Justice for Jocelyn Act

Bill: 119-s-72
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2025-01-13
Policy area: Immigration
Latest action: action_date: 2025-01-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:
action_date: 2025-01-13
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Justice for Jocelyn Act</strong></p><p>This bill limits Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) Alternatives to Detention program, which supervises&nbsp;non-U.S. nationals (<em>aliens</em> under federal law) subject to removal who are released from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Specifically, releases under this program are prohibited unless all detention beds are filled and DHS found no alternatives after exercising and exhausting all reasonable options.</p><p>The bill requires all individuals on ICE’s nondetained docket to be enrolled in the program and be subject to continuous GPS monitoring and curfew.</p><p>Further, the bill requires a&nbsp;non-U.S. national who was arrested and released to be removed in absentia if an immigration officer submits an affidavit to an immigration judge stating that the individual failed to comply with a condition of release.</p>

tv_txt: II 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 72 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 13, 2025 Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mrs. Capito , Mr. Cassidy , Mrs. Blackburn , Mr. Daines , Mr. Wicker , and Mr. Budd ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To remove aliens who fail to comply with a release order, to enroll all aliens on the ICE nondetained docket in the Alternatives to Detention program with continuous GPS monitoring, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Justice for Jocelyn Act . 2. Limitation on participation in Alternatives to Detention No alien may be released as part of any program under an Alternatives to Detention program unless— (1) all detention beds available to the Secretary of Homeland Security have been filled; (2) there exists no available option to hold such alien in detention; and (3) the Secretary has exercised and exhausted all reasonable efforts to hold such alien in detention. 3. GPS tracking and curfew requirements for certain aliens Each alien on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s nondetained docket shall be— (1) enrolled in an Alternatives to Detention program; (2) continuously subject to GPS monitoring— (A) for the duration of all applicable immigration proceedings, including any appeal; and (B) in the case of an alien who has been ordered removed from the United States, until removal; and (3) required to stay in their Alternatives to Detention-compliant home address between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. 4. Removal of aliens who fail to comply with release order Section 240(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(5) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (F) Failure to comply with release order If an immigration officer submits an affidavit to an immigration judge stating that an alien failed to comply with a condition of release under section 236(a), such alien shall be ordered removed in absentia. . 5. Severability If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is held by a Federal court to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application of such provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.