I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1045 

To provide for improvements in the treatment of detainees, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. OMAR, 

Ms. MOORE, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GONZALEZ of 

Texas, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for improvements in the treatment of detainees, 

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 ‘‘Immigrant Detainee 

5 Legal Rights Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF LEGAL ACCESS PROGRAMS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF LEGAL ACCESS

8 PROGRAMS.—The Attorney General shall establish and 


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1 maintain, within the Executive Office for Immigration Re2 view, an Office of Legal Access Programs to develop and 

3 administer a system of legal orientation programs to make 

4 immigration proceedings more efficient and cost-effective 

5 by educating aliens regarding administrative procedures 

6 and legal rights under United States immigration law and 

7 to establish other programs to assist in providing aliens 

8 access to legal information. The Attorney General shall 

9 submit a plan to Congress not later than 180 days after 

10 the enactment of this Act including a schedule to develop 

11 and deploy legal orientation programs for all detainees not 

12 later than 1 year after the enactment of this Act. The 

13 Attorney General shall seek input from nongovernmental 

14 organizations and stakeholders in developing this plan. 

15 (b) LEGAL ORIENTATION PROGRAMS.—The legal ori16 entation programs— 

17 (1) shall provide programs to assist detained 

18 aliens in making informed and timely decisions re19 garding their removal and eligibility for relief from 

20 removal in order to increase efficiency and reduce 

21 costs in immigration proceedings and Federal cus22 tody processes and to improve access to counsel and 

23 other legal services; 

24 (2) shall ensure that programs and written no25 tice of rights are available in English and the five 


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1 most common native languages spoken by the de2 tainees held in custody at that location during the 

3 preceding fiscal year; 

4 (3) shall identify unaccompanied alien children, 

5 aliens with a serious mental disability, and other 

6 particularly vulnerable aliens for consideration by 

7 the Attorney General pursuant to section 292(c) of 

8 the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by 

9 section 3502(c); and 

10 (4) may provide services to detained aliens in 

11 immigration proceedings under sections 235, 238, 

12 240, and 241(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nation13 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225, 1228, 1229a, and 

14 1231(a)(5)) and to other aliens in immigration and 

15 asylum proceedings under sections 235, 238, and 

16 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

17 U.S.C. 1225, 1228, and 1229a). 

18 (c) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary of Homeland Se19 curity, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall es20 tablish procedures that ensure that legal orientation pro21 grams are available for all detained aliens within 5 days 

22 of arrival into custody and to inform such aliens of the 

23 basic procedures of immigration hearings, their rights re24 lating to those hearings under the immigration laws, infor25 mation that may deter such aliens from filing frivolous 


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1 legal claims, and any other information deemed appro2 priate by the Attorney General, such as a contact list of 

3 potential legal resources and providers. 

4 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub5 section shall be construed to create any substantive or pro6 cedural right or benefit that is legally enforceable by any 

7 party against the United States or its agencies or officers 

8 or any other person. 

9 (e) FUNDING.—There shall be appropriated such 

10 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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