IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2203 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To increase transparency, accountability, and community engagement within the Department of Homeland Security, 

provide independent oversight of border security activities, improve training for agents and officers of U.S. 

Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration 

and Customs Enforcement, and for other purposes. 


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

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE OM4 BUDSMAN FOR BORDER AND IMMIGRATION 

5 ENFORCEMENT RELATED CONCERNS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu7 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

8 adding at the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 711. OMBUDSMAN FOR BORDER AND IMMIGRATION 

10 ENFORCEMENT RELATED CONCERNS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Within the Department there 

12 shall be a position of Ombudsman for Border and Immi13 gration Enforcement Related Concerns (in this section re14 ferred to as the ‘Ombudsman’), who shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) be independent of Department agencies 

16 and officers; 

17 ‘‘(2) report directly to the Secretary; and 

18 ‘‘(3) have a background in immigration law, 

19 civil rights, and law enforcement. 

20 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—It shall be the function of the 

21 Ombudsman to— 

22 ‘‘(1) in coordination with the Inspector General 

23 of the Department, establish an independent, neu24 tral, accessible, confidential, and standardized proc25 ess to assist individuals (including aliens (as such 


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1 term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration 

2 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)) in resolving 

3 complaints with respect to U.S. Customs and Border 

4 Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce5 ment, a subcontractor, or a cooperating entity, 

6 which process shall include a publicly accessible 

7 website through which a complainant can check on 

8 the status of such a complaint; 

9 ‘‘(2) identify and thereafter review, examine, 

10 and make recommendations to the Secretary to ad11 dress chronic issues identified by the Ombudsman in 

12 carrying out the function described in paragraph 

13 (1); 

14 ‘‘(3) establish a Border Oversight Panel in ac15 cordance with subsection (f); and 

16 ‘‘(4) review compliance with departmental poli17 cies and standards of care for custody of aliens by 

18 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 

19 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including any 

20 violations of applicable policy or standards of care 

21 involving force-feeding. 

22 ‘‘(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The existence of a com23 plaint, including the identity of any Department employee 

24 implicated in a complaint, shall be kept confidential by the 

25 Ombudsman and, in the absence of the written consent 


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1 of an individual who submits a complaint, the Ombudsman 

2 shall keep confidential the identity of and any identifying 

3 information relating to such individual. Such confiden4 tiality requirement may not be considered as a factor of 

5 whether or not information under this subsection may be 

6 disclosed under section 552 of title 5, United Stated Code 

7 (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information 

8 Act). 

9 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Not later than June 30 

10 of each year beginning in the year after the date of the 

11 enactment of this section, the Ombudsman shall submit 

12 to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Com13 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern15 mental Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 Senate a report that includes, for the previous year, the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(1) The number and types of complaints re19 ceived under this section and for each complaint— 

20 ‘‘(A) the component or subcomponent, sub21 contractor, or cooperating entity identified; 

22 ‘‘(B) the demographics of the complainant; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a description of the resolution of the 

2 complaint or the status of the resolution proc3 ess. 

4 ‘‘(2) Any complaint pattern that could be pre5 vented or reduced by policy training or practice 

6 changes. 

7 ‘‘(3) A description of any pattern of violations 

8 of any applicable policy or standards. 

9 ‘‘(4) A description of each complaint received 

10 under this section with respect to which U.S. Cus11 toms and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and 

12 Customs Enforcement, a subcontractor, or a cooper13 ating entity, as applicable, has taken action to re14 solve, and the time between receipt and resolution of 

15 each such complaint. 

16 ‘‘(5) A description of complaints received under 

17 this section for which action has not been taken 

18 after one year, and the period during which each 

19 complaint has been open. 

20 ‘‘(6) Recommendations the Ombudsman has 

21 made under subsection (b)(2). 

22 ‘‘(7) Other information, as determined appro23 priate by the Ombudsman. 

24 ‘‘(e) APPOINTMENT OF BORDER COMMUNITIES LIAI25 SON.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman, in con2 junction with the Office for Civil Rights and Civil 

3 Liberties of the Department, shall appoint a Border 

4 Community Liaison (in this subsection referred to as 

5 the ‘Liaison’) in each U.S. Border Patrol sector on 

6 the northern and southern borders. Each Liaison 

7 shall report to the Ombudsman. 

