to prevent sexual abuse and physical harm of vulner-
able detainees. 
(13) The Commissioner shall ensure that lan-
guage-appropriate ‘‘Detainee Bill of Rights’’, includ-
ing indigenous languages, are posted or otherwise 
made available in all areas where detainees are lo-
cated. The ‘‘Detainee Bill of Rights’’ shall include 
all rights afforded to the detainee under this Act. 
(14) Video from video-monitoring must be pre-
served for 90 days and the detention facility must 
maintain certified records that the video-monitoring 
is properly working at all times. 
SEC. 6. COORDINATION AND SURGE CAPACITY. 
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall enter into 
memoranda of understanding with appropriate Federal 
agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human 
Services, and applicable emergency government relief serv-
ices, as well as contracts with health care, public health, 
social work, and transportation professionals, for purposes 
of addressing surge capacity and ensuring compliance with 
this Act. 
SEC. 7. TRAINING. 
The Commissioner shall ensure that CBP personnel 
assigned to each short-term custodial facility are profes-
sionally trained, including continuing education as the
Commissioner deems appropriate, in all subjects necessary 
to ensure compliance with this Act, including— 
(1) humanitarian response protocols and stand-
ards; 
(2) indicators of physical and mental illness, 
and medical distress in children and adults; 
(3) indicators of child sexual exploitation and 
effective responses to missing migrant children; and 
(4) procedures to report incidents of suspected 
child sexual abuse and exploitation directly to the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 
SEC. 8. INTERFACILITY TRANSFER OF CARE. 
(a) TRANSFER.—When a detainee is discharged from 
a medical facility or emergency department, the Commis-
sioner shall ensure that responsibility of care is trans-
ferred from the medical facility or emergency department 
to an accepting licensed health care provider of CBP. 
(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF ACCEPTING PROVIDERS.— 
Such accepting licensed health care provider shall review 
the medical facility or emergency department’s evaluation, 
diagnosis, treatment, management, and discharge care in-
structions to assess the safety of the discharge and trans-
fer and to provide necessary follow-up care.
SEC. 9. PLANNING AND INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION. 
(a) PLANNING.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall submit to Congress a detailed plan delin-
eating the timeline, process, and challenges of carrying out 
the requirements of this Act. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall ensure that the requirements of this Act are 
implemented not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment. 
SEC. 10. CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE. 
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure 
that all personnel contracted to carry out this Act do so 
in accordance with the requirements of this Act. 
SEC. 11. INSPECTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the De-
partment of Homeland Security shall— 
(1) conduct unannounced inspections of ports of 
entry, border patrol stations, and detention facilities 
administered by CBP or contractors of CBP; and 
(2) submit to Congress, reports on the results 
of such inspections as well as other reports of the 
Inspector General related to custody operations. 
(b) PARTICULAR ATTENTION.—In carrying out sub-
section (a), the Inspector General of the Department of 
Homeland Security shall pay particular attention to—
(1) the degree of compliance by CBP with the 
requirements of this Act; 
(2) remedial actions taken by CBP; 
(3) the health needs of detainees; and 
(4) the degree of compliance with part 115 of 
title 6, Code of Federal Regulations (commonly 
known as the ‘‘Standards To Prevent, Detect, and 
Respond to Sexual Abuse and Assault in Confine-
ment Facilities’’). 
(c) ACCESS TO FACILITIES.—The Commissioner may 
not deny a Member of Congress entrance to any facility 
or building used, owned, or operated by CBP. 
SEC. 12. GAO REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 
United States shall— 
(1) not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, commence a study on imple-
mentation of, and compliance with, this Act; and 
(2) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
actment of this Act, submit a report to Congress on 
the results of such study. 
(b) ISSUES TO BE STUDIED.—The study required by 
subsection (a) shall examine the management and over-
sight by CBP of ports of entry, border patrol stations, and 
other detention facilities, including the extent to which
CBP and the Department of Homeland Security have ef-
fective processes in place to comply with this Act. The 
study shall also examine the extent to which CBP per-
sonnel, in carrying out this Act, make abusive, derisive, 
profane, or harassing statements or gestures, or engage 
in any other conduct evidencing hatred or invidious preju-
dice to or about one person or group on account of race, 
color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, 
or disability, including on social media. 
SEC. 13. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act may be construed— 
(1) as authorizing CBP to detain individuals for 
longer than 72 hours; 
(2) as contradicting the March 7, 2014, De-
partment of Homeland Security rule adopting 
Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Sex-
ual Abuse and Assault in Confinement Facilities, 
which includes a zero tolerance policy prohibiting all 
forms of sexual abuse and assault of individuals in 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody, in-
cluding in holding facilities, during transport, and 
during processing; 
(3) as contradicting current protocols related to 
Department background checks in the hiring proc-
ess;
(4) as restricting the Department from denying 
employment to or terminating the employment of 
any individual who would be or is involved with the 
handling or processing at holding facilities, during 
transport, or during processing, or care of detainees, 
including the care of children, and has been con-
victed of a sex crime or other offense involving a 
child victim; or 
(5) as affecting the obligation to fully comply 
with all applicable immigration laws, including being 
subject to any penalties, fines, or other sanctions. 
SEC. 14. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) INTERPRETATION
SERVICES.—The term 
‘‘interpretation services’’ includes translation serv-
ices that are performed either in-person or through 
a telephone or video service. 
(2) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 101(b)(1) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)). 
(3) U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION 
FACILITY.—The term ‘‘U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection Facility’’ includes— 
(A) U.S. Border Patrol stations; 
(B) ports of entry;
(C) checkpoints; 
(D) forward operating bases; 
(E) secondary inspection areas; and 
(F) short-term custody facilities. 
(4) FORWARD
OPERATING
BASE.—The term 
‘‘forward operating base’’ means a permanent facil-
ity established by CBP in forward or remote loca-
tions, and designated as such by CBP. 
(5) PUBLICATION OF DATA ON COMPLAINTS OF 
SEXUAL ABUSE AT CBP FACILITIES.—Not later than 
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, acting in coordina-
tion with the Office of Inspector General and Office 
for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, shall publicly re-
lease aggregate data on complaints of sexual abuse 
at CBP facilities on its website on a quarterly basis, 
excluding any personally identifiable information 
that may compromise the confidentiality of individ-
uals who reported abuse. 
SEC. 15. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that the men and 
women of the U.S. Border Patrol should be commended 
for continuing to carry out their duties in a professional 
manner, including caring for the extraordinarily high 
numbers of family units, unaccompanied alien children,
and single adults processed in United States Customs and 
Border Protection facilities referenced in this Act. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 24, 2019. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 3239 
AN ACT 
To require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to 
perform an initial health screening on detainees, 
and for other purposes.