[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 666 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 666
To clarify the rights of certain persons who are held or detained at a
port of entry or at any facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 31, 2023
Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Barragan, Mr.
Blumenauer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Carson, Mr. Casten, Ms. Chu, Mr.
Cicilline, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Davis of Illinois,
Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Gallego, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Johnson of
Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Lee of
California, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Moore
of Wisconsin, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Norton, Mr. Quigley, Mr.
Raskin, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Smith of
Washington, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr.
Vargas, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and Mrs. Watson Coleman) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To clarify the rights of certain persons who are held or detained at a
port of entry or at any facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
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 ``Access to Counsel Act''.
SEC. 2. ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND OTHER ASSISTANCE AT PORTS OF ENTRY AND
DURING DEFERRED INSPECTION.
(a) Access to Counsel and Other Assistance During Inspection.--
Section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Access to Counsel and Other Assistance During Inspection at
Ports of Entry and During Deferred Inspection.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
ensure that a covered individual has a meaningful opportunity
to consult with counsel and an interested party during the
inspection process.
``(2) Scope of assistance.--The Secretary of Homeland
Security shall--
``(A) provide the covered individual a meaningful
opportunity to consult (including consultation via
telephone) with counsel and an interested party not
later than one hour after the secondary inspection
process commences and as necessary throughout the
remainder of the inspection process, including, as
applicable, during deferred inspection;
``(B) allow counsel and an interested party to
advocate on behalf of the covered individual, including
by providing to the examining immigration officer
information, documentation, and other evidence in
support of the covered individual; and
``(C) to the greatest extent practicable,
accommodate a request by the covered individual for
counsel or an interested party to appear in-person at
the secondary or deferred inspection site.
``(3) Special rule for lawful permanent residents.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Homeland Security
may not accept a Form I-407 Record of Abandonment of
Lawful Permanent Resident Status (or a successor form)
from a lawful permanent resident subject to secondary
or deferred inspection without first providing such
lawful permanent resident a meaningful opportunity to
seek advice from counsel.
``(B) Exception.--The Secretary of Homeland
Security may accept Form I-407 Record of Abandonment of
Lawful Permanent Resident Status (or a successor form)
from a lawful permanent resident subject to secondary
or deferred inspection if such lawful permanent
resident knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily
waives, in writing, the opportunity to seek advice from
counsel.
``(4) Definitions.--In this section:
``(A) Counsel.--The term `counsel' means--
``(i) an attorney who is a member in good
standing of the bar of any State, the District
of Columbia, or a territory or a possession of
the United States and is not under an order
suspending, enjoining, restraining, disbarring,
or otherwise restricting the attorney in the
practice of law; or
``(ii) an individual accredited by the
Attorney General, acting as a representative of
an organization recognized by the Executive
Office for Immigration Review, to represent a
covered individual in immigration matters.
``(B) Covered individual.--The term `covered
individual' means an individual subject to secondary or
deferred inspection who is--
``(i) a national of the United States;
``(ii) an immigrant, lawfully admitted for
permanent residence, who is returning from a
temporary visit abroad;
``(iii) an alien seeking admission as an
immigrant in possession of a valid unexpired
immigrant visa;
``(iv) an alien seeking admission as a
nonimmigrant in possession of a valid unexpired
nonimmigrant visa;
``(v) a refugee;
``(vi) a returning asylee; or
``(vii) an alien who has been approved for
parole under section 212(d)(5)(A), including an
alien who is returning to the United States in
possession of a valid advance parole document.
``(C) Interested party.--The term `interested
party' means--
``(i) a relative of the covered individual;
``(ii) in the case of a covered individual
to whom an immigrant or a nonimmigrant visa has
been issued, the petitioner or sponsor thereof
(including an agent of such petitioner or
sponsor); or
``(iii) a person, organization, or entity
in the United States with a bona fide
connection to the covered individual.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this Act, or in any amendment
made by this Act, may be construed to limit a right to counsel or any
right to appointed counsel under--
(1) section 240(b)(4)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(4)(A));
(2) section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1362); or
(3) any other provision of law, including any final court
order securing such rights,
as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act.
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