I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1901 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for extensions 

of detention of certain aliens ordered removed, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2013 

Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself and Mr. GOWDY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

for extensions of detention of certain aliens ordered removed, 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 ‘‘Keep Our Commu5 nities Safe Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DETENTION OF DANGEROUS ALIENS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 241(a) of the Immigra8 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking out ‘‘Attorney General’’ each 

10 place it appears, except for the first reference in 


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1 subsection (a)(4)(B)(i), and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (1), by amending subpara4 graph (B) to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(B) BEGINNING OF PERIOD.—The re6 moval period begins on the latest of the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(i) The date the order of removal be9 comes administratively final. 

10 ‘‘(ii) If the alien is not in the custody 

11 of the Secretary on the date the order of 

12 removal becomes administratively final, the 

13 date the alien is taken into such custody. 

14 ‘‘(iii) If the alien is detained or con15 fined (except under an immigration proc16 ess) on the date the order of removal be17 comes administratively final, the date the 

18 alien is taken into the custody of the Sec19 retary, after the alien is released from such 

20 detention or confinement.’’; 

21 (3) in paragraph (1), by amending subpara22 graph (C) to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(C) SUSPENSION OF PERIOD.— 

24 ‘‘(i) EXTENSION.—The removal period 

25 shall be extended beyond a period of 90 


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1 days and the Secretary may, in the Sec2 retary’s sole discretion, keep the alien in 

3 detention during such extended period if— 

4 ‘‘(I) the alien fails or refuses to 

5 make all reasonable efforts to comply 

6 with the removal order, or to fully co7 operate with the Secretary’s efforts to 

8 establish the alien’s identity and carry 

9 out the removal order, including mak10 ing timely application in good faith 

11 for travel or other documents nec12 essary to the alien’s departure or con13 spires or acts to prevent the alien’s 

14 removal that is subject to an order of 

15 removal; 

16 ‘‘(II) a court, the Board of Immi17 gration Appeals, or an immigration 

18 judge orders a stay of removal of an 

19 alien who is subject to an administra20 tively final order of removal; 

21 ‘‘(III) the Secretary transfers 

22 custody of the alien pursuant to law 

23 to another Federal agency or a State 

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1 tion with the official duties of such 

2 agency; or 

3 ‘‘(IV) a court or the Board of 

4 Immigration Appeals orders a remand 

5 to an immigration judge or the Board 

6 of Immigration Appeals, during the 

7 time period when the case is pending 

8 a decision on remand (with the re9 moval period beginning anew on the 

10 date that the alien is ordered removed 

11 on remand). 

12 ‘‘(ii) RENEWAL.—If the removal pe13 riod has been extended under clause (C)(i), 

14 a new removal period shall be deemed to 

15 have begun on the date— 

16 ‘‘(I) the alien makes all reason17 able efforts to comply with the re18 moval order, or to fully cooperate with 

19 the Secretary’s efforts to establish the 

20 alien’s identity and carry out the re21 moval order; 

22 ‘‘(II) the stay of removal is no 

23 longer in effect; or 

24 ‘‘(III) the alien is returned to the 

25 custody of the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY DETENTION FOR

2 CERTAIN ALIENS.—In the case of an alien 

3 described in subparagraphs (A) through 

4 (D) of section 236(c)(1), the Secretary 

5 shall keep that alien in detention during 

6 the extended period described in clause (i). 

7 ‘‘(iv) SOLE FORM OF RELIEF.—An 

8 alien may seek relief from detention under 

9 this subparagraph only by filing an appli10 cation for a writ of habeas corpus in ac11 cordance with chapter 153 of title 28, 

12 United States Code. No alien whose period 

13 of detention is extended under this sub14 paragraph shall have the right to seek re15 lease on bond.’’; 

16 (4) in paragraph (3)— 

17 (A) by adding after ‘‘If the alien does not 

18 leave or is not removed within the removal pe19 riod’’ the following: ‘‘or is not detained pursu20 ant to paragraph (6) of this subsection’’; and 

21 (B) by striking subparagraph (D) and in22 serting the following: 

23 ‘‘(D) to obey reasonable restrictions on the 

24 alien’s conduct or activities that the Secretary 

25 prescribes for the alien, in order to prevent the 


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1 alien from absconding, for the protection of the 

