I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2489 

To impose requirements on the grant of a waiver with respect to an 

immigration detention facility, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 2, 2019 

Mr. CUMMINGS (for himself and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To impose requirements on the grant of a waiver with respect 

to an immigration detention facility, 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 ‘‘Waiver Accountability 

5 and Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS ON WAIVERS APPLICABLE TO IM7 MIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES. 

8 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘immi9 gration detention facility’’ means a place of detention for 

10 aliens detained pending removal, or a decision on removal, 


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1 under the immigration laws (as defined in section 

2 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) that is owned or operated by a pri4 vate entity or a Federal, State, Tribal, or local govern5 ment, whether or not such facility also is a place of deten6 tion for other detainees. 

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The following requirements 

8 shall apply to a grant of a waiver of a detention standard 

9 applicable to the detention facility: 

10 (1) The waiver request, justification for the 

11 waiver request, the assessment, final decision, 

12 whether the waiver was granted or denied, and ra13 tionale for the decision by U.S. Immigration and 

14 Customs Enforcement, shall be posted on the 

15 website of the Department of Homeland Security for 

16 the public to view within 3 business days of being 

17 submitted to U.S. Immigration and Customs En18 forcement or to an immigration detention facility by 

19 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

20 (2) The waiver request shall be graded from 1 

21 to 3 based on the level of seriousness (3 being the 

22 most serious) by the Director (or acting Director) of 

23 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Level 

24 3 shall include issues impacting due process, medical 

25 care, safety, security, and rights. 


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1 (3) If the waiver is graded to be a 3 and is 

2 granted, the Director (or acting Director) of U.S. 

3 Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall sign 

4 off on a corrective action plan. All parties to the 

5 contract or agreement must also sign off on the cor6 rective action plan. The corrective action plan shall 

7 include a timeline and a corrective action plan with 

8 the goal of eliminating the waiver and being compli9 ant with existing standards. 

10 (4) The waiver may be approved by the Direc11 tor (or acting Director) of U.S. Immigration and 

12 Customs Enforcement for a specified period of time 

13 not to exceed 90 days. 

14 (5) The Director (or acting Director) shall no15 tify the Congress of, and post online, any approved 

16 request within 3 business days. 

17 (6) The waiver may be reapproved every 90 

18 days. Any approval must be posted online and sub19 mitted to Congress within 3 business days. 

20 (7) After 1 year, any reapproval shall be ap21 proved by the Secretary, the Chief Financial Officer 

22 of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 

23 the Director (or acting Director) of U.S. Immigra24 tion and Customs Enforcement, who shall publish 

25 jointly justification for the approval. 


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1 (c) QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN.— 

2 The Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce3 ment shall include a quality assurance surveillance plan 

4 in all new immigration detention facility contracts and 

5 agreements. The Director shall submit a report to the 

6 Congress not later than 120 days after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act on plans to include quality assur8 ance surveillance plans in existing contacts and agree9 ments. 

10 (d) REPORTS ON FINANCIAL PENALTIES.— 

11 (1) PENALTIES IMPOSED.—Not later than 30 

12 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

13 every 30 days thereafter, the Director of U.S. Immi14 gration and Customs Enforcement shall report to 

15 Congress and publicly post online any financial pen16 alties imposed on an immigration detention facility, 

17 including temporary withholding of payment under a 

18 contract. 

19 (2) PENALTIES NOT IMPOSED.—Not later than 

20 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

21 and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary of Home22 land Security shall report to Congress and publicly 

23 post online a report analyzing a sample of cases with 

24 respect to which the Secretary identified a failure to 


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1 meet a detention standard applicable to the deten2 tion facility, but declined to impose a penalty. 

3 (e) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there5 after, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

6 conduct a study on the waiver process under subsection 

7 (b) and ability of the Secretary of Homeland Security to 

8 hold contractors accountable through contracting, includ9 ing financial penalties and quality assurance surveillance 

10 plans. 

Æ 


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