II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 648 

To ensure the humane treatment of pregnant women by reinstating the 

presumption of release and prohibiting shackling, restraining, and other 

inhumane treatment of pregnant detainees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. DURBIN, 

Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. 

HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SMITH, Mr. UDALL, Ms. 

WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure the humane treatment of pregnant women by 

reinstating the presumption of release and prohibiting 

shackling, restraining, and other inhumane treatment of 

pregnant detainees, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Shackling and 

5 Detaining Pregnant Women Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON DETENTION OF PREGNANT WOMEN 

2 AND MOTHERS OF NEWBORNS. 

3 (a) PRESUMPTION OF RELEASE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graph (2), the Secretary— 

6 (A) shall not detain a person under any 

7 provision of the Immigration and Nationality 

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) during pregnancy 

9 or postpartum recovery, pending a decision with 

10 respect to whether the person is to be removed 

11 from the United States; and 

12 (B) shall immediately release any detainee 

13 found to be pregnant. 

14 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary may detain 

15 pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

16 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) a person during pregnancy or 

17 postpartum recovery under extraordinary circum18 stances in which the Secretary makes an individual19 ized determination that credible, reasonable grounds 

20 exist to believe that the person presents an imme21 diate and serious threat of hurting herself or others. 

22 (3) REMOVAL.—In a case in which detention is 

23 the least restrictive means of effectuating the re24 moval from the United States of a pregnant person 

25 who is the subject of a final order of deportation or 

26 removal, the Secretary may, solely for the purpose of 


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1 such removal, detain the pregnant person for a pe2 riod that is— 

3 (A) the shortest possible period imme4 diately preceding the removal of the person 

5 from the United States; and 

6 (B) not more than 5 days. 

7 (b) WEEKLY REVIEW REQUIRED.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a detainee 

9 detained under paragraph (2) of subsection (a), not 

10 less frequently than once each week, the Secretary 

11 shall conduct an individualized review to determine 

12 whether the detainee continues to be subject to de13 tention under that paragraph. 

14 (2) RELEASE.—In the case of a determination 

15 under paragraph (1) that a pregnant detainee is not 

16 subject to detention under subsection (a)(2), not 

17 later than 1 day after the date on which the Sec18 retary makes the determination, the Secretary shall 

19 release the detainee. 

20 SEC. 3. HUMANE TREATMENT OF PREGNANT WOMEN 

21 WHILE IN DETENTION. 

22 (a) PROHIBITION ON RESTRAINT OF PREGNANT DE23 TAINEES.— 


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1 (1) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), a detention facility shall not use a re3 straint on a detainee— 

4 (A) known to be pregnant, including dur5 ing— 

6 (i) labor; 

7 (ii) transport to a medical facility or 

8 birthing center; and 

9 (iii) delivery; or 

10 (B) during postpartum recovery. 

11 (2) USE OF RESTRAINTS FOR MEDICAL PUR12 POSES AND IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para14 graph (1), subject to subparagraph (B), use of 

15 a restraint on a detainee described in para16 graph (1) may be permitted only— 

17 (i) for a medical purpose if the lead 

18 medical staff of the detention facility who 

19 is a licensed health care provider has or20 dered the use of the restraint for the med21 ical purpose; or 

22 (ii) in an extraordinary circumstance, 

23 except for a medical purpose, in which the 

24 facility administrator has ordered the use 


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1 of the restraint after making an individual2 ized determination that— 

3 (I) credible, reasonable grounds 

4 exist to believe the detainee presents 

5 an immediate and serious threat of 

6 hurting staff or others; or 

7 (II) reasonable grounds exist to 

8 believe the detainee presents an imme9 diate and credible risk of escape that 

10 cannot be reasonably minimized 

11 through any other method. 

12 (B) REQUIREMENT FOR LEAST RESTRIC13 TIVE RESTRAINTS.—In the rare event of an ex14 traordinary circumstance described in subpara15 graph (A)(ii), only the least restrictive restraint 

16 necessary shall be used, except that— 

17 (i) if a doctor, nurse, or other health 

18 professional treating a detainee described 

19 in paragraph (1) requests that a restraint 

20 not be used, the detention officer accom21 panying the detainee shall immediately re22 move any restraint; 

23 (ii) under no circumstance shall a leg, 

24 waist, or four-point restraint be used; 


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1 (iii) under no circumstance shall a 

2 wrist restraint be used to bind the hands 

3 of a detainee described in paragraph (1) 

4 behind her back or to another person; and 

5 (iv) under no circumstance shall any 

6 restraint be used on any detainee who is in 

7 labor or delivery. 

8 (3) RECORD OF EXTRAORDINARY CIR9 CUMSTANCES.— 

10 (A) REQUIREMENTS.—If a restraint is 

11 used on a detainee pursuant to paragraph 

12 (2)(A), not later than 5 days after the date on 

13 which the restraint was used, the facility ad14 ministrator shall— 

15 (i) make a written finding that de16 scribes the extraordinary circumstance that 

17 dictated the use of the restraint; and 

18 (ii) submit the finding to the Director. 

19 (B) RETENTION.— 

20 (i) DETENTION FACILITY.—With re21 spect to a written finding under subpara22 graph (A)(i), the facility administrator 

23 shall— 

24 (I) keep the finding on file at the 

25 applicable detention facility for not 


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1 less than 5 years after the date on 

2 which the restraint was used; and 

3 (II) shall make the finding avail4 able for public inspection. 

5 (ii) IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS EN6 FORCEMENT.—With respect to a written 

7 finding submitted to the Director under 

8 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Director shall 

9 maintain the written finding and make the 

10 finding available for public inspection. 