2 community, or for other purposes related to the 

3 enforcement of the immigration laws.’’; 

4 (5) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

5 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

6 (6) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL RULES FOR DETENTION OR

9 RELEASE OF CERTAIN ALIENS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) DETENTION REVIEW PROCESS FOR

11 COOPERATIVE ALIENS ESTABLISHED.—For an 

12 alien who is not otherwise subject to mandatory 

13 detention, who has made all reasonable efforts 

14 to comply with a removal order and to cooper15 ate fully with the Secretary of Homeland Secu16 rity’s efforts to establish the alien’s identity and 

17 carry out the removal order, including making 

18 timely application in good faith for travel or 

19 other documents necessary to the alien’s depar20 ture, and who has not conspired or acted to 

21 prevent removal, the Secretary shall establish 

22 an administrative review process to determine 

23 whether the alien should be detained or released 

24 on conditions. The Secretary shall make a de25 termination whether to release an alien after 


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1 the removal period in accordance with subpara2 graph (B). The determination shall include con3 sideration of any evidence submitted by the 

4 alien, and may include consideration of any 

5 other evidence, including any information or as6 sistance provided by the Secretary of State or 

7 other Federal official and any other information 

8 available to the Secretary of Homeland Security 

9 pertaining to the ability to remove the alien. 

10 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY TO DETAIN BEYOND RE11 MOVAL PERIOD.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

13 Homeland Security, in the exercise of the 

14 Secretary’s sole discretion, may continue to 

15 detain an alien for 90 days beyond the re16 moval period (including any extension of 

17 the removal period as provided in para18 graph (1)(C)). An alien whose detention is 

19 extended under this subparagraph shall 

20 have no right to seek release on bond. 

21 ‘‘(ii) SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 

22 Secretary of Homeland Security, in the ex23 ercise of the Secretary’s sole discretion, 

24 may continue to detain an alien beyond the 

25 90 days authorized in clause (i)— 


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1 ‘‘(I) until the alien is removed, if 

2 the Secretary, in the Secretary’s sole 

3 discretion, determines that there is a 

4 significant likelihood that the alien— 

5 ‘‘(aa) will be removed in the 

6 reasonably foreseeable future; or 

7 ‘‘(bb) would be removed in 

8 the reasonably foreseeable future, 

9 or would have been removed, but 

10 for the alien’s failure or refusal 

11 to make all reasonable efforts to 

12 comply with the removal order, 

13 or to cooperate fully with the 

14 Secretary’s efforts to establish 

15 the alien’s identity and carry out 

16 the removal order, including 

17 making timely application in 

18 good faith for travel or other doc19 uments necessary to the alien’s 

20 departure, or conspires or acts to 

21 prevent removal; 

22 ‘‘(II) until the alien is removed, 

23 if the Secretary of Homeland Security 

24 certifies in writing— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) in consultation with 

2 the Secretary of Health and 

3 Human Services, that the alien 

4 has a highly contagious disease 

5 that poses a threat to public safe6 ty; 

7 ‘‘(bb) after receipt of a writ8 ten recommendation from the 

9 Secretary of State, that release 

10 of the alien is likely to have seri11 ous adverse foreign policy con12 sequences for the United States; 

13 ‘‘(cc) based on information 

14 available to the Secretary of 

15 Homeland Security (including 

16 classified, sensitive, or national 

17 security information, and without 

18 regard to the grounds upon 

19 which the alien was ordered re20 moved), that there is reason to 

21 believe that the release of the 

22 alien would threaten the national 

23 security of the United States; or 

24 ‘‘(dd) that the release of the 

25 alien will threaten the safety of 


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1 the community or any person, 

2 conditions of release cannot rea3 sonably be expected to ensure the 

4 safety of the community or any 

5 person, and either (AA) the alien 

6 has been convicted of one or 

7 more aggravated felonies (as de8 fined in section 101(a)(43)(A)) 

9 or of one or more crimes identi10 fied by the Secretary of Home11 land Security by regulation, or of 

12 one or more attempts or conspir13 acies to commit any such aggra14 vated felonies or such identified 

