I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5541 

To reform immigration litigation procedures. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2006 

Mr. BONILLA (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. CARTER, 

Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. GOHMERT, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. 

SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. 

SESSIONS, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. 

POE, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. HALL, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. PAUL, 

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

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform immigration litigation procedures. 

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 ‘‘Fairness in Immigra5 tion Litigation Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. APPROPRIATE REMEDIES FOR IMMIGRATION LITI7 GATION. 

8 (a) LIMITATION ON CIVIL ACTIONS.—No court may 

9 certify an action as a class action under Rule 23 of the 


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1 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in any civil action filed 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act pertaining to 

3 the administration or enforcement of the immigration laws 

4 of the United States. 

5 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR RELIEF.— 

6 (1) PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case that a court 

8 determines that prospective relief should be or9 dered against the Government in a civil action 

10 with respect to the administration or enforce11 ment of the immigration laws of the United 

12 States, the court may order such relief only if 

13 the following requirements are met: 

14 (i) The court limits the relief to the 

15 minimum necessary to correct the viola16 tion. 

17 (ii) The relief is the least intrusive 

18 means necessary to correct the violation. 

19 (iii) The court minimizes, to the 

20 greatest practical extent, any adverse im21 pact on national security, border security, 

22 immigration administration and enforce23 ment, and public safety caused by the re24 lief. 


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1 (iv) The court provides for the expira2 tion of the relief on a specific date which 

3 allows for the minimum practical time 

4 needed to remedy the violation. 

5 (B) WRITTEN EXPLANATION REQUIRED

6 WITH COURT ORDER.—Each court order grant7 ing prospective relief shall include in writing an 

8 explanation of how the relief meets each re9 quirement under subparagraph (A). Such expla10 nation must be sufficiently detailed to allow re11 view by another court. 

12 (2) DURATION OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIVE

13 RELIEF.—In the case of prospective relief that is 

14 preliminary injunctive relief, such preliminary in15 junctive relief shall automatically expire on the date 

16 that is 90 days after its entry, unless the court de17 termines that the relief meets all legal requirements, 

18 including those under paragraph (1)(A), for the 

19 entry of prospective relief and makes the order for 

20 the prospective relief involved final before expiration 

21 of the 90-day period. 

22 (c) PROCEDURE FOR MOTIONS AFFECTING PRO23 SPECTIVE RELIEF AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—A court shall promptly rule 

25 on any motion by the Government to vacate, modify, 


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1 dissolve, or otherwise terminate an order granting 

2 prospective relief in a civil action with respect to the 

3 administration or enforcement of the immigration 

4 laws of the United States. 

5 (2) AUTOMATIC STAYS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A motion described in 

7 paragraph (1), with respect to an order grant8 ing prospective relief in a civil action described 

9 in such paragraph shall automatically, and 

10 without further order of the court, stay the 

11 order granting prospective relief during the pe12 riod beginning on the date that is 15 days after 

13 the date on which such motion is filed and end14 ing on the date on which the court enters a 

15 final order granting or denying the motion. 

16 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A motion 

17 described in paragraph (1) shall not operate as 

18 a stay under subparagraph (A) if the court in19 volved enters a final order ruling on the motion 

20 before the first day of the period described in 

21 subparagraph (A). 

22 (C) TREATMENT OF MOTIONS PENDING

23 FOR NOT MORE THAN 45 DAYS ON DATE OF EN24 ACTMENT.—For purposes of this subsection, a 

25 motion described in paragraph (1) that was 


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1 filed during the 45-day period before the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act and for which the 

3 court has not, as of such date of enactment, en4 tered a final order ruling on the motion shall be 

5 treated as if the motion had been filed on such 

6 date of enactment. 

7 (D) TREATMENT OF MOTIONS PENDING

8 FOR MORE THAN 45 DAYS ON DATE OF ENACT9 MENT.—For purposes of this subsection, a mo10 tion described in paragraph (1) that was filed 

11 more than 45 days before the date of the enact12 ment of this Act and for which, as of the date 

13 that is 10 days after such date of enactment, 

14 the court involved has not entered a final order 

15 granting or denying the motion, shall operate as 

16 an automatic stay of the prospective relief, 

17 without further order of the court. An auto18 matic stay under this subparagraph shall be ef19 fective beginning on such date that is 10 days 

20 after the date of enactment and ending on the 

21 date on which the court involved enters a final 

22 order granting or denying the motion. The ef23 fective date of an automatic stay under this 

24 subparagraph may not be postponed under 

25 paragraph (3). 


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1 (3) POSTPONEMENT OF AUTOMATIC STAYS.— 

2 The court may, for good cause, enter an order to 

3 postpone the effective date of an automatic stay 

4 under paragraph (2). No effective date of an auto5 matic stay under paragraph (2) may be postponed 

6 for more than 15 days. 

