116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2203 
AN ACT 
To increase transparency, accountability, and community en-
gagement within the Department of Homeland Security, 
provide independent oversight of border security activi-
ties, improve training for agents and officers of U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement, 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. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE OM-
BUDSMAN FOR BORDER AND IMMIGRATION 
ENFORCEMENT RELATED CONCERNS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu-
rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 711. OMBUDSMAN FOR BORDER AND IMMIGRATION 
ENFORCEMENT RELATED CONCERNS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Within the Department there 
shall be a position of Ombudsman for Border and Immi-
gration Enforcement Related Concerns (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘Ombudsman’), who shall— 
‘‘(1) be independent of Department agencies 
and officers; 
‘‘(2) report directly to the Secretary; and 
‘‘(3) have a background in immigration law, 
civil rights, and law enforcement. 
‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—It shall be the function of the 
Ombudsman to— 
‘‘(1) in coordination with the Inspector General 
of the Department, establish an independent, neu-
tral, accessible, confidential, and standardized proc-
ess to assist individuals (including aliens (as such
term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)) in resolving 
complaints with respect to U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment, a subcontractor, or a cooperating entity, 
which process shall include a publicly accessible 
website through which a complainant can check on 
the status of such a complaint; 
‘‘(2) identify and thereafter review, examine, 
and make recommendations to the Secretary to ad-
dress chronic issues identified by the Ombudsman in 
carrying out the function described in paragraph 
(1); 
‘‘(3) establish a Border Oversight Panel in ac-
cordance with subsection (f); and 
‘‘(4) review compliance with departmental poli-
cies and standards of care for custody of aliens by 
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including any 
violations of applicable policy or standards of care 
involving force-feeding. 
‘‘(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The existence of a com-
plaint, including the identity of any Department employee 
implicated in a complaint, shall be kept confidential by the 
Ombudsman and, in the absence of the written consent
of an individual who submits a complaint, the Ombudsman 
shall keep confidential the identity of and any identifying 
information relating to such individual. Such confiden-
tiality requirement may not be considered as a factor of 
whether or not information under this subsection may be 
disclosed under section 552 of title 5, United Stated Code 
(commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information 
Act). 
‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Not later than June 30 
of each year beginning in the year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Ombudsman shall submit 
to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
Senate a report that includes, for the previous year, the 
following: 
‘‘(1) The number and types of complaints re-
ceived under this section and for each complaint— 
‘‘(A) the component or subcomponent, sub-
contractor, or cooperating entity identified; 
‘‘(B) the demographics of the complainant; 
and
‘‘(C) a description of the resolution of the 
complaint or the status of the resolution proc-
ess. 
‘‘(2) Any complaint pattern that could be pre-
vented or reduced by policy training or practice 
changes. 
‘‘(3) A description of any pattern of violations 
of any applicable policy or standards. 
‘‘(4) A description of each complaint received 
under this section with respect to which U.S. Cus-
toms and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement, a subcontractor, or a cooper-
ating entity, as applicable, has taken action to re-
solve, and the time between receipt and resolution of 
each such complaint. 
‘‘(5) A description of complaints received under 
this section for which action has not been taken 
after one year, and the period during which each 
complaint has been open. 
‘‘(6) Recommendations the Ombudsman has 
made under subsection (b)(2). 
‘‘(7) Other information, as determined appro-
priate by the Ombudsman. 
‘‘(e) APPOINTMENT OF BORDER COMMUNITIES LIAI-
SON.—