I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 458 
To require investigations and reports regarding individuals who died in the 
custody of certain Federal authorities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 25, 2021 
Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 
VARGAS, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. 
CA´RDENAS, and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require investigations and reports regarding individuals 
who died in the custody of certain Federal authorities, 
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 ‘‘Jakelin Caal Death 
in Custody Reporting Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION AND REPORTING OF INDIVIDUALS 
WHO DIED IN THE CUSTODY OF FEDERAL IM-
MIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 
(a) INVESTIGATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 
the death of an alien in the custody of the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Home-
land Security shall conduct an investigation into 
such death, which shall include a root cause analysis 
that identifies any changes to policies, practices, 
training curricula, staffing, or potential system-wide 
errors that could reduce the probability of such an 
event in the future. Such root cause analysis shall 
include consultation with and input from appro-
priately qualified personnel, who, at a minimum, 
shall consist of a medical professional qualified in 
any field germane to such death, and shall be per-
formed in accordance with professional medical 
standards for investigating sentinel events in medical 
care facilities, including the Sentinel Event Policy 
promulgated by The Joint Commission. 
(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 
days after the conclusion of the investigation re-
quired under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Home-
land Security shall make publicly available on the 
website of the Department of Homeland Security a 
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report describing the results of such investigation, 
including the root cause analysis described in such 
paragraph. 
(b) REPORTING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief of the U.S. Bor-
der Patrol and Director of U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement shall submit to the appro-
priate congressional committees and post on a pub-
licly available website of the Department of Home-
land Security not later than 24 hours after the 
death of any individual in the custody of the U.S. 
Border Patrol or U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, as the case may be, in the temporary 
custody of other law enforcement agencies on behalf 
of such agencies, or after the use of force by an 
agent or officer of such agencies a report relating to 
each such death. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under paragraph 
(1) shall include information that, at minimum, in-
cludes the following with respect to each death that 
is the subject of each such report: 
(A) The name, gender, race, ethnicity, and 
age of the deceased. 
(B) The date, time, and location of such 
death. 
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(C) A description of the circumstances sur-
rounding such death. 
(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means the 
Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs of the Senate. 
SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORTING OF INDIVIDUALS 
WHO DIED IN THE CUSTODY OF THE OFFICE 
OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT. 
(a) INVESTIGATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 
the death of an alien in the custody of the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services shall conduct an in-
vestigation into such death, which shall include a 
root cause analysis that identifies any changes to 
policies, practices, training curricula, staffing, or po-
tential system-wide errors that could reduce the 
probability of such an event in the future. Such root 
cause analysis shall include consultation with and 
input from appropriately qualified personnel, who, at 
a minimum, shall consist of a medical professional 
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qualified in any field germane to such death, and 
shall be performed in accordance with professional 
medical standards for investigating sentinel events in 
medical care facilities, including the Sentinel Event 
Policy promulgated by The Joint Commission. 
(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 
days after the conclusion of the investigation re-
quired under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall make publicly available on 
the website of the Department of Health and 
Human Services a report describing the results of 
such investigation, including the root cause analysis 
described in such paragraph. 
(b) REPORTING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 
Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health 
and Human Services shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees and post on a publicly 
available website of the Department not later than 
24 hours after the death of any individual in the 
custody of such Office a report relating to each such 
death. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under paragraph 
(1) shall include information that, at minimum, in-
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cludes the following with respect to each death that 
is the subject of each such report: 
(A) The name, gender, race, ethnicity, and 
age of the deceased. 
(B) The date, time, and location of death. 
(C) A description of the circumstances sur-
rounding the death. 
(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of 
the Senate. 
Æ 
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