I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3563 

To ensure the humane treatment of pregnant women by reinstating the 

presumption of release and prohibiting shackling, restraining, and other 

inhumane treatment of pregnant detainees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas (for herself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. 

SHALALA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Ms. MOORE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. MENG, Mr. GARCI ́A

of Illinois, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. POCAN, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure the humane treatment of pregnant women by 

reinstating the presumption of release and prohibiting 

shackling, restraining, and other inhumane treatment of 

pregnant 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Shackling and 

3 Detaining Pregnant Women Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON DETENTION OF PREGNANT WOMEN 

5 AND MOTHERS OF NEWBORNS. 

6 (a) PRESUMPTION OF RELEASE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), the Secretary— 

9 (A) shall not detain a person under any 

10 provision of the Immigration and Nationality 

11 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) during pregnancy 

12 or postpartum recovery, pending a decision with 

13 respect to whether the person is to be removed 

14 from the United States; and 

15 (B) shall immediately release any detainee 

16 found to be pregnant. 

17 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary may detain 

18 pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

19 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) a person during pregnancy or 

20 postpartum recovery under extraordinary circum21 stances in which the Secretary makes an individual22 ized determination that credible, reasonable grounds 

23 exist to believe that the person presents an imme24 diate and serious threat of hurting herself or others. 

25 (3) REMOVAL.—In a case in which detention is 

26 the least restrictive means of effectuating the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3563.IH H3563

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1 moval from the United States of a pregnant person 

2 who is the subject of a final order of deportation or 

3 removal, the Secretary may, solely for the purpose of 

4 such removal, detain the pregnant person for a pe5 riod that is— 

6 (A) the shortest possible period imme7 diately preceding the removal of the person 

8 from the United States; and 

9 (B) not more than 5 days. 

10 (b) WEEKLY REVIEW REQUIRED.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a detainee 

12 detained under paragraph (2) of subsection (a), not 

13 less frequently than once each week, the Secretary 

14 shall conduct an individualized review to determine 

15 whether the detainee continues to be subject to de16 tention under that paragraph. 

17 (2) RELEASE.—In the case of a determination 

18 under paragraph (1) that a pregnant detainee is not 

19 subject to detention under subsection (a)(2), not 

20 later than 1 day after the date on which the Sec21 retary makes the determination, the Secretary shall 

22 release the detainee. 


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1 SEC. 3. HUMANE TREATMENT OF PREGNANT WOMEN 

2 WHILE IN DETENTION. 

3 (a) PROHIBITION ON RESTRAINT OF PREGNANT DE4 TAINEES.— 

5 (1) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), a detention facility shall not use a re7 straint on a detainee— 

8 (A) known to be pregnant, including dur9 ing— 

10 (i) labor; 

11 (ii) transport to a medical facility or 

12 birthing center; and 

13 (iii) delivery; or 

14 (B) during postpartum recovery. 

15 (2) USE OF RESTRAINTS FOR MEDICAL PUR16 POSES AND IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para18 graph (1), subject to subparagraph (B), use of 

19 a restraint on a detainee described in para20 graph (1) may be permitted only— 

21 (i) for a medical purpose if the lead 

22 medical staff of the detention facility who 

23 is a licensed health care provider has or24 dered the use of the restraint for the med25 ical purpose; or 


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1 (ii) in an extraordinary circumstance, 

2 except for a medical purpose, in which the 

3 facility administrator has ordered the use 

4 of the restraint after making an individual5 ized determination that— 

6 (I) credible, reasonable grounds 

7 exist to believe the detainee presents 

8 an immediate and serious threat of 

9 hurting staff or others; or 

10 (II) reasonable grounds exist to 

11 believe the detainee presents an imme12 diate and credible risk of escape that 

13 cannot be reasonably minimized 

14 through any other method. 

15 (B) REQUIREMENT FOR LEAST RESTRIC16 TIVE RESTRAINTS.—In the rare event of an ex17 traordinary circumstance described in subpara18 graph (A)(ii), only the least restrictive restraint 

19 necessary shall be used, except that— 

20 (i) if a doctor, nurse, or other health 

21 professional treating a detainee described 

22 in paragraph (1) requests that a restraint 

23 not be used, the detention officer accom24 panying the detainee shall immediately re25 move any restraint; 


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1 (ii) under no circumstance shall a leg, 

2 waist, or four-point restraint be used; 

3 (iii) under no circumstance shall a 

4 wrist restraint be used to bind the hands 

5 of a detainee described in paragraph (1) 

6 behind her back or to another person; and 

7 (iv) under no circumstance shall any 

8 restraint be used on any detainee who is in 

9 labor or delivery. 

10 (3) RECORD OF EXTRAORDINARY CIR11 CUMSTANCES.— 

12 (A) REQUIREMENTS.—If a restraint is 

13 used on a detainee pursuant to paragraph 

14 (2)(A), not later than 5 days after the date on 

15 which the restraint was used, the facility ad16 ministrator shall— 

17 (i) make a written finding that de18 scribes the extraordinary circumstance that 

19 dictated the use of the restraint; and 

20 (ii) submit the finding to the Director. 

21 (B) RETENTION.— 

22 (i) DETENTION FACILITY.—With re23 spect to a written finding under subpara24 graph (A)(i), the facility administrator 

25 shall— 


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1 (I) keep the finding on file at the 

2 applicable detention facility for not 

3 less than 5 years after the date on 

4 which the restraint was used; and 

5 (II) shall make the finding avail6 able for public inspection. 

