[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2849 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2849

   To prohibit the expansion of immigration detention facilities, to 
   improve the oversight of such facilities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 15, 2018

  Ms. Harris introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit the expansion of immigration detention facilities, to 
   improve the oversight of such facilities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Detention Oversight, Not Expansion 
Act'' or the ``DONE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Despite a significant decrease in border apprehensions, 
        the Federal immigrant detention system expanded dramatically 
        between 1994 and 2018, with the average daily population of 
        detained noncitizens increasing from fewer than 7,000 during 
        fiscal year 1994 to 39,322 during fiscal year 2018. This 
        population consisted of increasing numbers of children and 
        women, including pregnant women.
            (2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (referred to 
        in this section as ``ICE'') inspections of detention facilities 
        are performed by field offices, facility staff, or divisions 
        within ICE headquarters and are not conducted by independent 
        third parties. Since the inspectors are not independent, they 
        often misrepresent conditions inside the facilities and rarely 
        impose consequences for violations. For example, an outside 
        review of 8 facilities concluded that although ICE identified 
        violations of medical standards as contributing factors to 
        deaths in detention, routine ICE detention facility inspections 
        before and even after the deaths failed to acknowledge (and 
        even dismissed) those violations.
            (3) Multiple Federal oversight bodies, including the 
        Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, 
        ICE's Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers, and the 
        Government Accountability Office, have documented poor 
        conditions and inhumane detainee treatment, including medical 
        negligence, in immigration detention facilities.
            (4) Since 2003, more than 170 deaths have been reported in 
        immigration detention facilities, a significant number of which 
        resulted from egregious violations of ICE medical care 
        standards, which were often overlooked during ICE inspections 
        of facilities.
            (5) The Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil 
        Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of Inspector General 
        have received formal complaints and numerous allegations of 
        inadequate medical care for pregnant women who are in custody 
        in such facilities.
            (6) Responses by the Department of Homeland Security to 
        Freedom of Information Act requests suggest that fewer than 3 
        percent of the claims of sexual and physical abuse of detainees 
        in such facilities have been investigated by the Office of 
        Inspector General.
            (7) Multiple Federal oversight bodies, including the 
        Homeland Security Advisory Council, have documented limited 
        oversight and management accountability of immigration 
        detention facilities, including a lack of reasonable 
        inspections and deficient contracting practices.
            (8) Legal service providers allege that some immigration 
        detention facilities have unreasonably restricted legal 
        visitation and access in violation of applicable requirements, 
        raising serious due process concerns.
            (9) The Department of Homeland Security seeks to vastly 
        expand the immigration detention system despite the 
        availability of a wide array of community-based alternatives to 
        detention that provide a cheaper, more compassionate, rights 
        respecting response to migration.
            (10) In June 2017, the Department of Homeland Security 
        terminated the Family Case Management Program, an alternative 
        to detention that--
                    (A) had proved far less expensive than detention; 
                and
                    (B) resulted in close to a 100-percent compliance 
                rate by participants.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    (E) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (F) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Expansion.--The term ``expansion''--
                    (A) means the acquisition of any new contract, 
                contract addendum, modification, or rider that would 
                increase current immigration detention bed usage or 
                activate existing unused immigration detention bed 
                capacity for existing or new contracts at any 
                immigration detention facility, including--
                            (i) Bureau of Prison facilities;
                            (ii) contract detention facilities;
                            (iii) intergovernmental service agreements;
                            (iv) service processing centers;
                            (v) United States Marshals Service 
                        intergovernmental agreements on which U.S. 
                        Immigration and Customs Enforcement is an 
                        authorized user; and
                            (vi) juvenile or family detention 
                        facilities; and
                    (B) does not include improvements or renovations 
                unrelated to the increase of current immigration bed 
                usage or activation of unused immigration bed capacity.
            (3) Immigration detention facility.--The term ``immigration 
        detention facility'' means any site at which U.S. Customs and 
        Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
        holds noncitizens in custody for any period.

