I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1340 
To provide for improvements in the treatment of detainees, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2021 
Mr. FOSTER (for himself and Mr. DEUTCH) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide for improvements in the treatment of detainees, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Immigrant Detainee 
Legal Rights Act’’. 
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF LEGAL ACCESS PROGRAMS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF LEGAL ACCESS 
PROGRAMS.—The Attorney General shall establish and 
maintain, within the Executive Office for Immigration Re-
view, an Office of Legal Access Programs to develop and 
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administer a system of legal orientation programs to make 
immigration proceedings more efficient and cost-effective 
by educating aliens regarding administrative procedures 
and legal rights under United States immigration law and 
to establish other programs to assist in providing aliens 
access to legal information. The Attorney General shall 
submit a plan to Congress not later than 180 days after 
the enactment of this Act including a schedule to develop 
and deploy legal orientation programs for all detainees not 
later than 1 year after the enactment of this Act. The 
Attorney General shall seek input from nongovernmental 
organizations and stakeholders in developing this plan. 
(b) LEGAL ORIENTATION PROGRAMS.—The legal ori-
entation programs— 
(1) shall provide programs to assist detained 
aliens in making informed and timely decisions re-
garding their removal and eligibility for relief from 
removal in order to increase efficiency and reduce 
costs in immigration proceedings and Federal cus-
tody processes and to improve access to counsel and 
other legal services; 
(2) shall ensure that programs and written no-
tice of rights are available in English and the five 
most common native languages spoken by the de-
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tainees held in custody at that location during the 
preceding fiscal year; 
(3) shall identify unaccompanied alien children, 
aliens with a serious mental disability, and other 
particularly vulnerable aliens for consideration by 
the Attorney General pursuant to section 292(c) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by 
section 3502(c); and 
(4) may provide services to detained aliens in 
immigration proceedings under sections 235, 238, 
240, and 241(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225, 1228, 1229a, and 
1231(a)(5)) and to other aliens in immigration and 
asylum proceedings under sections 235, 238, and 
240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1225, 1228, and 1229a). 
(c) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall es-
tablish procedures that ensure that legal orientation pro-
grams are available for all detained aliens within 5 days 
of arrival into custody and to inform such aliens of the 
basic procedures of immigration hearings, their rights re-
lating to those hearings under the immigration laws, infor-
mation that may deter such aliens from filing frivolous 
legal claims, and any other information deemed appro-
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