7 (ii) IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS EN8 FORCEMENT.—With respect to a written 

9 finding submitted to the Director under 

10 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Director shall 

11 maintain the written finding and make the 

12 finding available for public inspection. 

13 (iii) PRIVACY.—With respect to a 

14 written finding made available for public 

15 inspection under clause (i) or (ii), the indi16 vidually identifying information of a de17 tainee shall not be made available for pub18 lic inspection without the prior written 

19 consent of the detainee. 

20 (b) PROHIBITION ON PRESENCE OF DETENTION OF21 FICERS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), no detention officer shall be present in 

24 the room during a pelvic exam, labor, delivery, or 

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1 nancy of a detainee, unless specifically requested by 

2 medical personnel. 

3 (2) EXCEPTION.—If the presence of a detention 

4 officer is requested by medical personnel, the deten5 tion officer shall— 

6 (A) be female, if practicable; and 

7 (B) remain at a reasonable distance from 

8 the detainee and toward her head to protect her 

9 privacy. 

10 (3) USE OF RESTRAINTS.—If a restraint is used 

11 on a detainee pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A), a de12 tention officer shall remain immediately outside the 

13 room at all times so that the officer may promptly 

14 remove the restraint if requested by medical per15 sonnel, as required by subsection (a)(2)(B)(i). 

16 (c) ACCESS TO SERVICES.—A pregnant detainee shall 

17 have access to health care services, including comprehen18 sive services relating to reproductive health care and preg19 nancy, including— 

20 (1) routine or specialized prenatal care; 

21 (2) comprehensive counseling and assistance; 

22 (3) postpartum follow-up; 

23 (4) lactation services; and 

24 (5) abortion services. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORTING; RULEMAKING. 

2 (a) REPORTS.— 

3 (1) REPORTS BY FACILITY ADMINISTRATORS.— 

4 Not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter 

5 of a fiscal year, the facility administrator of each de6 tention facility that detained a pregnant detainee 

7 during the quarter shall submit to the Secretary a 

8 written report that includes, with respect to the 

9 quarter, the following: 

10 (A) An account of every instance of the 

11 use of a restraint on a pregnant detainee, in12 cluding the justification for such restraint and 

13 the name of the facility administrator who 

14 made the individualized determination under 

15 section 3(a)(2)(A)(ii). 

16 (B) The number of pregnant detainees 

17 held at the facility. 

18 (C) The average length of detention of 

19 pregnant detainees. 

20 (D) The number of pregnant detainees de21 tained longer than 15 days. 

22 (E) The number of pregnant detainees de23 tained longer than 30 days. 

24 (2) AUDIT AND REPORTS BY SECRETARY.—Not 

25 later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, 

26 the Secretary shall— 


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1 (A) complete an audit of the information 

2 submitted under subparagraphs (B) through 

3 (E) of paragraph (1); and 

4 (B) submit to the appropriate committees 

5 of Congress a report that includes all of the in6 formation submitted to the Secretary under 

7 paragraph (1), disaggregated by facility. 

8 (3) PRIVACY.—A report submitted under this 

9 subsection shall not contain the individually identi10 fying information of any detainee. 

11 (4) PUBLIC INSPECTION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

13 subparagraph (B), a report submitted under 

14 this subsection shall be made available for pub15 lic inspection. 

16 (B) FACILITY ADMINISTRATOR.—A report 

17 submitted under this subsection that is made 

18 available for public inspection shall not contain 

19 the name of the facility administrator otherwise 

20 included under paragraph (1)(A). 

21 (b) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary and the Attorney 

22 General shall adopt regulations or policies to carry out this 

23 Act at every detention facility. 

24 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

5 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

6 and 

7 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

8 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

9 of Representatives. 

10 (2) DETAINEE.—The term ‘‘detainee’’ includes 

11 any adult or juvenile person detained by any Fed12 eral, State, or local law enforcement agency (includ13 ing under contract or agreement with such agency) 

14 under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

15 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

16 (3) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘deten17 tion facility’’ means a Federal, State, or local gov18 ernment facility, or a privately owned and operated 

19 facility, that is used, in whole or in part, to hold in20 dividuals under the authority of the Director of U.S. 

21 Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Com22 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

23 including a facility that— 


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1 (A) holds such individuals under a contract 

2 or agreement with the Director or Commis3 sioner; or 

4 (B) is used, in whole or in part, to hold in5 dividuals pursuant to an immigration detainer 

6 or similar request. 

7 (4) DETENTION OFFICER.—The term ‘‘deten8 tion officer’’ means an individual who works at a de9 tention facility, including an individual who works at 

10 a detention facility pursuant to contract or sub11 contract. 

12 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

13 the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs En14 forcement. 

15 (6) FACILITY ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘fa16 cility administrator’’ means the official who is re17 sponsible for oversight of a detention facility or the 

18 designee of such official. 

19 (7) POSTPARTUM RECOVERY.—The term 

20 ‘‘postpartum recovery’’ means the 6-week period, or 

21 longer, as determined by the licensed health care 

22 provider of a person, following delivery, including the 

23 entire period during which the person is in a medical 

24 facility, birthing center, or infirmary after birth. 


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1 (8) RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘restraint’’ means 

2 any physical restraint or mechanical device used to 

3 control the movement of the body or limbs of a de4 tainee’s body, including— 

5 (A) flex cuffs; 

6 (B) soft restraints; 

7 (C) hard metal handcuffs; 

8 (D) a black box; 

9 (E) Chubb cuffs; 

10 (F) leg irons; 

11 (G) belly chains; 

12 (H) a security (tether) chain; and 

13 (I) a convex shield. 

14 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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