I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 944 
To clarify the rights of certain persons who are held or detained at a 
port of entry or at any facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 4, 2025 
Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Ms. ANSARI, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. 
CASAR, Mr. CASTEN, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CHU, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JOHNSON
of Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 
KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, 
Mr. LIEU, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. MCBRIDE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. MCIVER, 
Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
POCAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. TLAIB, 
Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 
Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. PRESSLEY, and Mr. GOLD-
MAN of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To clarify the rights of certain persons who are held or 
detained at a port of entry or at any facility overseen 
by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Counsel 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE AT 
PORTS OF ENTRY AND DURING DEFERRED 
INSPECTION. 
(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 AT PORTS OF ENTRY AND DURING 
DEFERRED 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 remainder of 
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the inspection process, including, as applicable, 
during deferred inspection; 
‘‘(B) allow counsel and an interested party 
to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, 
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.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Homeland 
Security may not accept a Form I–407 Record 
of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident 
Status (or a successor form) from a lawful per-
manent resident subject to secondary or de-
ferred inspection without first providing such 
lawful permanent resident a meaningful oppor-
tunity to seek advice from counsel. 
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‘‘(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 
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) an 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. 
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‘‘(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; 
‘‘(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 
nonimmigrant in possession of a valid un-
expired nonimmigrant 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; 
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‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered indi-
vidual to whom an immigrant or a non-
immigrant visa has been issued, the peti-
tioner or sponsor thereof (including an 
agent of such petitioner or sponsor); or 
‘‘(iii) a person, organization, or entity 
in the United States with a bona fide con-
nection to the covered individual.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
(c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act, or in 
any amendment made by this Act, may be construed to 
limit a right to counsel or any right to appointed counsel 
under— 
(1) 
section 
240(b)(4)(A) 
(8 
U.S.C. 
1229a(b)(4)(A)); 
(2) section 292 of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362); or 
(3) any other provision of law, including any 
final court order securing such rights, 
as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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