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Union Calendar No. 8 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1573 

[Report No. 117–21] 

To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port 

of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Ms. JAYAPAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

APRIL 16, 2021 

Additional sponsors: Ms. CHU, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. 

GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. 

LEE of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

RUSH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. NADLER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. 

SWALWELL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CARSON, Mr. 

GALLEGO, Mr. CORREA, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. JACOBS of California, Mr. 

JONES, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. TORRES of New York, 

Mr. VARGAS, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LIEU, Mr. NEGUSE, and Mr. QUIGLEY


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APRIL 16, 2021 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 3, 2021] 

A BILL 

To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained 

at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen 

by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 


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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 ‘‘Access to Counsel Act 

5 of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE AT 

7 PORTS OF ENTRY AND DURING DEFERRED IN8 SPECTION. 

9 (a) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE

10 DURING INSPECTION.—Section 235 of the Immigration and 

11 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended by adding at 

12 the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE

14 DURING INSPECTION AT PORTS OF ENTRY AND DURING

15 DEFERRED INSPECTION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security shall ensure that a covered individual has a 

18 meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel and 

19 an interested party during the inspection process. 

20 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

21 Homeland Security shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) provide the covered individual a 

23 meaningful opportunity to consult (including 

24 consultation via telephone) with counsel and an 

25 interested party not later than one hour after the 


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1 secondary inspection process commences and as 

2 necessary throughout the remainder of the in3 spection process, including, as applicable, during 

4 deferred inspection; 

5 ‘‘(B) allow counsel and an interested party 

6 to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, 

7 including by providing to the examining immi8 gration officer information, documentation, and 

9 other evidence in support of the covered indi10 vidual; and 

11 ‘‘(C) to the greatest extent practicable, ac12 commodate a request by the covered individual 

13 for counsel or an interested party to appear in14 person at the secondary or deferred inspection 

15 site. 

16 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT

17 RESIDENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Homeland 

20 Security may not accept a Form I-407 Record of 

21 Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident 

22 Status (or a successor form) from a lawful per23 manent resident subject to secondary or deferred 

24 inspection without first providing such lawful 


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1 permanent resident a meaningful opportunity to 

2 seek advice from counsel. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Home4 land Security may accept Form I-407 Record of 

5 Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident 

6 Status (or a successor form) from a lawful per7 manent resident subject to secondary or deferred 

8 inspection if such lawful permanent resident 

9 knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives, 

10 in writing, the opportunity to seek advice from 

11 counsel. 

12 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(A) COUNSEL.—The term ‘counsel’ 

14 means— 

15 ‘‘(i) an attorney who is a member in 

16 good standing of the bar of any State, the 

17 District of Columbia, or a territory or a 

18 possession of the United States and is not 

19 under an order suspending, enjoining, re20 straining, disbarring, or otherwise restrict21 ing the attorney in the practice of law; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) an individual accredited by the 

23 Attorney General, acting as a representative 

24 of an organization recognized by the Execu25 tive Office for Immigration Review, to repVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1573.RH H1573

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1 resent a covered individual in immigration 

2 matters. 

3 ‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov4 ered individual’ means an individual subject to 

5 secondary or deferred inspection who is— 

6 ‘‘(i) a national of the United States; 

7 ‘‘(ii) an immigrant, lawfully admitted 

8 for permanent residence, who is returning 

9 from a temporary visit abroad; 

10 ‘‘(iii) an alien seeking admission as an 

11 immigrant in possession of a valid unex12 pired immigrant visa; 

13 ‘‘(iv) an alien seeking admission as a 

14 nonimmigrant in possession of a valid un15 expired nonimmigrant visa; 

16 ‘‘(v) a refugee; 

17 ‘‘(vi) a returning asylee; or 

18 ‘‘(vii) an alien who has been approved 

19 for parole under section 212(d)(5)(A), in20 cluding an alien who is returning to the 

21 United States in possession of a valid ad22 vance parole document. 

23 ‘‘(C) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘inter24 ested party’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a relative of the covered indi2 vidual; 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered indi4 vidual to whom an immigrant or a non5 immigrant visa has been issued, the peti6 tioner or sponsor thereof (including an 

7 agent of such petitioner or sponsor); or 

8 ‘‘(iii) a person, organization, or entity 

9 in the United States with a bona fide con10 nection to the covered individual.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub12 section (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date of the 

13 enactment of this Act. 

14 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act, or in 

15 any amendment made by this Act, may be construed to 

16 limit a right to counsel or any right to appointed counsel 

17 under— 

18 (1) section 240(b)(4)(A) (8 U.S.C. 

19 1229a(b)(4)(A)); 

20 (2) section 292 of the Immigration and Nation21 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362); or 

22 (3) any other provision of law, including any 

23 final court order securing such rights, 

24 as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 

25 this Act. 


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Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to clarify the 

rights of certain persons who are held or detained at a 

port of entry or at any facility overseen by U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 8 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1573 

[Report No. 117–21] 

A BILL 

To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or 

Enforcement. Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border detained at a port of entry or at any detention 

APRIL 16, 2021 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1573.RH H1573

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