I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1815 

To amend section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit 

immigration enforcement actions at sensitive locations, to clarify the 

powers of immigration officers at sensitive locations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BEYER, Ms. 

MOORE, Mr. CORREA, Mr. EVANS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. AL GREEN of 

Texas, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. GALLEGO, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. WELCH, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TED LIEU of California, 

and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality 

Act to limit immigration enforcement actions at sensitive 

locations, to clarify the powers of immigration officers 

at sensitive locations, 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 ‘‘Protecting Sensitive 

5 Locations Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POWERS OF IMMIGRATION OFFICERS AND EMPLOY2 EES AT SENSITIVE LOCATIONS. 

3 Section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

4 (8 U.S.C. 1357) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(i)(1) In order to ensure individuals’ access to sen7 sitive locations, this subsection shall apply to any enforce8 ment action by— 

9 ‘‘(A) officers or agents of the Department of 

10 Homeland Security, including officers and agents of 

11 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 

12 U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and 

13 ‘‘(B) any individual designated to perform im14 migration enforcement functions pursuant to sub15 section (g). 

16 ‘‘(2)(A) An enforcement action may not take place 

17 at, be focused on, or occur within, 1,000 feet of, a sensitive 

18 location, except— 

19 ‘‘(i) under exigent circumstances; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) if prior approval is obtained. 

21 ‘‘(B) If an enforcement action is taking place under 

22 exigent circumstances, and the exigent circumstances per23 mitting the enforcement action cease, the enforcement ac24 tion shall be discontinued until such exigent circumstances 

25 reemerge. 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) When proceeding with an enforcement action 

2 at or near a sensitive location, individuals referred to in 

3 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall make 

4 every effort— 

5 ‘‘(i) to conduct themselves as discreetly as pos6 sible, consistent with officer and public safety; 

7 ‘‘(ii) to limit the time spent at the sensitive lo8 cation; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) to limit the enforcement action to the per10 son or persons for whom prior approval was ob11 tained. 

12 ‘‘(B) If, in the course of an enforcement action that 

13 is not initiated at or focused on a sensitive location, indi14 viduals referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para15 graph (1) are led to or near a sensitive location, and no 

16 exigent circumstance and prior approval with respect to 

17 the sensitive location exists, such individuals shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) cease before taking any further enforce19 ment action; 

20 ‘‘(ii) conduct themselves in a discreet manner; 

21 ‘‘(iii) maintain surveillance; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) immediately consult their supervisor in 

23 order to determine whether such enforcement action 

24 should be discontinued. 


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1 ‘‘(C) This section shall not apply to the transpor2 tation of an individual apprehended at or near a land or 

3 sea border to a hospital or healthcare provider for the pur4 pose of providing such individual medical care. 

5 ‘‘(4) If an enforcement action is carried out in viola6 tion of this subsection— 

7 ‘‘(A) no information resulting from the enforce8 ment action may be entered into the record or re9 ceived into evidence in a removal proceeding result10 ing from the enforcement action; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the alien who is the subject of such re12 moval proceeding may file a motion for the imme13 diate termination of the removal proceeding. 

14 ‘‘(5)(A) Each official specified in subparagraph (B) 

15 shall ensure that the employees under the supervision of 

16 such official receive annual training in compliance with the 

17 requirements of this subsection and section 239 of this 

18 Act and section 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform 

19 and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 

20 1367). 

21 ‘‘(B) The officials specified in this subparagraph are 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) The Chief Counsel of U.S. Immigration 

24 and Customs Enforcement. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The Field Office Directors of U.S. Immi2 gration and Customs Enforcement. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Each Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Im4 migration and Customs Enforcement. 

5 ‘‘(iv) Each Chief Patrol Agent of U.S. Customs 

6 and Border Protection. 

7 ‘‘(v) The Director of Field Operations of U.S. 

8 Customs and Border Protection. 

9 ‘‘(vi) The Director of Air and Marine Oper10 ations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

11 ‘‘(vii) The Internal Affairs Special Agent in 

12 Charge of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

13 ‘‘(6)(A) The Director of U.S. Immigration and Cus14 toms Enforcement and the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

15 and Border Protection shall each submit to the appro16 priate committees of Congress each year a report on the 

17 enforcement actions undertaken by U.S. Immigration and 

18 Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Pro19 tection, respectively, during the preceding year that were 

20 covered by this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(B) Each report on an agency for a year under this 

22 paragraph shall set forth the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) The number of enforcement actions at or 

24 focused on a sensitive location. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The number of enforcement actions where 

2 officers or agents were subsequently led to or near 

3 a sensitive location. 

4 ‘‘(iii) The date, site, State, and local political 

5 subdivision (such as city, town, or county) in which 

6 each enforcement action covered by clause (i) or (ii) 

7 occurred. 

8 ‘‘(iv) The component of the agency responsible 

9 for each such enforcement action. 

10 ‘‘(v) A description of the intended target of 

11 each such enforcement action. 

