I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2119

To establish an Immigration Enforcement Review Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 1993

Mr. BECERRA (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr.

GUTIERREZ, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. TORRES) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish an Immigration Enforcement Review

Commission.

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 ‘‘Immigration Enforce5 ment Review Commission Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CREATION OF IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT RE7 VIEW COMMISSION.

8 There is established the Immigration Enforcement

9 Review Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Re10 view Commission’’). The Review Commission shall be com-
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1 prised of a Board of Commissioners, an Investigations Of2 fice, and a Community Outreach Office. In the execution

3 of its duties, the Review Commission shall comply with

4 the requirements established in this Act. The Immigration

5 and Naturalization Service and the Customs Service (here6 inafter referred to as ‘‘the Services’’) shall cooperate fully

7 with the Review Commission and its employees in carrying

8 out the duties of the Review Commission under this Act,

9 and shall provide to the Commission such records as the

10 Commission considers appropriate.

11 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF REVIEW COMMISSION.

12 The Review Commission shall be responsible for in13 vestigating complaints of civil rights abuses against the

14 Services, employees of the Services, their divisions, or any

15 facilities where detainees are held in Service custody.

16 Based upon its findings, the Review Commission shall

17 make recommendations to the Services to discipline Serv18 ice employees responsible for committing abuses. The Re19 view Commission shall also make policy recommendations

20 to the Services as appropriate.

21 SEC. 4. REVIEW COMMISSION.

22 (a) COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF COMMIS23 SIONERS.—The Board of Commissioners (hereinafter re24 ferred to as the ‘‘Board’’) shall be composed of 7 members

25 who shall be appointed by the President by and with the
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1 advice and consent of the Senate. The President shall des2 ignate one member to serve as Director of the Board of

3 Commissioners. Not more than 4 members may be of the

4 same political party. The members of the Board shall be

5 full-time employees.

6 (b) APPOINTMENTS AND TERMS OF OFFICE.—

7 (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the

8 term of each Commissioner shall be 6 years.

9 (2) Of the members first appointed, 4 shall be

10 appointed to terms of 3 years. Not more than 2

11 members appointed under this paragraph may be of

12 the same political party.

13 (3) A member appointed to fill a vacancy occur14 ring before the expiration of the term for which that

15 member’s predecessor was appointed shall be ap16 pointed only for the remainder of that term.

17 (4) No person shall serve as a member of the

18 Board for more than 2 terms.

19 (c) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the Board

20 shall receive compensation at the annual rate of basic pay

21 in effect for level V of the Executive Schedule.

22 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—A member of the Board may not

23 have been employed by the Services within the period be24 ginning 5 years before appointment, or employed by any
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1 law enforcement agency within the period beginning 1 year

2 before appointment.

3 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

4 (a) INVESTIGATIONS OFFICE.—The Review Commis5 sion shall employ such investigative personnel as the

6 Board considers advisable, in accordance with the civil

7 service and classification laws. Investigators shall be

8 charged with the responsibility of investigating all com9 plaints brought to the Review Commission’s attention.

10 (b) COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICE.—The Board

11 shall appoint a Director of Community Outreach. The Di12 rector of Community Outreach shall establish local com13 munity task forces to improve the working relationship be14 tween the Services and local community groups and orga15 nizations.

16 (c) REVIEW COMMISSION FACILITIES.—The Review

17 Commission shall establish a headquarters and 3 regional

18 offices. The Review Commission may not maintain offices

19 in a facility under the control or operation of the Services,

20 or any facility in which either of the Services occupies

21 space.

22 (d) PERSONNEL LIMITATION.—An employee of the

23 Review Commission may not have been employed by the

24 Services within the period beginning 5 years before ap-
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1 pointment or employed by any law enforcement agency

2 within the period beginning 1 year before appointment.

3 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Review Commission is au4 thorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as may

5 be necessary to carry out this Act including procedures

6 for the filing, investigation, and resolution of complaints.

