Immigration Courts Bail Reform Act

Summary: Immigration Courts Bail Reform Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the minimum bond amount needed to release a detained alien. An immigration judge may review an initial custody determination for an adult alien, subject to specified rules, which include the following:   the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall, within 72 hours, file the notice to appear or charging document with the appropriate immigration court and serve such notice on the detained alien;  except for criminals or suspected terrorists, DHS may continue to detain an alien only if no conditions will reasonably assure the alien's appearance and the safety of any other person and the community;  the Department of Justice shall ensure that an alien has the opportunity to promptly appear before an immigration judge for a custody redetermination hearing;  except for criminals or suspected terrorists, an immigration judge shall review the custody determination de novo and may continue to detain the alien only if DHS demonstrates that no conditions will reasonably assure the alien's appearance and the community's safety;   DHS and an immigration judge shall order an alien's release on personal recognizance or upon an unsecured appearance bond unless such release will not reasonably assure the alien's appearance or the community's safety;  if DHS or an immigration judge determines that such release will not reasonably assure the alien's appearance or such safety, DHS or the immigration judge shall order the alien's release under the least restrictive conditions that will assure the alien's appearance and the community's safety;  DHS or an immigration judge shall consider the alien's financial ability in determining whether to impose a bond as a condition of release; and  DHS or an immigration judge may not impose a financial condition that results in an alien's detention. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Immigration Courts Bail Reform 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CONDITIONS ON DETENTION OF ALIENS.

    Section 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by amending subparagraph (A) to 
        read as follows:
                    ``(A) bond containing conditions prescribed by the 
                Secretary of Homeland Security; or'';
            (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
    ``(3) Review of Initial Custody Determination.--An immigration 
judge may review the initial custody determination under this 
subsection to the extent permitted under subsection (f).''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Procedures for Custody Hearings.--For any alien taken into 
custody under any provision of this Act, with the exception of children 
being transferred to, or in, the custody of the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human Services, the 
following rules shall apply:
            ``(1) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, without 
        unnecessary delay and not later than 72 hours after the alien 
        is taken into custody, file the Notice to Appear or other 
        relevant charging document with the immigration court having 
        jurisdiction over the location where the alien was apprehended, 
        and serve such notice on the alien.
            ``(2) The Secretary shall immediately determine whether the 
        alien shall remain in custody or be released and, without 
        unnecessary delay and not later than 72 hours after the alien 
        was taken into custody, serve upon the alien the custody 
        decision specifying the reasons for continued custody and the 
        amount of bond, if any. Except for aliens who the Secretary has 
        determined are subject to subsection (c) or certified under 
        section 236A, the Secretary may continue to detain the alien 
        only if the Secretary determines by clear and convincing 
        evidence that no conditions reasonably will assure the 
        appearance of the alien as required and the safety of any other 
        person and the community.
            ``(3) The Attorney General shall ensure the alien has the 
        opportunity to appear before an immigration judge for a custody 
        redetermination hearing promptly after personal service of the 
        Secretary's custody decision. The immigration judge may, on the 
        Secretary's motion and upon a showing of good cause, postpone a 
        custody redetermination hearing for not more than 72 hours 
        after personal service of the custody decision, except that in 
        no case shall the hearing occur more than 6 days (including 
        weekends and holidays) after the alien was taken into custody.
            ``(4) The immigration judge shall advise the alien of the 
        right to postpone the custody redetermination hearing and 
        shall, on the oral or written request of the individual, 
        postpone the custody determination hearing for a period of not 
        more than 14 days.
            ``(5) Except for aliens who the immigration judge has 
        determined are subject to subsection (c) or certified under 
        section 236A, the immigration judge shall review the custody 
        determination de novo and may continue to detain the alien only 
        if the Secretary demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence 
        that no conditions reasonably will assure the appearance of the 
        alien as required and the safety of any other person and the 
        community.
            ``(6)(A) In making a custody determination, both the 
        Secretary and the immigration judge shall order the release of 
        the alien on personal recognizance, or upon execution of an 
        unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the court, 
        unless the Secretary or the immigration judge determines that 
        such release will not reasonably assure the appearance of the 
        alien as required or will endanger the safety of any other 
        person or the community.
            ``(B) If the Secretary or immigration judge determines that 
        release under subparagraph (A) will not reasonably assure the 
        appearance of the alien as required or will endanger the safety 
        of any other person or the community, the Secretary or the 
        immigration judge shall order the release of the alien subject 
        to the least restrictive further condition, or combination of 
        conditions, that the Secretary or immigration judge determines 
        will reasonably assure the appearance of the alien as required 
        and the safety of any other person and the community. Such 
        conditions may include those specified under section 
        3142(c)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code.
            ``(C) In determining whether to impose a bond as a 
        condition of release, the Secretary or immigration judge shall 
        consider the alien's financial ability to pay a bond and 
        whether alternative conditions of supervision, alone or in 
        combination with a lower bond amount, deposit bond, or property 
        bond, will reasonably assure the appearance of the alien as 
        required and the safety of any other person and the community. 
        The Secretary or immigration judge may not impose a financial 
        condition that results in the detention of the alien.
            ``(D) For aliens who the immigration judge has determined 
        are subject to subsection (c), the immigration judge may review 
        the custody determination, and consider alternatives to 
        detention which maintain custody over the alien, if the 
        immigration judge agrees the alien is not a danger to the 
        community.
            ``(7) In the case of any alien remaining in custody after a 
        custody determination, the Attorney General shall provide de 
        novo custody redetermination hearings pursuant to paragraph (6) 
        before an immigration judge every 90 days as long as the alien 
        remains in custody. An alien may also obtain a de novo custody 
        redetermination hearing at any time upon a showing of good 
        cause. Good cause includes a showing that the alien has been 
        unable to post the bond amount after having made good faith 
        efforts to do so.
            ``(8) The Secretary shall inform the alien of his or her 
        rights under this paragraph at the time the alien is first 
        taken into custody.''.