I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1573 
To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port 
of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 3, 2021 
Ms. JAYAPAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained 
at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen 
by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immi-
gration and Customs Enforcement. 
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 ‘‘Access to Counsel Act 
of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE AT 
PORTS OF ENTRY AND DEFERRED INSPEC-
TION. 
(a) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE 
DURING INSPECTION.—Section 235 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE 
DURING INSPECTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall ensure that a covered individual has 
a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel 
and an interested party during the inspection proc-
ess. 
‘‘(2) SCOPE OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall— 
‘‘(A) provide the covered individual a 
meaningful opportunity to consult (including 
consultation via telephone) with counsel and an 
interested party not later than one hour after 
the secondary inspection process commences 
and as necessary throughout the inspection 
process, including, as applicable, during de-
ferred inspection; 
‘‘(B) allow counsel and an interested party 
to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, 
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including by providing to the examining immi-
gration officer information, documentation, and 
other evidence in support of the covered indi-
vidual; and 
‘‘(C) to the greatest extent practicable, ac-
commodate a request by the covered individual 
for counsel or an interested party to appear in- 
person at the secondary or deferred inspection 
site. 
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT 
RESIDENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security may not accept Form I–407 
Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent 
Resident Status (or a successor form) from a 
lawful permanent resident subject to secondary 
or deferred inspection without providing such 
lawful permanent resident a meaningful oppor-
tunity to seek advice from counsel prior to the 
submission of the form. 
‘‘(B) 
EXCEPTION.—The 
Secretary 
of 
Homeland Security may accept Form I–407 
Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent 
Resident Status (or a successor form) from a 
lawful permanent resident subject to secondary 
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or deferred inspection if such lawful permanent 
resident knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily 
waives, in writing, the opportunity to seek ad-
vice from counsel. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(A) 
COUNSEL.—The 
term 
‘counsel’ 
means— 
‘‘(i) any attorney who is a member in 
good standing of the bar of any State, the 
District of Columbia, or a territory or a 
possession of the United States and is not 
under an order suspending, enjoining, re-
straining, disbarring, or otherwise restrict-
ing the attorney in the practice of law; or 
‘‘(ii) an individual accredited by the 
Attorney General, acting as a representa-
tive of an organization recognized by the 
Executive Office for Immigration Review, 
to represent a covered individual in immi-
gration matters. 
‘‘(B) COVERED
INDIVIDUAL.—The term 
‘covered individual’ means an individual subject 
to secondary or deferred inspection who is— 
‘‘(i) a national of the United States; 
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‘‘(ii) an immigrant, lawfully admitted 
for permanent residence, who is returning 
from a temporary visit abroad; 
‘‘(iii) an alien seeking admission as an 
immigrant in possession of a valid unex-
pired immigrant visa; 
‘‘(iv) an alien seeking admission as a 
non-immigrant in possession of a valid un-
expired non-immigrant visa; 
‘‘(v) a refugee; 
‘‘(vi) a returning asylee; or 
‘‘(vii) an alien who has been approved 
for parole under section 212(d)(5)(A), in-
cluding an alien who is returning to the 
United States in possession of a valid ad-
vance parole document. 
‘‘(C) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘in-
terested party’ means— 
‘‘(i) a relative of the covered indi-
vidual; 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered indi-
vidual to whom an immigrant or non-immi-
grant visa has been issued, the petitioner 
or sponsor thereof (including an agent of 
such petitioner or sponsor); or 
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