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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5389 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``CBP Guidance on Personal Belongings 
Act''.

SEC. 2. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION GUIDANCE FOR HANDLING 
              PERSONAL PROPERTY.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
                of Representatives.
            (2) CBP.--The term ``CBP'' means U.S. Customs and Border 
        Protection.
            (3) Essential medical property.--The term ``essential 
        medical property'' means any medical item that has been 
        validated by a qualified medical professional as being--
                    (A) in working order;
                    (B) medically necessary; and
                    (C)(i) prescription eyewear, including glasses and 
                contacts;
                    (ii) a prosthetic device or durable medical 
                equipment; or
                    (iii) dentures (whether full or partial) or an 
                orthodontic device.
            (4) Personal property.--The term ``personal property'' 
        means the belongings (not including contraband) found on or 
        carried by an individual who is under arrest, restrained, or 
        confined by CBP.
    (b) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner for CBP shall--
            (1) develop guidance for the handling of the personal 
        property of individuals who are under arrest, restrained, or 
        confined by CBP; and
            (2) disseminate such guidance to--
                    (A) the appropriate congressional committees; and
                    (B) all CBP personnel who come into contact with 
                individuals referred to in paragraph (1).
    (c) Consultation Required.--The Commissioner for CBP shall consult 
with nongovernmental organizations and the Immigration Detention 
Ombudsman of the Department of Homeland Security to inform the 
development and dissemination of the guidance under subsection (b).
    (d) Contents.--The guidance developed under subsection (b) shall--
            (1) allow individuals to keep as much of their personal 
        property as CBP's physical capacity, safety considerations, 
        transportation limitations, and personnel availability permit;
            (2) ensure that CBP, to the greatest extent operationally 
        feasible, returns all personal property stored by CBP on behalf 
        of an individual who is under arrest, restrained, or confined 
        by CBP directly to such individual immediately upon release 
        from CBP custody;
            (3) describe the types of personal property considered 
        essential that shall remain in an individual detainee's 
        possession (or be otherwise stored by CBP in accordance with 
        paragraph (4)) to the greatest extent operationally feasible, 
        including, at a minimum--
                    (A) religious articles;
                    (B) personal contact information of family members 
                and loved ones; and
                    (C) essential medical property that does not pose a 
                threat or hazard to CBP personnel, detainees, or other 
                personnel inside a CBP facility;
            (4) describe the types of essential personal property that 
        CBP is required to store if it does not pose a threat or hazard 
        to CBP personnel, detainees, or other personnel inside a CBP 
        facility, including, at a minimum--
                    (A) legal and identification documents that are not 
                determined to be fraudulent or counterfeit;
                    (B) cell phones and electronic devices;
                    (C) health-related documents; and
                    (D) currency;
            (5) describe the reasons and circumstances under which the 
        amount of property described in paragraph (4) could be 
        restricted;
            (6) include specific procedures for managing essential 
        personal property described in paragraphs (3) and (4), which 
        shall--
                    (A) comply with Federal law and all applicable CBP 
                policies; and
                    (B) require that individuals who are arrested, 
                restrained, or confined by CBP are provided a written 
                receipt of any stored personal property;
            (7) describe the circumstances which would necessitate 
        discarding the personal property of an individual who is 
        arrested, restrained, or confined by CBP, including the 
        circumstances under which collecting, transporting or storing 
        such property would not be operationally feasible;
            (8) describe the circumstances under which the personal 
        property of an individual who has been arrested, restrained, or 
        confined by CBP may be considered a hazard or threat;
            (9) include a protocol for CBP personnel to manage the 
        transfer of personal property when an individual who has been 
        arrested, restrained, or confined by CBP is transferred into 
        the custody of another agency;
            (10) include a protocol for providing written instructions 
        to each individual released from CBP custody that explain how 
        such individual may retrieve any personal property remaining in 
        CBP facilities;
            (11) include a protocol for handling medical property that 
        directs CBP personnel to ensure detainees' medications remain 
        available to such detainees unless--
                    (A) a specific safety concern is identified; or
                    (B) a non-United States prescribed medication has 
                been replaced with a United States equivalent 
                medication; and
            (12) describe the mechanism for monitoring the compliance 
        of CBP personnel with the guidance described in this 
        subsection.
    (e) Monitoring.--At the time of the dissemination of the guidance 
developed under subsection (b), the Commissioner for CBP shall 
implement the mechanism referred to in subsection (d)(12) to monitor 
the extent to which CBP personnel comply with such guidance.
    (f) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which the 
guidance developed under subsection (b) is disseminated, and annually 
thereafter for the following 5 years, the Commissioner for CBP shall 
submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees and to the 
Comptroller General of the United States that--
            (1) describes the development and implementation of such 
        guidance; and
            (2) includes information regarding the discarded essential 
        personal property of individuals who were arrested, restrained, 
        or confined by CBP during the reporting period, including--
                    (A) the number of times, and an identification of 
                the locations at which, CBP officers discarded 
                essential personal property, including such property 
                disposed of outside of CBP facilities;
                    (B) the reasons for discarding such property; and
                    (C) the efforts of CBP to reduce such instances.
    (g) Comptroller General Review and Report.--Not later than 1 year 
after receipt of each report required under subsection (f), the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            (1) conduct a review of the guidance developed by the 
        Commissioner for CBP; and
            (2) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report that includes the results of such review, including--
                    (A) the effectiveness with which such guidance was 
                implemented;
                    (B) the effects of such guidance on CBP operations; 
                and
                    (C) the level of compliance of CBP personnel with 
                such guidance.
                                 <all>
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