I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 858 

To require the Attorney General to make grants to nonprofit organizations 

to offer legal assistance to certain aliens lawfully admitted for permanent 

residence, DACA recipients, and refugees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. CORREA (for himself, Ms. HANABUSA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, 

Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 

LEE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. 

NADLER, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. MAXINE

WATERS of California, Mrs. TORRES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. BRENDAN

F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. LOFGREN, 

Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. BROWN

of Maryland, Mr. SOTO, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Ms. 

BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. VELA, Mr. DESAULNIER, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 

O’ROURKE, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Attorney General to make grants to nonprofit 

organizations to offer legal assistance to certain aliens 

lawfully admitted for permanent residence, DACA recipients, and refugees, and for other purposes. 


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•HR 858 IH

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 ‘‘DREAMers, Immi5 grants, and Refugees (DIRe) Legal Aid Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

9 shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, make 

10 grants to nonprofit legal services providers with immigra11 tion law expertise to provide legal services and advice with 

12 respect to the immigration laws (and any executive branch 

13 orders, regulations, rules, memoranda, or other guidance 

14 under such laws) to aliens who— 

15 (1) are present in the United States; 

16 (2) are described in subsection (b); and 

17 (3) have been ordered removed, are in removal 

18 proceedings, or are at risk of being denied entry or 

19 admission into the United States. 

20 (b) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien is described in 

21 this subsection if— 

22 (1) the alien is lawfully admitted to the United 

23 States for permanent residence; 

24 (2) the alien received a grant of deferred action 

25 under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 


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1 program established pursuant to the memorandum 

2 of the Secretary of Homeland Security dated June 

3 15, 2012; or 

4 (3) the alien, or the alien’s spouse or parent, 

5 has been admitted, or has been determined to be 

6 qualified for admission, as a refugee. 

7 (c) DISSEMINATION OF CONTACT INFORMATION.— 

8 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide aliens 

9 described in subsection (a) with the contact information 

10 for providers receiving funds under this section and shall 

11 afford aliens in detention an opportunity to speak in per12 son or by telephone to, and arrange representation by, 

13 such a provider. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to carry out 

16 this section. 

17 SEC. 3. STUDY ON DISPARITIES IN OUTCOMES FOR ALIENS 

18 IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS BASED ON HAV19 ING LEGAL REPRESENTATION. 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, act22 ing through the Under Secretary for Science and Tech23 nology, shall carry out a study on the relative outcomes 

24 for individuals in removal proceedings who have legal rep25 resentation as compared to individuals who lack legal repVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Feb 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H858.IH H858

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1 resentation and shall submit to the Congress recommenda2 tions for correcting any disparities in outcomes found 

3 through such study. 

Æ 


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