, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Thompson of
California, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Torres of
New York, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms.
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of
Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr.
Hernandez, and Mrs. Sykes) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee 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 jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Dignity for Detained Immigrants
Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that detention, even for a short period
of time, inflicts severe, irreparable harm on children and should be
avoided.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives; and
(D) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House
of Representatives.
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Homeland Security.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Homeland Security.
SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY DETENTION
FACILITIES.
(a) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, by regulation, establish
detention standards for each facility at which aliens in the custody of
the Department are detained.
(b) Minimum Protection.--The standards established under subsection
(a) shall provide, at a minimum, the level of protections for detainees
described in the American Bar Association's Civil Immigration Detention
Standards (adopted in August 2012, and as modified in August 2014).
(c) Biennial Updates.--Not less frequently than biennially, the
Secretary shall review and update such standards, as appropriate.
SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT AND TRANSPARENCY.
(a) Periodic Inspections.--
(1) In general.--On a periodic basis, not less frequently
than annually, the Inspector General of the Department
(referred to in this section as the ``Inspector General'')
shall conduct an unannounced, in-person inspection of each
facility at which aliens in the custody of the Department are
detained to ensure that each such facility is in compliance
with the standards established under section 4.
(2) Report.--Not later than 60 days after conducting an
inspection under paragraph (1), the Inspector General shall--
(A) submit a report to the Secretary containing the
results of such inspection; and
(B) make the report available to the public on the
internet website of the Department.
(3) Failure to comply with standards.--
(A) Initial failure.--
(i) In general.--If the Inspector General
determines that a facility has failed to comply
with the standards established under section 4
for the first time during any 2-year period,
and such noncompliance constitutes a deficiency
that threatens the health, safety, or the due
process rights of detainees--
(I) the Inspector General shall
notify the Secretary of such
determination; and
(II) the Secretary shall--
(aa) in the case of a
facility not owned by the
Department, impose a meaningful
fine of not less than 10
percent of the value of the
contract with the facility; and
(bb) in the case of a
facility owned by the
Department--
(AA) issue a
written warning to the
facility not later than
30 days after receiving
such notification from
the Inspector General,
which shall include
remedial measures to be
carried out not later
than 60 days after the
issuance of the
warning; and
(BB) not later than
60 days after the
issuance of a warning
under subitem (AA),
certify to the
Inspector General that
the remedial measures
have been carried out.
(ii) Follow-up inspection.--Not later than
180 days after the date on which the Inspector
General makes a notification under clause
(i)(I), the Inspector General shall conduct an
in-person inspection of the facility to
determine whether the facility has achieved
compliance with the standards established under
section 4.
(B) Subsequent failures.--If the Inspector General
determines that a facility has failed to comply with
the standards established under section 4 in 2 or more
inspections under paragraph (1) during any 2-year
period, and such noncompliance constitutes a deficiency
that threatens the health, safety, or the rights of
detainees--
(i) the Inspector General shall notify the
Secretary of such determination; and
(ii) the Secretary shall--
(I) in the case of a facility not
owned by the Department--
(aa) not later than 30 days
after receiving such
notification, transfer each
detainee to a facility that
does so comply;
(bb) terminate the contract
with the owner or operator of
the facility; and
(cc) ensure that no funds
made available to the
Department be used to continue
such contract; and
(II) in the case of a facility
owned by the Department--
(aa) not later than 60 days
after receiving such
notification, transfer each
detainee to a facility that
does so comply; and
(bb) suspend the use of
such facility until such time
as the Inspector General--
(AA) certifies to
the Secretary that the
facility is in
compliance with such
standards; and
(BB) makes
available to the public
on the internet website
of the Department
information relating to
the remedial measures
taken.
(b) Deaths in Custody.--
(1) Notification.--Not later than 24 hours after the death
of an alien in the custody of the Department, the Secretary
shall notify the appropriate committees of Congress of such
death.
(2) Investigations.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the
death of an alien in the custody of the Department, the
Secretary shall conduct an investigation into such
death, which shall include a root cause analysis that
identifies any changes to policies, practices, training
curricula, staffing, or potential system-wide errors
that may reduce the probability of such an event in the
future.