7 SEC. 6. OPERATIONS OF REVIEW COMMISSION.

8 (a) COMPLAINT FORMS.—

9 (1) Complaint forms shall be made available at

10 all Service facilities and shall be available upon re11 quest from the Review Commission.

12 (2) The complaint forms shall be written in lan13 guages reflecting the languages of the immigrant

14 population.

15 (b) FILING OF COMPLAINTS.—

16 (1) Complaints may be filed in person, by mail,

17 by telephone, by facsimile, or by any other reason18 able means. Complaints may be filed by any person,

19 including anonymously, and may be filed on behalf

20 of third parties. Complaints need not be filed on the

21 official complaint forms.

22 (2) The Review Commission shall establish and

23 operate a multilingual, 24-hour, toll-free hotline to

24 receive complaints.
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1 (3) Whenever possible, upon receipt of a com2 plaint, the Review Commission shall provide to the

3 complainant information which describes the review

4 procedures of the Review Commission. Such infor5 mation shall be available in languages reflecting the

6 languages of the immigrant population.

7 (c) PUBLIC OUTREACH.—

8 (1) The Review Commission shall educate mem9 bers of the public about its functions and shall re10 ceive and actively seek out suggestions from the pub11 lic to improve the functioning of the Review Com12 mission.

13 (2) The Review Commission shall develop out14 reach materials, which shall include, a description of

15 the Review Commission, its duties, and complaint

16 procedures. Such materials shall be made available

17 to the public in languages reflecting the languages

18 of the immigrant population.

19 (3) The Review Commission shall oversee the

20 display and dissemination of outreach materials at

21 all Service facilities.

22 (d) SERVICE EMPLOYEES’ DUTY TO INFORM COM23 MISSION.—

24 (1) When a complaint of agent misconduct is

25 brought to the attention of any Service employee,
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1 the employee shall promptly inform the complainant

2 of proper procedures for filing a complaint.

3 (2) A Service employee who witnesses or other4 wise obtains actual knowledge of the use of force,

5 that is unreasonable in light of the facts and cir6 cumstances and involves another Service employee,

7 shall report such incident to the Review Commission

8 within 24 hours of the acquisition of knowledge of

9 such incident.

10 (3) The Review Commission may promulgate

11 regulations requiring Service employees to report to

12 the Commission other violations of the Services’ op13 erating procedures.

14 (e) INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS.—Each com15 plaint shall be investigated by an investigator who shall

16 complete and submit a written report to the Board of

17 Commissioners within 60 days of the assignment, unless

18 the Board authorizes an extension. The Services shall

19 grant investigators access to information, documents, or

20 other items relevant to the matter under investigation.

21 The Board may issue subpoenas. Service employees shall

22 cooperate fully with Review Commission investigations,

23 subject to the protections afforded by the Constitution.

24 Service employees shall be advised of their constitutional

25 rights and the procedural rights afforded under this Act.
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1 (f) DISPOSITION OF COMPLAINTS.—

2 (1) When the Board receives a written report

3 on a complaint from an investigator, the Board shall

4 designate a panel of 3 of its members (hereinafter

5 referred to as the ‘‘Panel’’) to review the report.

6 (2) The Panel shall conduct hearings on the

7 complaint if—

8 (A) the alleged abuse is of a serious na9 ture, as defined by the regulations prescribed

10 under authority of this Act; or

11 (B) the Panel, by majority vote, decides to

12 hold a hearing.

13 (3) The Panel shall issue a written finding on

14 the complaint based on the report alone or on the

15 report and a hearing, if one is held.

16 (4) The Panel shall forward its finding to both

17 the complainant and the Service employee. The com18 plainant and the Service employee shall have 30

19 days in which to review the Panel’s official finding.

20 During the 30-day period, either the complainant or

21 the Service employee may take one of the following

22 actions:

23 (A) If no hearing was held, request that

24 the Panel conduct a hearing. A hearing shall be
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1 held if one member of the Panel votes to hold

2 a hearing.