12 ‘‘(vi) The number of individuals, if any, ar13 rested or taken into custody through each such en14 forcement action. 

15 ‘‘(vii) The number of collateral arrests, if any, 

16 from each such enforcement action and the reasons 

17 for each such arrest. 

18 ‘‘(viii) A certification of whether the location 

19 administrator was contacted prior to, during, or 

20 after each such enforcement action. 

21 ‘‘(7) In this subsection: 

22 ‘‘(A) The term ‘appropriate committees of Con23 gress’ means— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Homeland Security 

25 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

2 Senate; 

3 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Homeland Security 

4 of the House of Representatives; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on the Judiciary of 

6 the House of Representatives; 

7 ‘‘(v) the Committee on Appropriations of 

8 the House of Representatives; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Appropriations of 

10 the Senate. 

11 ‘‘(B) The term ‘enforcement action’ means an 

12 arrest, interview, search, or surveillance for the pur13 poses of immigration enforcement, and includes an 

14 enforcement action at, or focused on, a sensitive lo15 cation that is part of a joint case led by another law 

16 enforcement agency. 

17 ‘‘(C) The term ‘exigent circumstances’ means a 

18 situation involving the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) The imminent risk of death, violence, 

20 or physical harm to any person, including a sit21 uation implicating terrorism or the national se22 curity of the United States in some other man23 ner. 

24 ‘‘(ii) The immediate arrest or pursuit of a 

25 dangerous felon, terrorist suspect, or other indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Apr 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1815.IH H1815

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1 vidual presenting an imminent danger or public 

2 safety risk. 

3 ‘‘(iii) The imminent risk of destruction of 

4 evidence that is material to an ongoing criminal 

5 case. 

6 ‘‘(D) The term ‘prior approval’ means the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(i) In the case of officers and agents of 

9 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 

10 prior written approval for a specific, targeted 

11 operation from one of the following officials: 

12 ‘‘(I) The Assistant Director of Oper13 ations, Homeland Security Investigations. 

14 ‘‘(II) The Executive Associate Direc15 tor of Homeland Security Investigations. 

16 ‘‘(III) The Assistant Director for 

17 Field Operations, Enforcement, and Re18 moval Operations. 

19 ‘‘(IV) The Executive Associate Direc20 tor for Field Operations, Enforcement, and 

21 Removal Operations. 

22 ‘‘(ii) In the case of officers and agents of 

23 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, prior 

24 written approval for a specific, targeted oper25 ation from one of the following officials: 


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1 ‘‘(I) A Chief Patrol Agent. 

2 ‘‘(II) The Director of Field Oper3 ations. 

4 ‘‘(III) The Director of Air and Marine 

5 Operations 

6 ‘‘(IV) The Internal Affairs Special 

7 Agent in Charge. 

8 ‘‘(E) The term ‘sensitive location’ includes all of 

9 the physical space located within 1,000 feet of the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(i) Any medical treatment or health care 

12 facility, including any hospital, doctor’s office, 

13 accredited health clinic, or emergent or urgent 

14 care facility, or community health center. 

15 ‘‘(ii) Public and private schools (including 

16 pre-schools, primary schools, secondary schools, 

17 postsecondary schools (including colleges and 

18 universities), and other institutions of learning 

19 such as vocational or trade schools). 

20 ‘‘(iii) Any scholastic or education-related 

21 activity or event, including field trips and inter22 scholastic events. 

23 ‘‘(iv) Any school bus or school bus stop 

24 during periods when school children are present 

25 on the bus or at the stop. 


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1 ‘‘(v) Locations where emergency services 

2 providers provide shelter or food. 

3 ‘‘(vi) Locations of any organization that— 

4 ‘‘(I) assists children, pregnant women, 

5 victims of crime or abuse, or individuals 

6 with significant mental or physical disabil7 ities, including domestic violence shelters, 

8 rape crisis centers, supervised visitation 

9 centers, family justice centers, and victims 

10 services providers; or 

11 ‘‘(II) provides disaster or emergency 

12 social services and assistance, including, 

13 but not limited to, food banks and home14 less shelters. 

15 ‘‘(vii) Churches, synagogues, mosques, and 

16 other places of worship, such as buildings 

17 rented for the purpose of religious services. 

18 ‘‘(viii) Sites of funerals, weddings, or other 

19 public religious ceremonies. 

20 ‘‘(ix) Sites during the occurrence of a pub21 lic demonstration, such as a march, rally, or pa22 rade. 

23 ‘‘(x) Any Federal, State, or local court24 house, including the office of an individual’s 


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1 legal counsel or representative, and a probation 

2 office. 

3 ‘‘(xi) Congressional district offices. 

4 ‘‘(xii) Public assistance offices. 

5 ‘‘(xiii) Social Security offices. 

6 ‘‘(xiv) Indoor and outdoor premises of de7 partments of motor vehicles. 

8 ‘‘(xv) Such other locations as the Secretary 

9 of Homeland Security shall specify for purposes 

10 of this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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