15 crimes, if the aggregate term of 

16 imprisonment for such attempts 

17 or conspiracies is at least 5 

18 years; or (BB) the alien has com19 mitted one or more crimes of vio20 lence (as defined in section 16 of 

21 title 18, United States Code, but 

22 not including a purely political 

23 offense) and, because of a mental 

24 condition or personality disorder 

25 and behavior associated with that 


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1 condition or disorder, the alien is 

2 likely to engage in acts of vio3 lence in the future; or 

4 ‘‘(III) pending a certification 

5 under subclause (II), so long as the 

6 Secretary of Homeland Security has 

7 initiated the administrative review 

8 process not later than 30 days after 

9 the expiration of the removal period 

10 (including any extension of the re11 moval period, as provided in para12 graph (1)(C)). 

13 ‘‘(iii) NO RIGHT TO BOND HEARING.— 

14 An alien whose detention is extended under 

15 this subparagraph shall have no right to 

16 seek release on bond, including by reason 

17 of a certification under clause (ii)(II). 

18 ‘‘(C) RENEWAL AND DELEGATION OF CER19 TIFICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(i) RENEWAL.—The Secretary of 

21 Homeland Security may renew a certifi22 cation under subparagraph (B)(ii)(II) 

23 every 6 months, after providing an oppor24 tunity for the alien to request reconsider25 ation of the certification and to submit 


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1 documents or other evidence in support of 

2 that request. If the Secretary does not 

3 renew a certification, the Secretary may 

4 not continue to detain the alien under sub5 paragraph (B)(ii)(II). 

6 ‘‘(ii) DELEGATION.—Notwithstanding 

7 section 103, the Secretary of Homeland 

8 Security may not delegate the authority to 

9 make or renew a certification described in 

10 item (bb), (cc), or (dd) of subparagraph 

11 (B)(ii)(II) below the level of the Assistant 

12 Secretary for Immigration and Customs 

13 Enforcement. 

14 ‘‘(iii) HEARING.—The Secretary of 

15 Homeland Security may request that the 

16 Attorney General or the Attorney General’s 

17 designee provide for a hearing to make the 

18 determination described in item (dd)(BB) 

19 of subparagraph (B)(ii)(II). 

20 ‘‘(D) RELEASE ON CONDITIONS.—If it is 

21 determined that an alien should be released 

22 from detention by a Federal court, the Board of 

23 Immigration Appeals, or if an immigration 

24 judge orders a stay of removal, the Secretary of 

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1 retary’s discretion, may impose conditions on 

2 release as provided in paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(E) REDETENTION.—The Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security, in the exercise of the Sec5 retary’s discretion, without any limitations 

6 other than those specified in this section, may 

7 again detain any alien subject to a final re8 moval order who is released from custody, if re9 moval becomes likely in the reasonably foresee10 able future, the alien fails to comply with the 

11 conditions of release, or to continue to satisfy 

12 the conditions described in subparagraph (A), 

13 or if, upon reconsideration, the Secretary, in 

14 the Secretary’s sole discretion, determines that 

15 the alien can be detained under subparagraph 

16 (B). This section shall apply to any alien re17 turned to custody pursuant to this subpara18 graph, as if the removal period terminated on 

19 the day of the redetention. 

20 ‘‘(F) REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS BY

21 SECRETARY.—A determination by the Secretary 

22 under this paragraph shall not be subject to re23 view by any other agency.’’. 

24 (b) DETENTION OF ALIENS DURING REMOVAL PRO25 CEEDINGS.— 


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1 (1) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—(A) Section 236 

2 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1226) is amended by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ 

4 each place it appears (except in the second place 

5 that term appears in section 236(a)) and inserting 

6 ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’. 

7 (B) Section 236(a) of the Immigration and Na8 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226(a)) is amended by in9 serting ‘‘the Secretary of Homeland Security or’’ be10 fore ‘‘the Attorney General—’’. 

11 (C) Section 236(e) of the Immigration and Na12 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226(e)) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘Attorney General’s’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec14 retary of Homeland Security’s’’. 