3 (B) Regardless of whether a hearing was

4 held, request an en banc review of the Panel’s

5 decision. An en banc review will be granted if

6 a majority of the Board votes to conduct such

7 review.

8 (5) If neither party makes a request pursuant

9 to subparagraphs (A) or (B) of paragraph (4), or if

10 such a request is denied, then the Board, promptly,

11 shall report its finding to the appropriate Service.

12 (6) All findings made by the Board of Commis13 sioners sitting en banc shall be reported directly to

14 the appropriate Service with copies to the complain15 ant and the Service employee.

16 (g) HEARINGS.—

17 (1) Both the complainant and the subject Serv18 ice employee shall have the right to be represented

19 by counsel or other representative at Board hear20 ings, to present witnesses, and to cross-examine wit21 nesses.

22 (2) Any finding of a violation on the part of a

23 Service employee by the Board must be established

24 by a preponderance of the evidence.
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1 (3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B),

2 hearings shall be open to the public and transcripts

3 of hearings shall be available to the public.

4 (B) For good cause the Board of Commis5 sioners may close to the public all or any part of a

6 hearing and may seal all or any part of the tran7 script of a hearing.

8 (4) Unless mandated by unusual circumstances,

9 a hearing shall be conducted in one location within

10 the United States that is generally convenient to the

11 complainant and any potential witnesses.

12 (h) DISCIPLINARY RECOMMENDATIONS.—

13 (1) When a finding of a violation may con14 stitute a criminal offense, the Board of Commis15 sioners shall inform the appropriate Federal or State

16 authorities so that appropriate prosecutorial action

17 may be considered. Prosecutorial action shall not re18 lieve the Board of its duties under this Act.

19 (2) When a complaint has been substantiated,

20 the Board shall recommend disciplinary action

21 against the subject Service employee. The Board’s

22 recommendations shall be based on a schedule of

23 sanctions determined by the Commission. If the

24 Services do not adopt the recommendations of the

25 Board, they shall provide a written explanation of
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1 the grounds for refusal to do so within 30 days of

2 the Board’s recommendation. The Commission’s rec3 ommendations and the Service’s explanation shall be

4 made public.

5 (3) Nothing in this Act shall affect the Services’

6 authority to discipline their employees.

7 (i) EARLY WARNING PROGRAM.—The Review Com8 mission shall conduct a periodic review of all complaints

9 in order to determine whether particular Service employ10 ees have been the subject of repeated complaints or have

11 otherwise demonstrated they may be having difficulty

12 dealing appropriately with members of the public. The re13 sults of this review shall be presented to the Services. The

14 Review Commission shall make recommendations to the

15 Services with respect to so identified Service employees in16 cluding, but not limited to, recommendations of training

17 or counseling.

18 (j) RECORDS OF COMPLAINTS AND STATISTICAL

19 SUMMARIES.—The Review Commission shall maintain

20 records of complaints, including a summary of reports

21 made pursuant to the Early Warning Program under sub22 section (i). The Review Commission shall compile and pub23 lish, at least annually, a statistical summary of all com24 plaints received and the dispositions of such complaints.
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1 SEC. 7. RETALIATION.

2 (a) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—Retaliation is pro3 hibited and shall constitute the basis for a complaint to

4 the Commission.

5 (b) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this Act, the

6 term ‘‘retaliation’’ means any action or threat of action

7 against a person, including a Service employee, because

8 such person filed a complaint, testified, assisted, or par9 ticipated in any manner in an investigation or hearing re10 lated to the complaint procedures established by this Act.

11 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON USE OF TESTIMONY.

12 No testimony or other information gathered as part

13 of a complaint, investigation, or hearing under this Act

14 may be used in any proceeding under the Immigration and

15 Nationality Act.

16 SEC. 9. FUNDING.

17 Funds authorized to be appropriated for the Offices

18 of Inspector General of the Department of Justice and the

19 Department of the Treasury are authorized to be available

20 to carry out this Act.

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