[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2221 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2221

   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

                             July 23, 2019

  Ms. Harris introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 2019, with the average daily population of 
        detained noncitizens increasing from fewer than 7,000 during 
        fiscal year 1994 to approximately 48,000 during fiscal year 
        2019. This population consists of increasing numbers of 
        children and women, including pregnant women and asylum 
        seekers.
            (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 qualified 
        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. State 
        oversight bodies, including the Office of the Attorney General 
        of California, have also noted abuses at detention centers 
        within their borders.
            (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. Since the inauguration of President Trump, more 
        than 24 people have died in ICE custody.
            (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) Some immigration detention facilities have unreasonably 
        restricted visitation and access by attorneys and community 
        groups 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 cheaper, more compassionate, rights-
        respecting responses to migration.
            (10) Although the Family Case Management Program operated 
        at a fraction of the cost of detention and resulted in nearly a 
        100 percent compliance rate among participants, the Department 
        of Homeland Security terminated the program without providing 
        any justification.

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. 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 the appropriate congressional committees that contains a 
detailed plan on--
            (1) how the number of immigration detention beds will be 
        decreased to 50 percent of the number available during fiscal 
        year 2018; 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 
        anticipated 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 may 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 under 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 periodic inspections of immigration 
                detention facilities not less frequently than annually;
                    (B) audits of immigration detention facilities to 
                ensure compliance with the national standards 
                established under 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.), which were 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, in accordance with subsection (a); and
                    (B) release aggregate data on its website on a 
                quarterly basis, without compromising confidentiality, 
                regarding--
                            (i) complaints lodged about or from an 
                        immigration detention facility;
                            (ii) actions taken in response to such 
                        complaints; and
                            (iii) investigation outcomes.
            (2) Office of civil rights and civil liberties.--The Office 
        for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department of 
        Homeland Security shall--
                    (A) not later than 60 days after the conclusion of 
                any investigation under subsection (b), submit a report 
                to the appropriate congressional committees that 
                summarizes the results of the investigation; and
                    (B) release aggregate data on its website on a 
                quarterly basis, without compromising confidentiality, 
                regarding--
                            (i) complaints lodged about or from an 
                        immigration detention facility;
                            (ii) actions taken in response to such 
                        complaints; and
                            (iii) investigation outcomes.
    (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 2020 through 2028--
            (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).
                                 <all>