II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5389 

To require the Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to 

develop and disseminate guidance for handling the personal property 

of individuals who are under arrest, restrained, or confined by U.S. 

Customs and Border Protection, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection to develop and disseminate guidance for handling the personal property of individuals who are under 

arrest, restrained, or confined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 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 ‘‘CBP Guidance on Per5 sonal Belongings Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION GUID2 ANCE FOR HANDLING PERSONAL PROPERTY. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means— 

7 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

8 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

9 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 of the House of Representatives. 

11 (2) CBP.—The term ‘‘CBP’’ means U.S. Cus12 toms and Border Protection. 

13 (3) ESSENTIAL MEDICAL PROPERTY.—The term 

14 ‘‘essential medical property’’ means any medical 

15 item that has been validated by a qualified medical 

16 professional as being— 

17 (A) in working order; 

18 (B) medically necessary; and 

19 (C)(i) prescription eyewear, including 

20 glasses and contacts; 

21 (ii) a prosthetic device or durable medical 

22 equipment; or 

23 (iii) dentures (whether full or partial) or 

24 an orthodontic device. 

25 (4) PERSONAL PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘per26 sonal property’’ means the belongings (not including 


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1 contraband) found on or carried by an individual 

2 who is under arrest, restrained, or confined by CBP. 

3 (b) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner for 

5 CBP shall— 

6 (1) develop guidance for the handling of the 

7 personal property of individuals who are under ar8 rest, restrained, or confined by CBP; and 

9 (2) disseminate such guidance to— 

10 (A) the appropriate congressional commit11 tees; and 

12 (B) all CBP personnel who come into con13 tact with individuals referred to in paragraph 

14 (1). 

15 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The Commissioner 

16 for CBP shall consult with nongovernmental organizations 

17 and the Immigration Detention Ombudsman of the De18 partment of Homeland Security to inform the development 

19 and dissemination of the guidance under subsection (b). 

20 (d) CONTENTS.—The guidance developed under sub21 section (b) shall— 

22 (1) allow individuals to keep as much of their 

23 personal property as CBP’s physical capacity, safety 

24 considerations, transportation limitations, and per25 sonnel availability permit; 


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1 (2) ensure that CBP, to the greatest extent 

2 operationally feasible, returns all personal property 

3 stored by CBP on behalf of an individual who is 

4 under arrest, restrained, or confined by CBP di5 rectly to such individual immediately upon release 

6 from CBP custody; 

7 (3) describe the types of personal property con8 sidered essential that shall remain in an individual 

9 detainee’s possession (or be otherwise stored by CBP 

10 in accordance with paragraph (4)) to the greatest 

11 extent operationally feasible, including, at a min12 imum— 

13 (A) religious articles; 

14 (B) personal contact information of family 

15 members and loved ones; and 

16 (C) essential medical property that does 

17 not pose a threat or hazard to CBP personnel, 

18 detainees, or other personnel inside a CBP fa19 cility; 

20 (4) describe the types of essential personal 

21 property that CBP is required to store if it does not 

22 pose a threat or hazard to CBP personnel, detain23 ees, or other personnel inside a CBP facility, includ24 ing, at a minimum— 


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1 (A) legal and identification documents that 

2 are not determined to be fraudulent or counter3 feit; 

4 (B) cell phones and electronic devices; 

5 (C) health-related documents; and 

6 (D) currency; 

7 (5) describe the reasons and circumstances 

8 under which the amount of property described in 

9 paragraph (4) could be restricted; 

10 (6) include specific procedures for managing es11 sential personal property described in paragraphs 

12 (3) and (4), which shall— 

13 (A) comply with Federal law and all appli14 cable CBP policies; and 

15 (B) require that individuals who are ar16 rested, restrained, or confined by CBP are pro17 vided a written receipt of any stored personal 

18 property; 

19 (7) describe the circumstances which would ne20 cessitate discarding the personal property of an indi21 vidual who is arrested, restrained, or confined by 

22 CBP, including the circumstances under which col23 lecting, transporting or storing such property would 

24 not be operationally feasible; 


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1 (8) describe the circumstances under which the 

2 personal property of an individual who has been ar3 rested, restrained, or confined by CBP may be con4 sidered a hazard or threat; 

5 (9) include a protocol for CBP personnel to 

6 manage the transfer of personal property when an 

7 individual who has been arrested, restrained, or con8 fined by CBP is transferred into the custody of an9 other agency; 

10 (10) include a protocol for providing written in11 structions to each individual released from CBP cus12 tody that explain how such individual may retrieve 

13 any personal property remaining in CBP facilities; 

14 (11) include a protocol for handling medical 

15 property that directs CBP personnel to ensure de16 tainees’ medications remain available to such detain17 ees unless— 

18 (A) a specific safety concern is identified; 

19 or 

20 (B) a non-United States prescribed medi21 cation has been replaced with a United States 

22 equivalent medication; and 

23 (12) describe the mechanism for monitoring the 

24 compliance of CBP personnel with the guidance de25 scribed in this subsection. 


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1 (e) MONITORING.—At the time of the dissemination 

2 of the guidance developed under subsection (b), the Com3 missioner for CBP shall implement the mechanism re4 ferred to in subsection (d)(12) to monitor the extent to 

5 which CBP personnel comply with such guidance. 

6 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

7 on which the guidance developed under subsection (b) is 

8 disseminated, and annually thereafter for the following 5 

9 years, the Commissioner for CBP shall submit a report 

10 to the appropriate congressional committees and to the 

11 Comptroller General of the United States that— 

12 (1) describes the development and implementa13 tion of such guidance; and 

14 (2) includes information regarding the dis15 carded essential personal property of individuals who 

16 were arrested, restrained, or confined by CBP dur17 ing the reporting period, including— 

18 (A) the number of times, and an identifica19 tion of the locations at which, CBP officers dis20 carded essential personal property, including 

21 such property disposed of outside of CBP facili22 ties; 

23 (B) the reasons for discarding such prop24 erty; and 


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1 (C) the efforts of CBP to reduce such in2 stances. 

3 (g) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND RE4 PORT.—Not later than 1 year after receipt of each report 

5 required under subsection (f), the Comptroller General of 

6 the United States shall— 

7 (1) conduct a review of the guidance developed 

8 by the Commissioner for CBP; and 

9 (2) submit to the appropriate congressional 

10 committees a report that includes the results of such 

11 review, including— 

12 (A) the effectiveness with which such guid13 ance was implemented; 

14 (B) the effects of such guidance on CBP 

15 operations; and 

16 (C) the level of compliance of CBP per17 sonnel with such guidance. 

Æ 


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