8 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—Each Liaison appointed 

9 under this subsection shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) foster cooperation between U.S. Cus11 toms and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration 

12 and Customs Enforcement, and border commu13 nities; 

14 ‘‘(B) consult with border communities on 

15 the development of policies, directives, and pro16 grams of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

17 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce18 ment; 

19 ‘‘(C) receive feedback from border commu20 nities on the performance of U.S. Customs and 

21 Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and 

22 Customs Enforcement; and 

23 ‘‘(D) submit to the Ombudsman an annual 

24 report detailing their findings, feedback re25 ceived from border communities, and recVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2203.RFS H2203

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1 ommendations to increase cooperation between 

2 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Im3 migration and Customs Enforcement, and bor4 der communities. 

5 ‘‘(f) BORDER OVERSIGHT PANEL.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Ombudsman shall 

7 establish a Border Oversight Panel (in this sub8 section referred to as the ‘Panel’). 

9 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Panel shall be 

11 composed of 30 members selected by the Om12 budsman. 

13 ‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON.—The Ombudsman 

14 shall be the chair of the Panel. 

15 ‘‘(C) EXPERTISE.—Members of the Panel 

16 shall have expertise in immigration, local crime 

17 indices, civil and human rights, community re18 lations, cross-border trade and commerce, qual19 ity of life indicators, or other experience the 

20 Ombudsman determines is appropriate, and 

21 shall include individuals who reside in or near 

22 border counties. 

23 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Panel shall evaluate and 

24 make recommendations regarding the border en25 forcement policies, strategies, and programs of the 


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1 Department operating along the northern and south2 ern borders of the United States to— 

3 ‘‘(A) take into consideration the impact of 

4 such policies, strategies, and programs on bor5 der communities, including protecting due proc6 ess, civil and human rights of border residents 

7 and visitors, and private property rights of land 

8 owners; 

9 ‘‘(B) uphold domestic and international 

10 legal obligations; 

11 ‘‘(C) reduce the number of migrant deaths; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(D) improve the safety of agents and offi14 cers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

15 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce16 ment. 

17 ‘‘(g) STAFFING.—The Secretary shall take appro18 priate action to ensure the Ombudsman’s office is suffi19 ciently staffed and resourced to carry out its duties effec20 tively and efficiently. 

21 ‘‘(h) TRAINING.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall con23 duct a yearly evaluation of all training given to 

24 agents and officers of U.S. Customs and Border 


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1 Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs En2 forcement. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each evaluation under para4 graph (1) shall include whether the training referred 

5 to in such paragraph adequately addresses the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(A) Best practices in community policing, 

8 cultural awareness, and carrying out enforce9 ment actions near sensitive locations, such as 

10 places of worship or religious ceremony, school 

11 or education-related places or events, court12 houses or other civic buildings providing serv13 ices accessible to the public, hospitals, medical 

14 treatment or health care facilities, public dem15 onstrations, and attorney’s offices (including a 

16 public defender or legal aid offices). 

17 ‘‘(B) Policies for operating in locations 

18 where there are limitations on cooperation by 

19 local law enforcement. 

20 ‘‘(C) Interaction with vulnerable popu21 lations, including instruction on screening, iden22 tifying, and responding to vulnerable popu23 lations, such as children, victims of human traf24 ficking, and the acutely ill. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Standards of professional and ethical 

2 conduct, including the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) Lawful use of force, de-escalation 

4 tactics, and alternatives to the use of force. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Complying with chain of com6 mand and lawful orders. 

7 ‘‘(iii) Conduct and ethical behavior to8 ward the public in a civil and professional 

9 manner. 

10 ‘‘(iv) Civil rights and legal protections 

11 for nationals of the United States and 

12 aliens. 

13 ‘‘(v) Non-biased questioning. 

14 ‘‘(vi) Sensitivity towards lesbian, gay, 

15 bisexual, transgender, and queer individ16 uals. 

17 ‘‘(vii) Permissible and impermissible 

18 social media activity. 

