Practical Alternatives to Detention Act
This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fully implement and use alternatives to detention programs for aliens who are not subject to mandatory detention. For such alternatives to detention programs, DHS shall prioritize certain aliens, such as those who are pregnant or have serious medical needs.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9039 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9039
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to operate alternatives
to detention programs, to prioritize certain vulnerable populations for
those programs, and to require the Secretary to justify the allocation
of resources and decisions on whether to detain people based on
ensuring compliance with immigration proceedings in the most cost-
effective ways possible, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 21, 2020
Mr. Amash introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to operate alternatives
to detention programs, to prioritize certain vulnerable populations for
those programs, and to require the Secretary to justify the allocation
of resources and decisions on whether to detain people based on
ensuring compliance with immigration proceedings in the most cost-
effective ways possible, 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 TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ```Practical Alternatives to Detention
Act'''.
SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION.
(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall fully
implement and use alternatives to detention programs, including a
family case management program, in accordance with this section.
(b) Screening.--The Secretary shall screen aliens who are in the
custody of the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether
their compliance with the immigration laws (as such term is defined in
section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)) and
immigration court proceedings could likely be secured through
participation in an alternatives to detention program, and shall enroll
qualifying aliens in such programs in accordance with the program
requirements described in subsection (d). The Secretary shall
prioritize screening and enrolling in such programs the following
aliens:
(1) Aliens who are pregnant.
(2) Aliens who have serious or ongoing medical or mental
health needs or a disability.
(3) Aliens who are being detained with one or more of their
children who are under the age of 18, or who are caregivers for
any family member in the United States who has a serious or
ongoing medical or mental health need or a disability.
(4) Asylum seekers and torture survivors who have
demonstrated a credible fear of persecution or a reasonable
fear of torture.
(5) Any other aliens the Secretary determines appropriate
to prioritize.
(6) During any declared public health emergency declared by
the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), aliens at
elevated risk of--
(A) death, injury, or serious illness from possible
exposure in detention to a disease related to the
public health emergency; or
(B) developing a disorder from possible exposure in
detention to a disease related to the public health
emergency.
(c) Certain Aliens Ineligible.--An alien shall not be eligible for
an alternatives to detention program under this section if--
(1) the alien is subject to mandatory detention under
section 236A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1226a); or
(2) the alien, in the discretion of the Secretary, presents
a flight risk, a risk to others, or a risk to national
security, and the risk cannot be reasonably mitigated through
an alternatives to detention program.
(d) Program Requirements.--The alternatives to detention programs
used pursuant to this section shall use evidence-based practices
demonstrated to mitigate the risks described in subsection (c)(2) and
promote compliance with the immigration laws in a cost efficient
manner.
(e) Quarterly Reports.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees reports on the
following:
(1) Aliens who were detained in the custody of the
Department of Homeland Security at any point during the
previous 90-day period, including, with respect to such period,
the following information:
(A) The number of aliens subject to mandatory
detention under section 236A of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226a) who were detained for
90 days or more, and a description of the reason or
reasons for each such detention.
(B) The number of aliens detained for 7 days or
more, and the number of such aliens who--
(i) had a serious or ongoing medical or
mental health need or disability;
(ii) were detained with one or more
children under the alien's care;
(iii) are asylum seekers or torture
survivors who have demonstrated a credible fear
of persecution or a reasonable fear of torture;
or
(iv) were detained during a public health
emergency declared by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services under section 319 of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), and
were at elevated risk of--
(I) death, injury, or serious
illness from possible exposure in
detention to a disease related to the
public health emergency; or
(II) developing a disorder from
possible exposure in detention to a
disease related to the public health
emergency.
(C) A description of the reason for the detention
of each alien described in each of clauses (i), (ii),
(iii), and (iv) of subparagraph (B).
(D) The number of aliens detained for 48 hours or
more who were pregnant, the duration of each such
alien's detention, and a description of the reason or
reasons for each such detention.
(E) The number of aliens who suffered miscarriages
while detained, and a description of any medical
services made available to each such alien.
(2) Alternatives to detention programs, including, for each
such program, with respect to the previous 90-day period, the
following information:
(A) The number of adults who participated in the
program, the number of their own children under their
care, and the number of any other children under their
care.
(B) The services provided and the levels of
monitoring maintained for aliens participating in the
program.
(C) The rates of participants' compliance with
immigration check-ins, court dates, and removal
proceedings.
(D) The number of participants who absconded.
(E) The per-participant costs of the program.
The Secretary shall ensure that any information collected, published,
or otherwise made available under this subsection does not reveal
personally identifiable information.
(f) Annual Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter at the time of
submission of the President's budget request, the Secretary shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy--
(1) to evaluate the costs and effectiveness of different
elements and combinations of elements of alternatives to
detention programs for different groups of participants; and
(2) to allocate resources for detention programs and
alternatives to detention programs in such a way as to minimize
costs to the Federal Government and maximize compliance with
the immigration laws.
(g) Comptroller General Report.--Not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the
succeeding 5 years, the Comptroller General of the United States shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees the following:
(1) A report on the effectiveness of the alternatives to
detention programs used pursuant to this section at mitigating
risks to public safety and national security and promoting
compliance with the immigration laws in a cost efficient
manner.
(2) A report on the status of immigration court backlogs,
the causes for such backlogs, and recommendations for how many
additional immigration judges and support staff may be needed
to facilitate timely and fair immigration proceedings.
(h) Contract Authority.--The Secretary may enter into contracts
with qualified nongovernmental entities to implement the alternatives
to detention programs required under this section.
(i) Application to Unaccompanied Alien Children.--Nothing in this
section shall be construed to modify the care and custody of
unaccompanied alien children (as such term is defined in section
462(g)(2) of the Homeland Security Act (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2))).
(j) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Appropriations of
the Senate.
(2) Family case management program.--The term ``family case
management program'' means an alternatives to detention program
to support compliance of family units with immigration
proceedings by providing services, which may include the
following:
(A) Individualized family service plans.
(B) Information about options available to obtain
legal counsel.
(C) Education about the family's legal rights and
responsibilities.
(D) Tracking and monitoring of immigration
obligations, including attendance at immigration court
proceedings.
(E) Assistance with transportation logistics, in
the case of an emergency, to attend a required U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in, a court
appearance, or to further removal.
(F) Reintegration planning for participants who are
returning to their home countries.
(3) Effectiveness.--The term ``effectiveness'' means, with
respect to an alternatives to detention program, the rate of
success of the program at securing participants' attendance at
immigration check-ins, court dates, and removal proceedings.
(4) Flight risk.--The term ``flight risk'' means, with
respect to an individual, that the Secretary of Homeland
Security has found, based on individualized facts, that the
individual is more likely than not to intentionally fail to
appear at required immigration court proceedings.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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