Immigrant Detainee Legal Rights Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Immigration and Border Security.
Immigrant Detainee Legal Rights Act
Directs the Department of Justice to:
establish within the Executive Office for Immigration Review an Office of Legal Access Programs to administer a system of legal orientation programs to make immigration proceedings more efficient by educating aliens regarding administrative procedures and legal rights under U.S. immigration law, and to establish other programs to assist in providing aliens access to legal information; and
submit a plan to Congress that includes a schedule to develop and deploy legal orientation programs for all detainees.
Requires the legal orientation programs to:
provide programs to assist detained aliens in making decisions regarding their removal and eligibility for relief from removal in order to increase efficiency s in immigration proceedings and federal custody processes and to improve access to legal services;
ensure that programs and written notice of rights are available in English and the five most common native languages spoken by the detainees held in custody at that location during the preceding fiscal year; and
identify unaccompanied alien children, aliens with a serious mental disability, and other particularly vulnerable aliens for right to counsel considerations.
Authorizes such programs to provide services to detained aliens in specified immigration (detention and removal) and asylum proceedings.
Directs the Department of Homeland Security to establish procedures: (1) that ensure that legal orientation programs are available for all detained aliens within five days of arrival into custody; and (2) to inform such aliens of the basic procedures of immigration hearings, their rights relating to those hearings, information that may deter such aliens from filing frivolous legal claims, and a contact list of potential legal resources and providers.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 29, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 8, 2015: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Bill Foster (D-IL) introduced it on July 29, 2015, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 5 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 29, 2015, 4061 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4020 days ago, on September 8, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers