HR7335-119

What This Bill Does

This bill converts short-term ICE and CBP custody into a detailed statutory care regime. It requires in-person medical screenings within 12 hours, or within 6 hours for people with urgent conditions, pregnant detainees, children, elderly detainees, and people with serious illness or disability. It mandates drinking water, toilets, handwashing, diapers, showers, hygiene products, three meals per day with age-appropriate calories, disability-accessible shelter, family-appropriate child placement, 68-to-74-degree temperatures, outdoor access after 48 hours, religious access, safe sleep conditions, video monitoring, and a language-accessible detainee bill of rights. DHS must arrange surge capacity through MOUs and contracts, train ICE and CBP personnel, ensure contractor compliance, accept unannounced DHS Inspector General inspections, support a GAO implementation study, publish quarterly aggregate sexual-abuse complaint data, and implement the bill within six months.

Who Benefits and How

Immigration detainees, child detainees, pregnant detainees, elderly detainees, detainees with disabilities, LGBTQI detainees, sexual-abuse complainants, and families in custody benefit from concrete minimum standards for screening, water, sanitation, food, shelter, medical follow-up, interpretation, complaint transparency, and congressional access. Healthcare professionals, social workers, public-health professionals, interpreters, and transportation providers may also gain contract opportunities for surge-capacity work.

Who Bears the Burden and How

ICE, CBP, the DHS Secretary, DHS OIG, DHS civil rights office, detention facility operators, contract detention providers, ICE personnel, CBP personnel, and facility medical staff must provide screenings, maintain records, preserve monitoring video, train staff, comply with inspections, report implementation data, and adjust facilities or contractor practices to meet the new standards.

Key Provisions

• Requires ICE and CBP to provide in-person health screening within 12 hours, with a 6-hour deadline for urgent medical conditions, pregnancy, children, elderly detainees, or serious illness.
• Requires minimum water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, shelter, temperature, outdoor-access, family-placement, disability-access, and video-monitoring standards in custody facilities.
• Directs DHS to arrange surge-capacity MOUs and contracts, train ICE and CBP personnel, implement the standards within six months, and ensure contractor compliance.
• Requires DHS OIG unannounced inspections, GAO implementation review, congressional access to facilities, and quarterly public aggregate sexual-abuse complaint data.