II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2849 

To prohibit the expansion of immigration detention facilities, to improve 

the oversight of such facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2018 

Ms. HARRIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit the expansion of immigration detention facilities, 

to improve the oversight of such facilities, 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 TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Detention Oversight, 

5 Not Expansion Act’’ or the ‘‘DONE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Despite a significant decrease in border ap9 prehensions, the Federal immigrant detention sys10 tem expanded dramatically between 1994 and 2018, 


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1 with the average daily population of detained non2 citizens increasing from fewer than 7,000 during fis3 cal year 1994 to 39,322 during fiscal year 2018. 

4 This population consisted of increasing numbers of 

5 children and women, including pregnant women. 

6 (2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce7 ment (referred to in this section as ‘‘ICE’’) inspec8 tions of detention facilities are performed by field of9 fices, facility staff, or divisions within ICE head10 quarters and are not conducted by independent third 

11 parties. Since the inspectors are not independent, 

12 they often misrepresent conditions inside the facili13 ties and rarely impose consequences for violations. 

14 For example, an outside review of 8 facilities con15 cluded that although ICE identified violations of 

16 medical standards as contributing factors to deaths 

17 in detention, routine ICE detention facility inspec18 tions before and even after the deaths failed to ac19 knowledge (and even dismissed) those violations. 

20 (3) Multiple Federal oversight bodies, including 

21 the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of 

22 Inspector General, ICE’s Advisory Committee on 

23 Family Residential Centers, and the Government Ac24 countability Office, have documented poor conditions 


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1 and inhumane detainee treatment, including medical 

2 negligence, in immigration detention facilities. 

3 (4) Since 2003, more than 170 deaths have 

4 been reported in immigration detention facilities, a 

5 significant number of which resulted from egregious 

6 violations of ICE medical care standards, which were 

7 often overlooked during ICE inspections of facilities. 

8 (5) The Department of Homeland Security Of9 fice for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Of10 fice of Inspector General have received formal com11 plaints and numerous allegations of inadequate med12 ical care for pregnant women who are in custody in 

13 such facilities. 

14 (6) Responses by the Department of Homeland 

15 Security to Freedom of Information Act requests 

16 suggest that fewer than 3 percent of the claims of 

17 sexual and physical abuse of detainees in such facili18 ties have been investigated by the Office of Inspector 

19 General. 

20 (7) Multiple Federal oversight bodies, including 

21 the Homeland Security Advisory Council, have docu22 mented limited oversight and management account23 ability of immigration detention facilities, including 

24 a lack of reasonable inspections and deficient con25 tracting practices. 


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1 (8) Legal service providers allege that some im2 migration detention facilities have unreasonably re3 stricted legal visitation and access in violation of ap4 plicable requirements, raising serious due process 

5 concerns. 

6 (9) The Department of Homeland Security 

7 seeks to vastly expand the immigration detention 

8 system despite the availability of a wide array of 

9 community-based alternatives to detention that pro10 vide a cheaper, more compassionate, rights respect11 ing response to migration. 

12 (10) In June 2017, the Department of Home13 land Security terminated the Family Case Manage14 ment Program, an alternative to detention that— 

15 (A) had proved far less expensive than de16 tention; and 

17 (B) resulted in close to a 100-percent com18 pliance rate by participants. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

25 the Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

3 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

4 Senate; 

5 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

6 the House of Representatives; 

7 (E) the Committee on Homeland Security 

8 of the House of Representatives; and 

9 (F) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (2) EXPANSION.—The term ‘‘expansion’’— 

12 (A) means the acquisition of any new con13 tract, contract addendum, modification, or rider 

14 that would increase current immigration deten15 tion bed usage or activate existing unused im16 migration detention bed capacity for existing or 

17 new contracts at any immigration detention fa18 cility, including— 

19 (i) Bureau of Prison facilities; 

20 (ii) contract detention facilities; 

21 (iii) intergovernmental service agree22 ments; 

23 (iv) service processing centers; 

24 (v) United States Marshals Service 

25 intergovernmental agreements on which 


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1 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce2 ment is an authorized user; and 

3 (vi) juvenile or family detention facili4 ties; and 

5 (B) does not include improvements or ren6 ovations unrelated to the increase of current 

7 immigration bed usage or activation of unused 

8 immigration bed capacity. 

9 (3) IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITY.—The 

10 term ‘‘immigration detention facility’’ means any 

11 site at which U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

12 or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

13 holds noncitizens in custody for any period. 

14 SEC. 4. MORATORIUM ON EXPANSION OF IMMIGRATION DE15 TENTION FACILITIES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu17 rity may not use any Federal funds for the construction 

18 or expansion of immigration detention facilities. 