19 ‘‘(viii) Sexual and other harassment 

20 and assault, including an assessment of 

21 whether adequate policies exist to resolve 

22 complaints. 

23 ‘‘(E) Protecting the civil, constitutional, 

24 human, and privacy rights of individuals, with 

25 special emphasis on the scope of enforcement 


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1 authority, including chain of evidence practices 

2 and document seizure, and use of force policies 

3 available to agents and officers. 

4 ‘‘(F) Maintaining and updated under5 standing of Federal legal rulings, court deci6 sions, and Department policies and procedures. 

7 ‘‘(G) The scope of agents’ and officers’ au8 thority to conduct immigration enforcement ac9 tivities, including interviews, interrogations, 

10 stops, searches, arrests, and detentions, in addi11 tion to identifying and detecting fraudulent doc12 uments. 

13 ‘‘(3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 90 

14 days after conducting each evaluation under para15 graph (1), the Ombudsman shall develop, and sub16 mit to the Secretary, recommendations regarding 

17 any additional training. 

18 ‘‘(4) FEEDBACK.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after receiving recommendations transmitted by the 

20 Ombudsman, the Secretary shall respond publicly 

21 and in writing with feedback on each of the rec22 ommendations, an action plan to implement any of 

23 such recommendations with which the Secretary con24 curs, and a justification for why any of such rec25 ommendations have been rejected. 


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1 ‘‘(i) ELECTRONIC TRACKING.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman, in co3 ordination with the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

4 and Border Protection, the Director of U.S. Immi5 gration and Customs Enforcement, and the Office of 

6 Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health 

7 and Human Services, shall develop recommendations 

8 for the establishment of an electronic tracking num9 ber system on a single interface, which shall be used 

10 to track the location of a child who has been sepa11 rated from a parent, legal guardian, or other relative 

12 of such child, and which shall be accessible to agents 

13 and officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

14 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 

15 the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

16 ‘‘(2) TRACKING NUMBER.—The recommenda17 tions developed under this subsection shall consider 

18 how a tracking number can be assigned to a child 

19 who has been separated from a parent, legal guard20 ian, or other relative of such child that— 

21 ‘‘(A) is transferrable; 

22 ‘‘(B) may be shared easily on the elec23 tronic tracking system described in this sub24 section by agents and officers of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) U.S. Customs and Border Protec2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(ii) U.S. Immigration and Customs 

4 Enforcement; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) the Office of Refugee Resettle6 ment of the Department of Health and 

7 Human Services; and 

8 ‘‘(C) is interoperable with the electronic lo9 cation records of a parent, legal guardian, or 

10 other relative of such child. 

11 ‘‘(j) BODY-WORN CAMERAS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

13 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

14 Ombudsman, in coordination with the Commissioner 

15 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Direc16 tor of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 

17 and labor organizations representing agents and offi18 cers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and 

19 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

21 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

22 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 

23 Security and Governmental Affairs and the Com24 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate a plan for re25 quiring, not later than one year after such date of 


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1 enactment, the use of body-worn cameras by U.S. 

2 Border Patrol agents and U.S. Immigration and 

3 Customs Enforcement officers whenever such agents 

4 and officers are engaged in border security or immi5 gration enforcement activities. 

6 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required under 

7 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) Benchmarks for implementation of 

9 the use of body-worn cameras within U.S. Cus10 toms and Border Protection and U.S. Immigra11 tion and Customs Enforcement. 

12 ‘‘(B) Policies, procedures, and training 

13 modules for the use of body-worn cameras by 

14 agents and officers of U.S. Customs and Border 

15 Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs 

16 Enforcement, including training modules relat17 ing to the appropriate use of such cameras and 

18 adverse action for non-compliance. 

19 ‘‘(C) Mechanisms to ensure compliance 

20 with body-worn camera policies and procedures. 

21 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—The plan required 

22 under paragraph (1) shall be informed by— 

23 ‘‘(A) existing State and local policies re24 quiring the use of body-worn cameras; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) principles regarding body-worn cam2 eras published by major civil and human rights 

3 organizations.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by add6 ing after the item relating to section 710 the following 

7 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 711. Ombudsman for Border and Immigration Enforcement Related Concerns.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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