Sec. 9. Oversight of detention facilities
726 words·~3 min read·
/bill/114/hr/3543/ih/section-9A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In this section: The term applicable standards means the most recent version of detention standards and detention-related policies issued by the Secretary or the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The term detention facility means a Federal, State, or local government facility, or a privately owned and operated facility, that is used, in whole or in part, to hold individuals under the authority of the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including facilities that hold such individuals under a contract or agreement with the Department of Homeland Security.
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that all persons detained pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq. ) are treated humanely and benefit from the protections set forth in this section. All detention facilities housing aliens in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security shall be inspected, for compliance with applicable detention standards issued by the Secretary and other applicable regulations, by— the Secretary of Homeland Security at least annually; and an independent, third-party auditor at least biannually.
In addition to the inspections required under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall conduct routine oversight of the detention facilities described in paragraph (1), including unannounced inspections. All detention facility contracts, memoranda of agreement, audits, inspections, evaluations and reviews, include those conducted by the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, shall be considered records for purposes of section 552(f)(2) of title 5, United States Code.
The Secretary shall seek input from nongovernmental organizations regarding their independent opinion of specific facilities. Compliance with applicable standards of the Secretary of Homeland Security and all applicable regulations, and meaningful financial penalties for failure to comply, shall be a material term in any new contract, memorandum of agreement, or any renegotiation, modification, or renewal of an existing contract or agreement, including fee negotiations, executed with detention facilities.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall secure a modification incorporating these terms for any existing contracts or agreements that will not be renegotiated, renewed, or otherwise modified. Unless the Secretary provides a reasonable extension to a specific detention facility that is negotiating in good faith, contracts or agreements with detention facilities that are not modified within 1 year of the date of the enactment of this Act will be cancelled.
In making modifications under this paragraph, the Secretary shall require that detention facilities provide to the Secretary all contracts, memoranda of agreement, evaluations, and reviews regarding the facility on a regular basis. The Secretary shall make these materials publicly available on a timely and regular basis. Subject to subparagraph (C), the Secretary shall impose meaningful financial penalties upon facilities that fail to comply with applicable detention standards issued by the Secretary and other applicable regulations.
Financial penalties imposed under subparagraph
(A)shall be imposed immediately after a facility fails to achieve an adequate or the equivalent median score in any performance evaluation. The requirements of subparagraph
(A)may be waived if the facility corrects the noted deficiencies and receives an adequate score in not more than 90 days. If the Secretary determines that a facility has been persistently and substantially violated the detention standards issued by the Secretary, including by scoring less than adequate or the equivalent median score in 2 consecutive inspections— the Secretary shall terminate contracts or agreements with such facilities within 60 days; or in the case of facilities operated by the Secretary, the Secretary shall close such facilities within 90 days. Not later than June 30 of each year, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives that describes the inspection and oversight activities at detention facilities. Each report submitted under paragraph
(1)shall include— a description of each detention facility found to be in noncompliance with applicable detention standards issued by the Department of Homeland Security and other applicable regulations; a description of the actions taken by the Department to remedy any findings of noncompliance or other identified problems, including financial penalties, contract or agreement termination, or facility closure; and information regarding whether the actions described in subparagraph
(B)resulted in compliance with applicable detention standards and regulations.
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
U.S. Code
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 9
Oversight of detention facilities
Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources