[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8494 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8494
To prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from entering into,
modifying, extending, or renewing, any contract or intergovernmental
service agreement to establish or operate any new immigration detention
model, including the use of warehouses, modular facilities, soft-sided
structures, tent systems, and processing centers.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 23, 2026
Ms. Tlaib (for herself, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Ms. Clarke of New York,
Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Norton, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Ms. Morrison, Mr. Thanedar, Ms. Salinas, Mr. Davis of
Illinois, Mr. Green of Texas, Mrs. Grijalva, and Mr. Castro of Texas)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 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 jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from entering into,
modifying, extending, or renewing, any contract or intergovernmental
service agreement to establish or operate any new immigration detention
model, including the use of warehouses, modular facilities, soft-sided
structures, tent systems, and processing centers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON NEW IMMIGRATION MODELS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Department of Homeland Security, acting through
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has announced plans
to spend approximately $38,300,000,000 to acquire and retrofit
warehouses and industrial facilities into large-scale
immigration detention centers.
(2) Such planned expansion includes the use of warehouses,
modular facilities, soft-sided structures, tent systems,
processing centers, or other alternative detention facility
models.
(3) The facilities that the Department of Homeland Security
is attempting to develop are similar to facilities used to
incarcerate about 120,000 people of Japanese descent, as well
as many others, in internment camps in the United States from
1942 through 1946, a grave violation of human rights and a dark
chapter in our history.
(4) Immigration detention has detrimental and long-lasting
impacts on individuals detained, their families, and their
communities.
(5) Decades of documentation have proven that, across the
immigration detention system, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement subjects people to violations of their basic rights
and unconscionable conditions, including medical neglect,
overcrowding, cruel and unusual conditions of confinement, and
rampant transfers that disappear people deeper into the
detention system, sowing confusion and cutting people off from
their loved ones and support networks.
(6) Deaths in immigration detention facilities have
occurred under the supervision of the Department of Homeland
Security, including 33 reported deaths in 2025 and 13 deaths so
far in 2026.
(7) The expansion of immigration facilities adversely harms
surrounding communities through increased surveillance,
infrastructure strain, environmental impact, and diversion of
local resources.
(8) The expansion, creation, or repurposing of buildings as
detention facilities diverts critical resources such as water
and electricity away from the local communities, could cut off
local tax revenue, and forecloses other economic opportunities
for local communities.
(9) Facilities not originally constructed for the purposes
of detaining or processing individuals drastically lack
appropriate infrastructure, including sewage, sanitation, and
water systems necessary to protect public health and would
further exacerbate the unacceptable conditions named above.
(10) Congress has the authority to condition and prohibit
the use of Federal funds and facilities.
(b) Prohibition on New Immigration Models.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, a covered agency may not--
(1) establish or implement any new immigration detention
model; or
(2) establish, operate, expand, convert, or renovate any
warehouse, industrial facility, tent, soft-sided structure,
modular unit, or similar building or structure for the purposes
of housing, processing, or detaining individuals under civil
immigration authority.
(c) Prohibition on Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, none of the amounts made available before the date of the
enactment of this Act for any fiscal year or otherwise made
available to any covered agency may be obligated or expended to
establish, construct, renovate, expand, or operate any new
immigration detention model, including any warehouse,
industrial facility, tent, soft-sided structure, modular unit,
or similar building or structure, whether directly operated by
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or by another
governmental or nongovernmental contractor.
(2) Prohibition on transfer.--None of the amounts made
available before the date of the enactment of this Act, may be
reprogrammed or transferred for the purposes of operating or
constructing immigration detention facilities, processing
facilities, holding facilities, or non-traditional facilities.
(3) Transfer of funds.--Amounts obligated to operate new
immigration detention models, including any warehouse,
industrial facility, tent, soft-sided structure, modular unit,
or similar building or structure shall be transferred to needed
services such as affordable health care and housing.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means the
Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, and any component thereof.
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Homeland Security.
(3) Detention facility.--The term ``detention facility''
means any facility, building, or structure used to hold,
process, house, or detain individuals pursuant to civil
immigration authority.
(4) Expand.--The term ``expand'' includes constructing,
acquiring, leasing, retrofitting, modifying, renovating, or
increasing the bed capacity of a detention facility.
(5) New immigration model.--The term ``new immigration
model'' means any newly created, rebranded, temporary,
emergency, or alternative detention framework that results in
immigration detention.
(e) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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