FAIR Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6149 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6149

  To make constituent services available to detainees in immigration 
                           detention centers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 19, 2025

 Mr. Lieu (for himself, Ms. Jacobs, and Mr. Espaillat) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To make constituent services available to detainees in immigration 
                           detention centers.

    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 ``Fairness and Access for Immigrant 
Rights Act'' or the ``FAIR Act''.

SEC. 2. CONSTITUENT SERVICES FOR DETAINEES.

    (a) In General.--Section 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1226) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Constituent Services.--
            ``(1) Request to detention center.--Not later than 90 days 
        after the date of enactment of this subsection, any individual 
        detained pursuant to the authority under this section, or any 
        other provision in this Act, shall have access to the 
        Department's Privacy Waiver Authorizing Disclosure to a Third 
        Party, ICE Form 60-001, or any successor form, as well as a 
        Congressional Privacy Release Form upon written request, 
        including in the language spoken by the detainee, of the 
        detainee to the detention center.
            ``(2) Notice to detainee.--Not later than 24 hours after 
        arriving at the facility, the detention center shall provide to 
        each detained alien the ICE National Detainee Handbook, along 
        with the handbook from the specific facility they are being 
        held. The Handbook should be available in the language spoken 
        by the detainee. If not available in such language, any 
        information in the handbook must be orally interpreted for the 
        detainee through a professional interpreter, at the request of 
        the detainee. The National Detainee Handbook shall have a 
        section titled `Congressional Constituent Services' with 
        information on the availability of constituent services, the 
        ability to access the Law Library at the facility to access a 
        Department's Privacy Waiver Authorizing Disclosure to a Third 
        Party, ICE Form 60-001, or any successor form, Congressional 
        Privacy Release Form, how to send it to their Member of 
        Congress or a third-party individual assisting with their case, 
        and the process described in paragraph (5) for filing a 
        complaint for failure to receive such services.
            ``(3) Notice to congressional office.--Not later than 7 
        days after a request is submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), an 
        employee of the detention center in which the detainee is 
        detained shall electronically submit a written notice to the 
        congressional office that a detainee is seeking to receive 
        constituent services as well as a copy of a Privacy Release 
        from the appropriate congressional office.
            ``(4) Printing, copying, and correspondence.--A detention 
        center shall permit a detainee to access a computer, email, 
        printing, and copying privileges, along with writing implements 
        and paper to facilitate continued communication with their 
        congressional office or other third-party individuals assisting 
        with their case throughout the casework process.
            ``(5) Enforcement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a detention center fails to 
                provide the detainee access to a Department's Privacy 
                Waiver Authorizing Disclosure to a Third Party, ICE 
                Form 60-001, or any successor form, or the 
                Congressional Privacy Release form, within 30 days 
                after requesting it, or is found to be in violation of 
                any provision of this Act, a detainee, or third-party 
                individual--
                            ``(i) may submit a complaint to the 
                        detention center through such complaint or 
                        grievance process as the detention center may 
                        establish; or
                            ``(ii) may bring a civil action against the 
                        agency which engaged in that violation in an 
                        appropriate United States district court to 
                        recover such relief as may be appropriate from.
                    ``(B) Language.--A detention center shall give a 
                detainee access to an interpreter for the purpose of 
                completing and submitting a complaint under 
                subparagraph (A) if the form is not available in the 
                language they speak.
            ``(6) Congressional office defined.--In this subsection, 
        the term `congressional office' means the congressional office 
        for the congressional district in which the last known 
        residence of the detainee was located, or the residence of the 
        requesting third-party.''.
    (b) Regulations.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue a 
rule implementing the amendment made by subsection (a) not later than 
180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Notice.--Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit written 
notice to each immigration detention center of the rules with respect 
to the ability to access Congressional constituent services and the 
complaint process for detainees.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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