I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3239 
To require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to perform an initial health 
screening on detainees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2019 
Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 
LUJA´N, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. SOTO, Mr. 
GOMEZ, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. 
OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. SIRES, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. BROWN of 
Maryland, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. RICHMOND, 
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 
Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 
CA´RDENAS, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, 
Mr. COSTA, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. 
KELLY of Illinois, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. SUOZZI, 
Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SEAN PATRICK 
MALONEY of New York, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. SPEIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. 
PINGREE, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. BASS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 
LAWSON of Florida, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. NEAL, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 
PERLMUTTER, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. 
SCHRADER, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. 
BROWNLEY of California, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 
Ms. HILL of California, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. VELA, Mr. 
MEEKS, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CASE, Mr. COX of California, 
Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. KEATING, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, 
Mr. HECK, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. 
TRAHAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. 
TONKO, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. MCNER-
NEY, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsyl-
vania, Ms. DEAN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. HARD-
ER of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. STANTON, Mr. PA-
NETTA, Mr. KILMER, and Ms. DELBENE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 
to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently 
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determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to perform 
an initial health screening on 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and 
Border Protection Custody Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Initial health screening protocol. 
Sec. 3. Water, sanitation, and hygiene. 
Sec. 4. Food and nutrition. 
Sec. 5. Shelter. 
Sec. 6. Coordination and surge capacity. 
Sec. 7. Training. 
Sec. 8. Interfacility transfer of care. 
Sec. 9. Planning and initial implementation. 
Sec. 10. Contractor compliance. 
Sec. 11. Inspections. 
Sec. 12. GAO report. 
Sec. 13. Rule of construction. 
SEC. 2. INITIAL HEALTH SCREENING PROTOCOL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) SCREENING REQUIRED.—The Commissioner 
of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (referred to 
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in this Act as the ‘‘Commissioner’’) shall ensure that 
any individual whom U.S. Customs and Border Pro-
tection (referred to in this Act as ‘‘CBP’’) detains 
(referred to in this Act as a ‘‘detainee’’) receives an 
initial health screening by a medical professional— 
(A) to identify acute conditions and high- 
risk vulnerabilities; and 
(B) to provide appropriate health care to 
subpopulations involving pediatrics, obstetrics, 
and geriatrics specialties. 
(2) TIMING.—The screening required by para-
graph (1) shall be performed within— 
(A) 3 hours of being initially detained for 
high-priority populations in accordance with 
subsection (d); and 
(B) 12 hours of being initially detained for 
all other populations. 
(b) 
INTERPRETERS.—To 
ensure 
that 
health 
screenings and medical care required under subsections 
(a) and (f) are carried out in the best interests of the de-
tainees receiving such screenings and care, the Commis-
sioner shall— 
(1) provide such detainees with interpreters in 
the detainee’s native or indigenous language; and 
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