(B) Root cause analysis.--Each root cause analysis
required by subparagraph (A) shall be carried out--
(i) by appropriately qualified personnel,
including 1 or more medical professionals
qualified in a field relevant to the death; and
(ii) in accordance with professional
medical standards for investigating sentinel
events in medical care facilities, including
the Sentinel Event Policy promulgated by The
Joint Commission.
(C) Public report.--Not later than 60 days after
such a death, the Secretary shall--
(i) issue a full report describing the
results of the investigation required by
subparagraph (A); and
(ii) make the report available to the
public on the internet website of the
Department.
(D) Review by inspector general.--Not later than 90
days after the death of an alien in the custody of the
Department, the Inspector General shall conduct a
review of the report issued under subparagraph (C) with
respect to such death.
(3) Definition of death of an alien in the custody of the
department.--The term ``death of an alien in the custody of the
Department'' means the death of an alien occurring while the
alien is under the supervision of the Department, regardless
of--
(A) the location of the death; or
(B) whether the death may have resulted from a
health problem that existed before or during, or was
exacerbated by, the detention of the alien.
(c) Report to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not less frequently than annually, the
Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress a report on the inspections and oversight of
facilities at which aliens in the custody of the Department are
detained.
(2) Elements.--Each report required by paragraph (1) shall
include, for the preceding year--
(A) a list of each detention facility found by the
Inspector General to be in noncompliance with the
standards established under section 4;
(B) for each such facility, a description of the
remedial actions taken, or planned to be taken, by the
Secretary so as to achieve compliance with such
standards; and
(C) a determination as to whether such remedial
actions have succeeded in bringing the facility into
compliance with such standards.
(d) Classification of Documents for Purposes of FOIA.--The reports
required by subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2)(C), and any contract between
the Department and a private or public entity that provides for the use
of a facility not owned by the Department to detain aliens in the
custody of the Department, are considered records for purposes of
section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and do not qualify for the
exception under subsection (b)(4) of such section.
(e) Facilities Matrix.--
(1) In general.--On the first day of each month, the
Secretary shall ensure that a publicly accessible internet
website of the Department contains the information described in
paragraph (2) for each facility at which aliens in the custody
of the Department are detained.
(2) Elements.--The information referred to in paragraph (1)
is, for each such facility, the following:
(A) The name and location of the facility.
(B) Whether the facility houses adults, children,
or both.
(C) The number of beds available in the facility on
the last day of the preceding month, disaggregated by
gender.
(D) The total number of aliens detained in the
facility on the last day of the preceding month,
disaggregated by gender and classification as a child
or as an adult.
(E) Whether the facility is used to detain aliens
for longer than 72 hours.
(F) Whether the facility is used to detain aliens
for longer than 7 days.
(G) The average number of aliens detained in the
facility during the current year and during the
preceding month, disaggregated by gender and
classification as a child or as an adult.
(H) Whether the facility is in compliance with the
standards established under section 4.
(I) In the case of a facility not owned by the
Department, a description of the nature of the contract
providing for the detention of aliens at the facility.
(J) The average, median, 25th quartile, and 50th
quartile number of days that an alien has been detained
at the facility during the preceding month.
(f) Online Detainee Locator System.--The Secretary shall ensure
that the online detainee locator system maintained by the Department,
or any successor system, is updated not later than 12 hours after an
alien is--
(1) taken into, or released from, custody by the
Department;
(2) transferred to, or detained in, a detention facility;
or
(3) removed from the United States.
(g) Information Collected and Maintained for Aliens in DHS
Custody.--The Secretary shall collect and maintain, for each alien in
the custody of the Department, the following information:
(1) The gender and age of the alien.
(2) The date on which the alien was taken into such
custody.
(3) The country of nationality of the alien.
(4) Whether the alien is considered a vulnerable person (as
such term is defined in section 236(c)(5) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act, as amended by section 9) or a primary
caregiver.
(5) The provision of law pursuant to which the Secretary is
authorized to det