II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5120 

To amend the Second Chance Act of 2007 to require identification for 

returning citizens, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Second Chance Act of 2007 to require 

identification for returning citizens, 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 ‘‘New Pathways Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION FOR RETURNING CITIZENS. 

6 Section 231(b) of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 

7 U.S.C. 60541(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION AND RELEASE ASSISTANCE

9 FOR FEDERAL PRISONERS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the term ‘community confinement’ 

2 means residence in a community treatment cen3 ter, halfway house, restitution center, mental 

4 health facility, alcohol or drug rehabilitation 

5 center, or other community facility; 

6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘direct-release prisoner’ 

7 means a prisoner who is scheduled for release 

8 and will not be placed in prerelease custody; 

9 ‘‘(C) the term ‘noncitizen covered indi10 vidual’— 

11 ‘‘(i) means an individual in the cus12 tody of the Bureau of Prisons or sentenced 

13 to a term in community confinement 

14 who— 

15 ‘‘(I) is lawfully present and eligi16 ble for employment authorization in 

17 the United States; and 

18 ‘‘(II) has a document dem19 onstrating that the individual will 

20 have a place of residence upon release; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) includes an alien lawfully admit23 ted for permanent residence (as defined in 

24 section 101(a) of the Immigration and Na25 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))), a refVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Nov 19, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5120.IS S5120

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1 ugee (as defined in that section of that 

2 Act), and an asylee; and 

3 ‘‘(D) the term ‘United States citizen cov4 ered individual’ means an individual in the cus5 tody of the Bureau of Prisons or sentenced to 

6 a term in community confinement who has— 

7 ‘‘(i) a social security card; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a document described in para9 graph (2)(B)(ii) as proof of United States 

10 citizenship; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) a document demonstrating that 

12 the individual will have a place of residence 

13 upon release. 

14 ‘‘(2) OBTAINING IDENTIFICATION FOR UNITED

15 STATES CITIZENS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a 

17 United States citizen covered individual, the Di18 rector shall provide a photo identification card, 

19 which shall comply with the minimum require20 ments described in section 202(b) of the REAL 

21 ID Act of 2005 (49 U.S.C. 30301 note), prior 

22 to— 

23 ‘‘(i) the release of the United States 

24 citizen covered individual from a term of 

25 imprisonment in a Federal prison; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the release of the United States 

2 citizen covered individual from a sentence 

3 to a term in community confinement. 

4 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE IN OBTAINING DOCU5 MENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

7 (iii), for the purpose of issuing an identi8 fication card under this subsection, the Di9 rector shall obtain, on behalf of United 

10 States citizen covered individuals— 

11 ‘‘(I) a social security card; and 

12 ‘‘(II) a document described in 

13 clause (ii) as proof of United States 

14 citizenship. 

15 ‘‘(ii) PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITI16 ZENSHIP.—A document described in this 

17 clause is— 

18 ‘‘(I) a United States passport; 

19 ‘‘(II) an original or certified copy 

20 of a birth certificate that indicates 

21 that the individual was born in the 

22 United States or a territory of the 

23 United States; 

24 ‘‘(III) in the case of a United 

25 States citizen born inside the United 


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1 States for whom a document de2 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) is not 

3 available, any document described in 

4 subsection (a), (b), or (c) of section 

5 435.407 of title 42, Code of Federal 

6 Regulations, or any successor thereto; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(IV) in the case of a United 

9 States citizen born outside the United 

10 States, an original or certified copy 

11 of— 

12 ‘‘(aa) a certificate of natu13 ralization (Form N–550 or N– 

14 570); 

15 ‘‘(bb) a consular report of 

16 birth abroad (Form FS–240); 

17 ‘‘(cc) a certification of birth 

18 abroad (Form FS–545); 

19 ‘‘(dd) a certification of re20 port of birth (Form DS–1350); 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(ee) a certificate of citizen23 ship (Form N–560). 

24 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) LACK OF RESPONSE FROM

2 FEDERAL OR STATE AGENCY.—If the 

3 Director cannot obtain a copy of a 

4 document required under clause (i) 

5 because of inaction by the Federal or 

6 State agency from which the docu7 ment was requested, the Director 

8 shall provide to the United States cit9 izen covered individual— 

10 ‘‘(aa) a written statement 

11 that explains what steps the Di12 rector took in trying to obtain 

13 the document; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) any documents trans15 mitted to the Director by the 

16 Federal or State agency in re17 sponse to the request for the doc18 ument. 

19 ‘‘(II) LACK OF AUTHORIZATION

20 FROM UNITED STATES CITIZEN COV21 ERED INDIVIDUAL.—If the Director 

22 cannot obtain a copy of a document 

23 required under clause (i) because the 

24 United States citizen covered indi25 vidual does not provide the authorizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Nov 19, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5120.IS S5120

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1 tion required to obtain the document, 

2 the Director shall provide a written 

3 statement to the United States citizen 

4 covered individual that explains why 

5 the document was not obtained. 

6 ‘‘(C) PROVISION OF DOCUMENTS.—Upon 

7 issuance of an identification card to a covered 

8 individual under this paragraph, the Director 

9 shall provide all documents obtained for the 

10 United States citizen covered individual under 

11 subparagraph (B). 

12 ‘‘(3) OBTAINING DOCUMENTS FOR NONCITI13 ZENS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a non15 citizen covered individual, the Director shall as16 sist in obtaining from the Director of the U.S. 

17 Citizenship and Immigration Services— 

18 ‘‘(i) proof of lawful status in the 

19 United States of the noncitizen covered in20 dividual; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a noncitizen cov22 ered individual who is not admitted for 

23 lawful permanent residence, an employ24 ment authorization document. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE.—The assistance pro2 vided by the Director under subparagraph (A) 

3 shall include— 

4 ‘‘(i) providing the noncitizen covered 

5 individual with applicable U.S. Citizenship 

6 and Immigration Services forms and in7 structions; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) assisting the noncitizen covered 

9 individual in completing and submitting 

10 such forms, together with any required 

11 supporting documentation. 

12 ‘‘(C) PROVISION OF DOCUMENTS.—Upon 

13 receipt of a document for a noncitizen covered 

14 individual under this paragraph, the Director 

15 shall provide such document to the noncitizen 

16 covered individual. 

17 ‘‘(4) ASSISTANCE DEVELOPING RELEASE

18 PLAN.—At the request of a direct-release prisoner, a 

19 representative of the United States Probation Sys20 tem shall, prior to the release of that prisoner, help 

21 that prisoner develop a release plan.’’. 

Æ 


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