I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5346 

To require investigations and reports regarding individuals who died in the 

custody of certain Federal authorities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2019 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself and Ms. JAYAPAL) 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 require investigations and reports regarding individuals 

who died in the custody of certain Federal authorities, 

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 ‘‘Jakelin Caal Death 

5 in Custody Reporting Act of 2019’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5346 IH

1 SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION AND REPORTING OF INDIVIDUALS 

2 WHO DIED IN THE CUSTODY OF FEDERAL IM3 MIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 

4 (a) INVESTIGATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

6 the death of an alien in the custody of the Depart7 ment of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Home8 land Security shall conduct an investigation into 

9 such death, which shall include a root cause analysis 

10 that identifies any changes to policies, practices, 

11 training curricula, staffing, or potential system-wide 

12 errors that could reduce the probability of such an 

13 event in the future. Such root cause analysis shall 

14 include consultation with and input from appro15 priately qualified personnel, who, at a minimum, 

16 shall consist of a medical professional qualified in 

17 any field germane to such death, and shall be per18 formed in accordance with professional medical 

19 standards for investigating sentinel events in medical 

20 care facilities, including the Sentinel Event Policy 

21 promulgated by The Joint Commission. 

22 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 

23 days after the conclusion of the investigation re24 quired under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Home25 land Security shall make publicly available on the 

26 website of the Department of Homeland Security a 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5346 IH

1 report describing the results of such investigation, 

2 including the root cause analysis described in such 

3 paragraph. 

4 (b) REPORTING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief of the U.S. Bor6 der Patrol and Director of U.S. Immigration and 

7 Customs Enforcement shall submit to the appro8 priate congressional committees and post on a pub9 licly available website of the Department of Home10 land Security not later than 24 hours after the 

11 death of any individual in the custody of the U.S. 

12 Border Patrol or U.S. Immigration and Customs 

13 Enforcement, as the case may be, in the temporary 

14 custody of other law enforcement agencies on behalf 

15 of such agencies, or after the use of force by an 

16 agent or officer of such agencies a report relating to 

17 each such death. 

18 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under paragraph 

19 (1) shall include information that, at minimum, in20 cludes the following with respect to each death that 

21 is the subject of each such report: 

22 (A) The name, gender, race, ethnicity, and 

23 age of the deceased. 

24 (B) The date, time, and location of such 

25 death. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5346 IH

1 (C) A description of the circumstances sur2 rounding such death. 

3 (3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

4 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means the 

5 Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 

6 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 

7 and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Com8 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af9 fairs of the Senate. 

10 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORTING OF INDIVIDUALS 

11 WHO DIED IN THE CUSTODY OF THE OFFICE 

12 OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT. 

13 (a) INVESTIGATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

15 the death of an alien in the custody of the Depart16 ment of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 

17 of Health and Human Services shall conduct an in18 vestigation into such death, which shall include a 

19 root cause analysis that identifies any changes to 

20 policies, practices, training curricula, staffing, or po21 tential system-wide errors that could reduce the 

22 probability of such an event in the future. Such root 

23 cause analysis shall include consultation with and 

24 input from appropriately qualified personnel, who, at 

25 a minimum, shall consist of a medical professional 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5346 IH

1 qualified in any field germane to such death, and 

2 shall be performed in accordance with professional 

3 medical standards for investigating sentinel events in 

4 medical care facilities, including the Sentinel Event 

5 Policy promulgated by The Joint Commission. 

6 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 

7 days after the conclusion of the investigation re8 quired under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Health 

9 and Human Services shall make publicly available on 

10 the website of the Department of Health and 

11 Human Services a report describing the results of 

12 such investigation, including the root cause analysis 

13 described in such paragraph. 

14 (b) REPORTING.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

16 Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health 

17 and Human Services shall submit to the appropriate 

18 congressional committees and post on a publicly 

19 available website of the Department not later than 

20 24 hours after the death of any individual in the 

21 custody of such Office a report relating to each such 

22 death. 

23 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under paragraph 

24 (1) shall include information that, at minimum, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5346.IH H5346

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5346 IH

1 cludes the following with respect to each death that 

2 is the subject of each such report: 

3 (A) The name, gender, race, ethnicity, and 

4 age of the deceased. 

5 (B) The date, time, and location of death. 

6 (C) A description of the circumstances sur7 rounding the death. 

8 (3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

9 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

12 the Senate. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS