IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1573 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Counsel Act 

3 of 2021’’. 

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

5 PORTS OF ENTRY AND DURING DEFERRED 

6 INSPECTION. 

7 (a) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE

8 DURING INSPECTION.—Section 235 of the Immigration 

9 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following: 

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

12 DURING INSPECTION AT PORTS OF ENTRY AND DURING

13 DEFERRED INSPECTION.— 

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

15 Security shall ensure that a covered individual has 

16 a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel 

17 and an interested party during the inspection proc18 ess. 

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

20 Homeland Security shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) provide the covered individual a 

22 meaningful opportunity to consult (including 

23 consultation via telephone) with counsel and an 

24 interested party not later than one hour after 

25 the secondary inspection process commences 

26 and as necessary throughout the remainder of 


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1 the inspection process, including, as applicable, 

2 during deferred inspection; 

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

4 to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, 

5 including by providing to the examining immi6 gration officer information, documentation, and 

7 other evidence in support of the covered indi8 vidual; and 

9 ‘‘(C) to the greatest extent practicable, ac10 commodate a request by the covered individual 

11 for counsel or an interested party to appear in12 person at the secondary or deferred inspection 

13 site. 

14 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT

15 RESIDENTS.— 

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

17 subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Homeland 

18 Security may not accept a Form I-407 Record 

19 of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident 

20 Status (or a successor form) from a lawful per21 manent resident subject to secondary or de22 ferred inspection without first providing such 

23 lawful permanent resident a meaningful oppor24 tunity to seek advice from counsel. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security may accept Form I-407 

3 Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent 

4 Resident Status (or a successor form) from a 

5 lawful permanent resident subject to secondary 

6 or deferred inspection if such lawful permanent 

7 resident knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily 

8 waives, in writing, the opportunity to seek ad9 vice from counsel. 

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

11 ‘‘(A) COUNSEL.—The term ‘counsel’ 

12 means— 

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

14 good standing of the bar of any State, the 

15 District of Columbia, or a territory or a 

16 possession of the United States and is not 

17 under an order suspending, enjoining, re18 straining, disbarring, or otherwise restrict19 ing the attorney in the practice of law; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) an individual accredited by the 

21 Attorney General, acting as a representa22 tive of an organization recognized by the 

23 Executive Office for Immigration Review, 

24 to represent a covered individual in immi25 gration matters. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

2 ‘covered individual’ means an individual subject 

3 to secondary or deferred inspection who is— 

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

5 ‘‘(ii) an immigrant, lawfully admitted 

6 for permanent residence, who is returning 

7 from a temporary visit abroad; 

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

9 immigrant in possession of a valid unex10 pired immigrant visa; 

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

12 nonimmigrant in possession of a valid un13 expired nonimmigrant visa; 

14 ‘‘(v) a refugee; 

15 ‘‘(vi) a returning asylee; or 

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

17 for parole under section 212(d)(5)(A), in18 cluding an alien who is returning to the 

19 United States in possession of a valid ad20 vance parole document. 

21 ‘‘(C) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘in22 terested party’ means— 

23 ‘‘(i) a relative of the covered indi24 vidual; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered indi2 vidual to whom an immigrant or a non3 immigrant visa has been issued, the peti4 tioner or sponsor thereof (including an 

5 agent of such petitioner or sponsor); or 

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

7 in the United States with a bona fide con8 nection to the covered individual.’’. 

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

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

11 of the enactment of this Act. 

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

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

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

15 under— 

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

17 1229a(b)(4)(A)); 

18 (2) section 292 of the Immigration and Nation19 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362); or 

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

21 final court order securing such rights, 


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

2 of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 21, 2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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