I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2314 
To ensure the humane treatment of persons detained pursuant to the 
Immigration and Nationality Act. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 13, 2015 
Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. O’ROURKE, 
and Mr. MCDERMOTT) 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 determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure the humane treatment of persons detained 
pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act. 
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 ‘‘Accountability in Im-
migration Detention Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. MINIMUM DETENTION CENTER STANDARDS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘deten-
tion facility’’ means a Federal, State, or local gov-
ernment facility, or a privately owned and operated 
facility, that is used, in whole or in part, to hold in-
dividuals under the authority of the Director of U.S. 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Com-
missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
including facilities that hold such individuals under 
a contract or agreement with the Director or the 
Commissioner. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
(3) DETAINEES.—The term ‘‘detainee’’ means 
an individual who is subject to detention under the 
Immigration and Nationality Act. 
(b) DETENTION
REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that all persons detained pursuant to the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) are 
treated humanely and shall ensure that all detention facili-
ties comply with the following minimum requirements: 
(1) FAIR AND HUMANE TREATMENT.—Detain-
ees shall not be subject to degrading or inhumane 
treatment, such as physical abuse, sexual abuse or 
harassment, psychological abuse, retaliatory actions, 
arbitrary punishment, or discrimination based on 
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nationality, sexual orientation, race, gender identity, 
or religion. 
(2) DETENTION FACILITY STANDARDS.—Deten-
tion facilities shall comply fully with the national 
standards for the detection, prevention, reduction, 
and punishment of prison rape pursuant to section 
8 of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (42 
U.S.C 15607). 
(3) LIMITATIONS
ON
SOLITARY
CONFINE-
MENT.—Detainees shall not be subject to solitary 
confinement, shackling, or strip searches, except to 
the extent that such techniques are necessary to en-
sure the security of other detainees, staff, or the 
public and only if less coercive measures will not en-
sure the security of other detainees, staff, and the 
public. Decisions to place detainees in solitary con-
finement shall be reported to the Field Officer Di-
rector at a minimum for any placement lasting at 
least 3 days continuously or 3 days out of a 7 day 
period, and reviewed on a weekly basis thereafter. 
(4) INVESTIGATION OF GRIEVANCES.—Detain-
ees shall have the right to prompt, effective, and im-
partial investigations of grievances related to condi-
tions of detention or to a lack of due process in 
treatment of detainees. No detainee shall be retali-
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ated against for filing a complaint or grievance or 
for organizing peaceful demonstrations, including 
hunger strikes. 
(5) ACCESS TO TELEPHONES.—Detainees shall 
have sufficient access to telephones, and the ability 
to contact, free of charge, legal representatives, for-
eign consulates, the immigration courts, the Board 
of Immigration Appeals, Family Courts, local crimi-
nal courts, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Federal 
courts. The rates charged for telephone calls shall be 
reasonable and shall not significantly impair detain-
ees’ access to telephones. 
(6) LOCATION OF FACILITIES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), all detention facilities whose 
date of first use by the Department of Home-
land Security occurs after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act shall be located and within 50 
miles of a community in which there is a dem-
onstrated capacity to provide free or low-cost 
legal representation by— 
(i) nonprofit legal aid organizations; 
or 
(ii) pro bono attorneys with expertise 
in asylum or immigration law. 
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