7 (4) AUTOMATIC STAYS DURING REMANDS FROM

8 HIGHER COURTS.—Whenever a higher court orders 

9 that a decision on a motion subject to this section 

10 shall be remanded to a lower court, the order grant11 ing prospective relief that is the subject of the mo12 tion shall be automatically stayed until the district 

13 court enters an order granting or denying the mo14 tion. The effective date of an automatic stay under 

15 this subparagraph may not be postponed under 

16 paragraph (3). 

17 (5) ORDERS BLOCKING AUTOMATIC STAYS.— 

18 Any order staying, suspending, delaying, or other19 wise barring the effective date of an automatic stay 

20 under this subsection, other than an order to post21 pone the effective date under paragraph (3), shall be 

22 treated as an order refusing to vacate, modify, dis23 solve, or otherwise terminate an injunction and im24 mediately shall be appealable pursuant to section 

25 1292(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code. 

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1 (6) REQUIREMENTS FOR ORDER DENYING MO2 TION.—Subsection (b) shall apply to an order en3 tered by a court to deny a motion described in para4 graph (1) in the same manner that such subsection 

5 applies to a grant of prospective relief under such 

6 subsection. 

7 (d) RULES FOR PROSPECTIVE RELIEF AFFECTING

8 EXPEDITED REMOVAL.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of law (statutory or nonstatutory), includ11 ing section 2241 of Title 28, United States Code, or 

12 any other habeas provision, and sections 1361 and 

13 1651 of such title, no court has jurisdiction to grant 

14 or continue an order or part of an order granting 

15 prospective relief if the order or part of the order 

16 interferes with, affects, or impacts any determina17 tion pursuant to, or the implementation of, section 

18 235(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

19 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)). 

20 (2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUING JURISDIC21 TION.—Upon the Government’s filing of a motion to 

22 vacate, modify, dissolve, or otherwise terminate an 

23 order granting prospective relief in a civil action de24 scribed in subsection (b)(1)(A), the court involved 

25 shall promptly determine whether it continues to 


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1 have jurisdiction and shall promptly vacate any 

2 order or part of an order granting prospective relief 

3 that is not within the jurisdiction of the court. 

4 (3) SAFE HARBOR FOR CONTINUING PROSPEC5 TIVE RELIEF TO REMEDY VIOLATION OF CONSTITU6 TIONAL RIGHTS.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not 

7 apply to an order granting prospective relief in a 

8 civil action described in subsection (b)(1)(A) to the 

9 extent that the order was entered before the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act and the prospective relief 

11 is necessary to remedy the violation of a right guar12 anteed by the Constitution of the United States. 

13 (e) SETTLEMENTS.— 

14 (1) CONSENT DECREES.—In any civil action 

15 with respect to the administration or enforcement of 

16 the immigration laws of the United States, the court 

17 involved shall not enter, approve, or continue a con18 sent decree unless the decree complies with the re19 quirements under clauses (i) through (iv) of sub20 paragraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) and includes the 

21 written explanation required under subparagraph 

22 (B) of such subsection. 

23 (2) PRIVATE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS.— 

24 Nothing in this subsection shall preclude parties 

25 from entering into a private settlement agreement 


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1 that does not comply with the requirements under 

2 clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A) of sub3 section (b)(1) or that does not include the written 

4 explanation required under subparagraph (B) of 

5 such subsection. 

6 (f) EXPEDITED PROCEEDINGS.—Each court shall 

7 take measures to advance on the docket and to expedite 

8 the disposition of any civil action described in subsection 

9 (b)(1)(A) or motion described in subsection (c) or (d). 

10 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

11 (1) CONSENT DECREE.—The term ‘‘consent de12 cree’’ means any relief entered by a court that is 

13 based in whole or in part on the consent or acquies14 cence of the parties involved but does not include 

15 private settlements. 

16 (2) GOOD CAUSE.—The term ‘‘good cause’’ 

17 does not include any cause related to discovery or 

18 congestion of the court’s calendar. 

19 (3) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Government’’ 

20 means the United States, any Federal department or 

21 agency, or any Federal agent or official acting with22 in the scope of official duties. 

23 (4) PERMANENT RELIEF.—The term ‘‘perma24 nent relief’’ means relief issued in connection with a 

25 final decision of a court. 


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1 (5) PRIVATE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The 

2 term ‘‘private settlement agreement’’ means an 

3 agreement entered into among the parties involved 

4 that is not subject to judicial enforcement other than 

5 the reinstatement of the civil proceedings that the 

6 agreement settled. 

7 (6) PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.—The term ‘‘pro8 spective relief’’ means temporary, preliminary, or 

9 permanent relief other than compensatory monetary 

10 damages. 

11 SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY. 

12 If any provision of this Act or the application of such 

13 provision to any person or circumstance is found to be un14 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica15 tion of the provisions of such remainder of this Act to any 

16 person or circumstance shall not be affected by such find17 ing. 

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 Except as otherwise provided under section 2(a), the 

20 provisions of this Act shall apply to all orders granting 

21 prospective relief entered by a court before, on, or after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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