15 (2) LENGTH OF DETENTION.—Section 236 of 

16 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

17 1226) is amended by adding at the end the following 

18 subsection: 

19 ‘‘(f) LENGTH OF DETENTION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

21 this section, an alien may be detained under this 

22 section for any period, without limitation, except as 

23 provided in subsection (h), until the alien is subject 

24 to a final order of removal. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The length of detention under this section 

2 shall not affect detention under section 241 of this 

3 Act.’’. 

4 (3) DETENTION OF CRIMINAL ALIENS.—Section 

5 236(c)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

6 U.S.C. 1226(c)(1)) is amended, in the matter fol7 lowing subparagraph (D) to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘any time after the alien is released, without regard 

9 to whether an alien is released related to any activ10 ity, offense, or conviction described in this para11 graph; to whether the alien is released on parole, su12 pervised release, or probation; or to whether the 

13 alien may be arrested or imprisoned again for the 

14 same offense. If the activity described in this para15 graph does not result in the alien being taken into 

16 custody by any person other than the Secretary, 

17 then when the alien is brought to the attention of 

18 the Secretary or when the Secretary determines it is 

19 practical to take such alien into custody, the Sec20 retary shall take such alien into custody.’’. 

21 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—Section 236 of 

22 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

23 1226) is amended by adding at the end the following 

24 subsection: 

25 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) The Attorney General’s review of the Sec2 retary’s custody determinations under section 236(a) 

3 shall be limited to whether the alien may be de4 tained, released on bond (of at least $1,500 with se5 curity approved by the Secretary), or released with 

6 no bond. 

7 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General’s review of the Sec8 retary’s custody determinations for the following 

9 classes of aliens: 

10 ‘‘(A) Aliens in exclusion proceedings. 

11 ‘‘(B) Aliens described in sections 212(a)(3) 

12 and 237(a)(4). 

13 ‘‘(C) Aliens described in section 236(c). 

14 ‘‘(D) Aliens in deportation proceedings 

15 subject to section 242(a)(2) of the Act (as in 

16 effect prior to April 1, 1997, and as amended 

17 by section 440(c) of Public Law 104–132); is 

18 limited to a determination of whether the alien 

19 is properly included in such category. 

20 ‘‘(h) RELEASE ON BOND.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An alien detained under 

22 subsection (a) may seek release on bond. No bond 

23 may be granted except to an alien who establishes 

24 by clear and convincing evidence that the alien is not 


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1 a flight risk or a risk to another person or the com2 munity. 

3 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN ALIENS INELIGIBLE.—No alien 

4 detained under subsection (c) may seek release on 

5 bond.’’. 

6 (5) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—(A) Section 

7 236(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality 

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1226(a)(2)(B)) is amended by strik9 ing out ‘‘conditional parole’’ and inserting in lieu 

10 thereof ‘‘recognizance’’. 

11 (B) Section 236(b) of the Immigration and Na12 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226(b)) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘parole’’ and inserting ‘‘recognizance’’. 

14 (c) SEVERABILITY.—If any of the provisions of this 

15 Act or any amendment by this Act, or the application of 

16 any such provision to any person or circumstance, is held 

17 to be invalid for any reason, the remainder of this Act 

18 and of amendments made by this Act, and the application 

19 of the provisions and of the amendments made by this Act 

20 to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected 

21 by such holding. 

22 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

23 (1) The amendments made by subsection (a) 

24 shall take effect upon the date of enactment of this 

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1 tionality Act, as so amended, shall in addition apply 

2 to— 

3 (A) all aliens subject to a final administra4 tive removal, deportation, or exclusion order 

5 that was issued before, on, or after the date of 

6 enactment of this Act; and 

7 (B) acts and conditions occurring or exist8 ing before, on, or after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act. 

10 (2) The amendments made by subsection (b) 

11 shall take effect upon the date of enactment of this 

12 Act, and section 236 of the Immigration and Na13 tionality Act, as so amended, shall in addition apply 

14 to any alien in detention under provisions of such 

15 section on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

17 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

18 (1) this Act should ensure that Constitutional 

19 rights are upheld and protected; and 

20 (2) it is the intention of the Congress to uphold 

21 the Constitutional principles of due process and that 

22 due process of the law is a right afforded to every23 one in the United States. 

Æ 


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