11 (iii) PRIVACY.—With respect to a 

12 written finding made available for public 

13 inspection under clause (i) or (ii), the indi14 vidually identifying information of a de15 tainee shall not be made available for pub16 lic inspection without the prior written 

17 consent of the detainee. 

18 (b) PROHIBITION ON PRESENCE OF DETENTION OF19 FICERS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), no detention officer shall be present in 

22 the room during a pelvic exam, labor, delivery, or 

23 treatment of any other symptom relating to a preg24 nancy of a detainee, unless specifically requested by 

25 medical personnel. 


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1 (2) EXCEPTION.—If the presence of a detention 

2 officer is requested by medical personnel, the deten3 tion officer shall— 

4 (A) be female, if practicable; and 

5 (B) remain at a reasonable distance from 

6 the detainee and toward her head to protect her 

7 privacy. 

8 (3) USE OF RESTRAINTS.—If a restraint is used 

9 on a detainee pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A), a de10 tention officer shall remain immediately outside the 

11 room at all times so that the officer may promptly 

12 remove the restraint if requested by medical per13 sonnel, as required by subsection (a)(2)(B)(i). 

14 (c) ACCESS TO SERVICES.—A pregnant detainee shall 

15 have access to health care services, including comprehen16 sive services relating to reproductive health care and preg17 nancy, including— 

18 (1) routine or specialized prenatal care; 

19 (2) comprehensive counseling and assistance; 

20 (3) postpartum follow-up; 

21 (4) lactation services; and 

22 (5) abortion services. 

23 SEC. 4. REPORTING; RULEMAKING. 

24 (a) REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) REPORTS BY FACILITY ADMINISTRATORS.— 

2 Not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter 

3 of a fiscal year, the facility administrator of each de4 tention facility that detained a pregnant detainee 

5 during the quarter shall submit to the Secretary a 

6 written report that includes, with respect to the 

7 quarter, the following: 

8 (A) An account of every instance of the 

9 use of a restraint on a pregnant detainee, in10 cluding the justification for such restraint and 

11 the name of the facility administrator who 

12 made the individualized determination under 

13 section 3(a)(2)(A)(ii). 

14 (B) The number of pregnant detainees 

15 held at the facility. 

16 (C) The average length of detention of 

17 pregnant detainees. 

18 (D) The number of pregnant detainees de19 tained longer than 15 days. 

20 (E) The number of pregnant detainees de21 tained longer than 30 days. 

22 (2) AUDIT AND REPORTS BY SECRETARY.—Not 

23 later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, 

24 the Secretary shall— 


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1 (A) complete an audit of the information 

2 submitted under subparagraphs (B) through 

3 (E) of paragraph (1); and 

4 (B) submit to the appropriate committees 

5 of Congress a report that includes all of the in6 formation submitted to the Secretary under 

7 paragraph (1), disaggregated by facility. 

8 (3) PRIVACY.—A report submitted under this 

9 subsection shall not contain the individually identi10 fying information of any detainee. 

11 (4) PUBLIC INSPECTION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

13 subparagraph (B), a report submitted under 

14 this subsection shall be made available for pub15 lic inspection. 

16 (B) FACILITY ADMINISTRATOR.—A report 

17 submitted under this subsection that is made 

18 available for public inspection shall not contain 

19 the name of the facility administrator otherwise 

20 included under paragraph (1)(A). 

21 (b) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary and the Attorney 

22 General shall adopt regulations or policies to carry out this 

23 Act at every detention facility. 

24 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

5 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

6 and 

7 (B) Committee on the Judiciary and the 

8 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

9 Representatives. 

10 (2) DETAINEE.—The term ‘‘detainee’’ includes 

11 any adult or juvenile person detained by any Fed12 eral, State, or local law enforcement agency (includ13 ing under contract or agreement with such agency) 

14 under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

15 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

16 (3) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘deten17 tion facility’’ means a Federal, State, or local gov18 ernment facility, or a privately owned and operated 

19 facility, that is used, in whole or in part, to hold in20 dividuals under the authority of the Director of U.S. 

21 Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Com22 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

23 including a facility that— 


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1 (A) holds such individuals under a contract 

2 or agreement with the Director or Commis3 sioner; or 

4 (B) is used, in whole or in part, to hold in5 dividuals pursuant to an immigration detainer 

6 or similar request. 

7 (4) DETENTION OFFICER.—The term ‘‘deten8 tion officer’’ means an individual who works at a de9 tention facility, including an individual who works at 

10 a detention facility pursuant to contract or sub11 contract. 

12 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

13 the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs En14 forcement. 

15 (6) FACILITY ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘fa16 cility administrator’’ means the official who is re17 sponsible for oversight of a detention facility or the 

18 designee of such official. 

19 (7) POSTPARTUM RECOVERY.—The term 

20 ‘‘postpartum recovery’’ means the 6-week period, or 

21 longer, as determined by the licensed health care 

22 provider of a person, following delivery, including the 

23 entire period during which the person is in a medical 

24 facility, birthing center, or infirmary after birth. 


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1 (8) RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘restraint’’ means 

2 any physical restraint or mechanical device used to 

3 control the movement of the body or limbs of a de4 tainee body, including— 

5 (A) flex cuffs; 

6 (B) soft restraints; 

7 (C) hard metal handcuffs; 

8 (D) a black box; 

9 (E) Chubb cuffs; 

10 (F) leg irons; 

11 (G) belly chains; 

12 (H) a security (tether) chain; and 

13 (I) a convex shield. 

14 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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