I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1573 

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 

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. 

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’’. 


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

2 PORTS OF ENTRY AND DEFERRED INSPEC3 TION. 

4 (a) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE

5 DURING INSPECTION.—Section 235 of the Immigration 

6 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

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

9 DURING INSPECTION.— 

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

11 Security shall ensure that a covered individual has 

12 a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel 

13 and an interested party during the inspection proc14 ess. 

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

16 Homeland Security shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) provide the covered individual a 

18 meaningful opportunity to consult (including 

19 consultation via telephone) with counsel and an 

20 interested party not later than one hour after 

21 the secondary inspection process commences 

22 and as necessary throughout the inspection 

23 process, including, as applicable, during de24 ferred inspection; 

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

26 to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, 


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1 including by providing to the examining immi2 gration officer information, documentation, and 

3 other evidence in support of the covered indi4 vidual; and 

5 ‘‘(C) to the greatest extent practicable, ac6 commodate a request by the covered individual 

7 for counsel or an interested party to appear in8 person at the secondary or deferred inspection 

9 site. 

10 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT

11 RESIDENTS.— 

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

13 Homeland Security may not accept Form I–407 

14 Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent 

15 Resident Status (or a successor form) from a 

16 lawful permanent resident subject to secondary 

17 or deferred inspection without providing such 

18 lawful permanent resident a meaningful oppor19 tunity to seek advice from counsel prior to the 

20 submission of the form. 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security may accept Form I–407 

23 Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent 

24 Resident Status (or a successor form) from a 

25 lawful permanent resident subject to secondary 


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1 or deferred inspection if such lawful permanent 

2 resident knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily 

3 waives, in writing, the opportunity to seek ad4 vice from counsel. 

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

6 ‘‘(A) COUNSEL.—The term ‘counsel’ 

7 means— 

8 ‘‘(i) any attorney who is a member in 

9 good standing of the bar of any State, the 

10 District of Columbia, or a territory or a 

11 possession of the United States and is not 

12 under an order suspending, enjoining, re13 straining, disbarring, or otherwise restrict14 ing the attorney in the practice of law; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) an individual accredited by the 

16 Attorney General, acting as a representa17 tive of an organization recognized by the 

18 Executive Office for Immigration Review, 

19 to represent a covered individual in immi20 gration matters. 

21 ‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

22 ‘covered individual’ means an individual subject 

23 to secondary or deferred inspection who is— 

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


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1 ‘‘(ii) an immigrant, lawfully admitted 

2 for permanent residence, who is returning 

3 from a temporary visit abroad; 

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

5 immigrant in possession of a valid unex6 pired immigrant visa; 

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

8 non-immigrant in possession of a valid un9 expired non-immigrant visa; 

10 ‘‘(v) a refugee; 

11 ‘‘(vi) a returning asylee; or 

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

13 for parole under section 212(d)(5)(A), in14 cluding an alien who is returning to the 

15 United States in possession of a valid ad16 vance parole document. 

17 ‘‘(C) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘in18 terested party’ means— 

19 ‘‘(i) a relative of the covered indi20 vidual; 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered indi22 vidual to whom an immigrant or non-immi23 grant visa has been issued, the petitioner 

24 or sponsor thereof (including an agent of 

25 such petitioner or sponsor); or 


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

2 in the United States with a bona fide con3 nection to the covered individual.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

5 subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act. 

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

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

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

10 under— 

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

12 1229a(b)(4)(A)), 

13 (2) section 292 of the Immigration and Nation14 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362), or 

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

16 final court order securing such rights, 

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

18 of this Act. 

Æ 


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