SEC. 4. MORATORIUM ON EXPANSION OF IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security may not use any 
Federal funds for the construction or expansion of immigration 
detention facilities.
    (b) Reporting.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit 
a report to Congress that contains a detailed plan on--
            (1) how the number of immigration detention beds will be 
        decreased to 50 percent of the number available as of the date 
        of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) how to implement community-based alternatives to 
        detention, as a substitute for detention in a facility, which 
        is developed in consultation with stakeholders, including 
        nonprofit legal service providers, nonprofit shelter providers, 
        and detention visitation programs.
    (c) Notification.--
            (1) In general.--If the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        determines that more immigration detention space will be 
        needed, the Secretary, not later than 60 days before such need, 
        shall submit a written justification of such need to the Chair 
        and Ranking Member of the appropriate congressional committees.
            (2) Savings provision.--Nothing in this subsection may be 
        construed to authorize the use of Federal funds to expand 
        immigration detention facilities without explicit statutory 
        authorization after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Ending a Contract.--If a facility is deemed less than adequate 
in the 2 most recent inspections, audits, or investigations conducted 
by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland 
Security pursuant to section 5(a)(1), the Department of Homeland 
Security shall not continue to contract with such facility.

SEC. 5. INCREASED OVERSIGHT OF IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES.

    (a) Inspections; Audits; Investigations.--In addition to exercising 
its responsibilities and duties established by the Inspector General 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), the Office of the Inspector General of the 
Department of Homeland Security shall--
            (1) conduct--
                    (A) unannounced annual inspections of immigration 
                detention facilities;
                    (B) audits of immigration detention facilities to 
                ensure compliance with the national standards 
                established pursuant to the Violence Against Women 
                Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-4 and the 
                Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Sexual 
                Abuse and Assault in Confinement Facilities (79 Fed. 
                Reg. 13099 et seq.); published by the Department of 
                Homeland Security on March 7, 2014); and
                    (C) investigations focused on health, safety, and 
                due process concerns at immigration detention 
                facilities, including--
                            (i) deaths in custody;
                            (ii) detainee access to medical and mental 
                        health care, including pregnant women and other 
                        vulnerable populations;
                            (iii) sexual assault and harassment; and
                            (iv) compliance with legal visitation and 
                        access requirements;
            (2) measure inspections, audits, and investigations 
        conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) against the American Bar 
        Association's Civil Detention Standards, in addition to the 
        U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement standards to which 
        each facility is held;
            (3) deliver a conclusion on adequacy at the conclusion of 
        each inspection, audit, and investigation conducted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1); and
            (4) make publicly available the results of the inspections, 
        audits, and investigations conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) 
        without compromising the confidentiality of individuals who 
        submitted complaints.
    (b) Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.--
            (1) In general.--The Office for Civil Rights and Civil 
        Liberties of the Department of Homeland Security shall conduct 
        investigations of civil rights and civil liberties complaints 
        in immigration detention facilities in accordance with section 
        8I(f) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
            (2) Information requests.--Each component agency of the 
        Department of Homeland Security shall comply with all document 
        and information requests from the Office for Civil Rights and 
        Civil Liberties to facilitate investigations under this 
        section.
    (c) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) Office of inspector general.--The Inspector General of 
        the Department of Homeland Security shall--
                    (A) not later than 60 days after any inspection, 
                audit, or investigation, submit a report to the 
                appropriate congressional committees that summarizes 
                the results pursuant to subsection (a); and
                    (B) release aggregate data on complaints lodged 
                about or from an immigration detention facility, 
                actions taken in response to such complaints, and 
                investigation outcomes on its website on a quarterly 
                basis, without compromising confidentiality.
            (2) Office of civil rights and civil liberties.--The 
        Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties shall--
                    (A) not later than 60 days after the conclusion of 
                any investigation under subsection (b), submit a report 
                to Congress that summarizes the results of the 
                investigation; and
                    (B) release aggregate data on complaints lodged 
                about or from an immigration detention facility, 
                actions taken in response to such complaints, and 
                investigation outcomes on its website on a quarterly 
                basis, without compromising confidentiality.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amount 
otherwise authorized to be appropriated for such purposes, there is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security, 
for each of the fiscal years 2019 through 2027--
            (1) $45,000,000 to conduct and report on the inspections, 
        audits, and investigations required under subsection (a); and
            (2) $10,000,000 to conduct and report on the investigations 
        required under subsection (b).
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