19 (b) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home21 land Security shall submit a report to Congress that con22 tains a detailed plan on— 

23 (1) how the number of immigration detention 

24 beds will be decreased to 50 percent of the number 


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1 available as of the date of the enactment of this Act; 

2 and 

3 (2) how to implement community-based alter4 natives to detention, as a substitute for detention in 

5 a facility, which is developed in consultation with 

6 stakeholders, including nonprofit legal service pro7 viders, nonprofit shelter providers, and detention vis8 itation programs. 

9 (c) NOTIFICATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of Home11 land Security determines that more immigration de12 tention space will be needed, the Secretary, not later 

13 than 60 days before such need, shall submit a writ14 ten justification of such need to the Chair and 

15 Ranking Member of the appropriate congressional 

16 committees. 

17 (2) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub18 section may be construed to authorize the use of 

19 Federal funds to expand immigration detention fa20 cilities without explicit statutory authorization after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (d) ENDING A CONTRACT.—If a facility is deemed 

23 less than adequate in the 2 most recent inspections, au24 dits, or investigations conducted by the Office of Inspector 

25 General of the Department of Homeland Security pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 23, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2849.IS S2849

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1 ant to section 5(a)(1), the Department of Homeland Secu2 rity shall not continue to contract with such facility. 

3 SEC. 5. INCREASED OVERSIGHT OF IMMIGRATION DETEN4 TION FACILITIES. 

5 (a) INSPECTIONS; AUDITS; INVESTIGATIONS.—In ad6 dition to exercising its responsibilities and duties estab7 lished by the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

8 App.), the Office of the Inspector General of the Depart9 ment of Homeland Security shall— 

10 (1) conduct— 

11 (A) unannounced annual inspections of im12 migration detention facilities; 

13 (B) audits of immigration detention facili14 ties to ensure compliance with the national 

15 standards established pursuant to the Violence 

16 Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 

17 (Public Law 113–4 and the Standards to Pre18 vent, Detect, and Respond to Sexual Abuse and 

19 Assault in Confinement Facilities (79 Fed. Reg. 

20 13099 et seq.); published by the Department of 

21 Homeland Security on March 7, 2014); and 

22 (C) investigations focused on health, safe23 ty, and due process concerns at immigration de24 tention facilities, including— 

25 (i) deaths in custody; 


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1 (ii) detainee access to medical and 

2 mental health care, including pregnant 

3 women and other vulnerable populations; 

4 (iii) sexual assault and harassment; 

5 and 

6 (iv) compliance with legal visitation 

7 and access requirements; 

8 (2) measure inspections, audits, and investiga9 tions conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) against 

10 the American Bar Association’s Civil Detention 

11 Standards, in addition to the U.S. Immigration and 

12 Customs Enforcement standards to which each facil13 ity is held; 

14 (3) deliver a conclusion on adequacy at the con15 clusion of each inspection, audit, and investigation 

16 conducted pursuant to paragraph (1); and 

17 (4) make publicly available the results of the in18 spections, audits, and investigations conducted pur19 suant to paragraph (1) without compromising the 

20 confidentiality of individuals who submitted com21 plaints. 

22 (b) CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office for Civil Rights 

24 and Civil Liberties of the Department of Homeland 

25 Security shall conduct investigations of civil rights 


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1 and civil liberties complaints in immigration deten2 tion facilities in accordance with section 8I(f) of the 

3 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

4 (2) INFORMATION REQUESTS.—Each compo5 nent agency of the Department of Homeland Secu6 rity shall comply with all document and information 

7 requests from the Office for Civil Rights and Civil 

8 Liberties to facilitate investigations under this sec9 tion. 

10 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 (1) OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The In12 spector General of the Department of Homeland Se13 curity shall— 

14 (A) not later than 60 days after any in15 spection, audit, or investigation, submit a re16 port to the appropriate congressional commit17 tees that summarizes the results pursuant to 

18 subsection (a); and 

19 (B) release aggregate data on complaints 

20 lodged about or from an immigration detention 

21 facility, actions taken in response to such com22 plaints, and investigation outcomes on its 

23 website on a quarterly basis, without compro24 mising confidentiality. 


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1 (2) OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIB2 ERTIES.—The Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Lib3 erties shall— 

4 (A) not later than 60 days after the con5 clusion of any investigation under subsection 

6 (b), submit a report to Congress that summa7 rizes the results of the investigation; and 

8 (B) release aggregate data on complaints 

9 lodged about or from an immigration detention 

10 facility, actions taken in response to such com11 plaints, and investigation outcomes on its 

12 website on a quarterly basis, without compro13 mising confidentiality. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi15 tion to amount otherwise authorized to be appropriated 

16 for such purposes, there is authorized to be appropriated 

17 to the Department of Homeland Security, for each of the 

18 fiscal years 2019 through 2027— 

19 (1) $45,000,000 to conduct and report on the 

20 inspections, audits, and investigations required 

21 under subsection (a); and 

22 (2) $10,000,000 to conduct and report on the 

23 investigations required under subsection (b). 

Æ 


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