Protecting the Rights of Families and Immigrants Who Legally Entered From Detention Act
A BILL
To protect United States citizens and residents from unlawful profiling, arrest, and detention, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
Officials at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have mistakenly detained and deported United States citizens and lawful permanent residents.
Mistaken identities, bureaucratic mix-ups, and discriminatory attitudes further contribute to unconstitutional actions against United States citizens, lawful permanent residents, and other persons lawfully present in the United States.
The United States should not be a country in which United States citizens and lawful permanent residents are mistakenly or unlawfully detained, deported, or mistreated by government agents.
No person in the United States should be subject to government actions that deny basic protections or constitutional rights.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
Department— The term Department means the Department of Homeland Security.
Detained— The term detained, with respect to an individual, means an individual who is in government custody or subject any other deprivation of the freedom of movement by government agents.
Detainee— The term detainee means an individual detained during an immigration-related enforcement activity.
Detention— The term detention, in the context of an immigration-related enforcement activity, means government custody or any other deprivation of the freedom of movement of an individual by government agents.
Governmental body— The term governmental body means any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal government.
Hit rate— The term hit rate means the percentage of stops and searches in which a law enforcement officer finds drugs, a gun, or something else that leads to an arrest. The hit rate is calculated by dividing the total number of searches by the number of searches that yield contraband. The hit rate is complementary to the rate of false stops.
Immigration-related enforcement activity— The term immigration-related enforcement activity means any action by a government agent in which—
an individual suspected of an immigration violation is detained for such violation; or
an individual who has been detained by government agents is questioned about a possible immigration violation.
Law enforcement agency— The term law enforcement agency means any Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal public agency engaged in the prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of criminal, immigration, or customs laws.
Law enforcement agent— The term law enforcement agent means any Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal official responsible for enforcing criminal, immigration, or customs laws, including police officers and other agents of a law enforcement agency.
Racial profiling— The term racial profiling means the practice of a law enforcement agent or agency relying, to any degree, on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation in selecting which individual to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law enforcement activity following the initial investigatory procedure, except when there is trustworthy information, relevant to the locality and timeframe, that links a person with a particular characteristic described in this paragraph to an identified criminal incident or scheme.
Routine or spontaneous investigatory activities— The term routine or spontaneous investigatory activities means the following activities by a law enforcement agent:
Interviews.
Traffic stops.
Pedestrian stops.
Frisks and other types of body searches.
Consensual or nonconsensual searches of the persons, property, or possessions (including vehicles) of individuals using any form of public or private transportation, including motorists and pedestrians.
Data collection and analysis, assessments, and predicated investigations.
Inspections and interviews of entrants into the United States that are more extensive than those customarily carried out.
Immigration-related workplace investigations.
Such other types of law enforcement encounters compiled for or by the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security.
State— The term State means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United States.
Vulnerable population— The term “vulnerable population” includes any of the following:
Individuals with a nonfrivolous claim to United States citizenship.
Individuals who have a disability or have been determined by a medically trained professional to have medical or mental health needs.
Pregnant or nursing women.
Individuals who are detained with one or more of their children.
Individuals who provide financial, physical, and other direct support to their minor children, parents, or other dependents.
Individuals who are at least 65 years of age.
Children (as defined in section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1))).
Victims of abuse, violence, crime, or human trafficking.
Individuals who have been referred for a credible fear interview, a reasonable fear interview, or an asylum hearing.
Stateless individuals.
Individuals who have applied or intend to apply for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, done at New York, December 10, 1984.
Individuals who make a prima facie case for eligibility for relief under any provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), including returning lawful permanent residents.
Individuals who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ).
Any group designated by the Secretary as a vulnerable population.