IB 
Union Calendar No. 332 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5581 
[Report No. 116–412, Part I] 
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 
JANUARY 10, 2020 
Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. JUDY CHU of 
California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KILMER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 
SWALWELL of California, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
MARCH 5, 2020 
Additional sponsors: Ms. ESHOO, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. BLU-
MENAUER, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. 
KHANNA, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, 
Mr. KILDEE, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. ESCOBAR, 
Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. CORREA, Mr. LEWIS, 
Ms. DELAURO, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mrs. MURPHY of 
Florida, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Mr. KENNEDY 
MARCH 5, 2020 
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
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MARCH 5, 2020 
Committee on Homeland Security discharged; committed to the Committee of 
the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 10, 2020] 
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. 
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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 2020’’. 
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 adding 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 process. 
‘‘(2) SCOPE OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall— 
‘‘(A) provide the covered individual a 
meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel 
and an interested party not later than one hour 
after the secondary inspection process commences 
and as necessary throughout the inspection proc-
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ess, including, as applicable, during deferred in-
spection; 
‘‘(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.—The Secretary of Home-
land 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 reasonable oppor-
tunity to seek advice from counsel prior to the 
submission of the form. 
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‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Home-
land Security may accept 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 deferred 
inspection if such lawful permanent resident 
knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives, 
in writing, the opportunity to seek advice 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 representative 
of an organization recognized by the Execu-
tive Office for Immigration Review, to rep-
resent a covered individual in immigration 
matters. 
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‘‘(B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov-
ered 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 
non-immigrant in possession of a valid un-
expired non-immigrant visa; 
‘‘(v) a refugee; or 
‘‘(vi) 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 ‘inter-
ested 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-im-
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migrant visa has been issued, the petitioner 
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 sub-
section (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. 
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Union Calendar No. 332 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5581 
[Report No. 116–412, Part I] 
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. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement. 
MARCH 5, 2020 
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an 
amendment 
MARCH 5, 2020 
Committee on Homeland Security discharged; committed 
to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
the Union and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:41 Mar 05, 2020
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PO 00000
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