Bill Summary
The DONE Act is a proposed bill that aims to prohibit the expansion of immigration detention facilities and improve oversight of current facilities. It was introduced in the United States Congress and is also known as the "Detention Oversight, Not Expansion Act". The bill highlights the dramatic increase in the population of noncitizens held in detention facilities, including children, women, and asylum seekers. It points out the lack of independent oversight of these facilities and the inadequate treatment and conditions for detainees, as documented by various oversight bodies. The bill also mentions the termination of the successful Family Case Management Program and the government's plans to further expand the detention system despite the availability of more cost-effective and humanitarian alternatives. The bill proposes a moratorium on the expansion of immigration detention facilities and requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit a detailed plan for reducing the number of detention beds and implementing community-based alternatives. It also calls for increased oversight of facilities through unannounced inspections, audits, and investigations, as well as measures to protect civil rights and civil liberties. The bill includes reporting requirements and authorizes additional funding for these oversight activities.
Possible Impacts
1. The bill could affect people by limiting the number of new immigration detention facilities that can be built, potentially leading to overcrowding and poor living conditions for detained individuals.
2. The bill could lead to increased oversight of existing immigration detention facilities, potentially resulting in improved conditions for detainees and increased accountability for facility staff.
3. The bill could provide more protections for vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and children, who are currently being held in immigration detention facilities.
[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).
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