Dozens of Democratic lawmakers in both the House and Senate introduced a new bill that seeks to make it more difficult to detain undocumented immigrants who are classified as a “vulnerable person.”
The bill defines such individuals as those who identify as LGBTQ+, have limited proficiency in English, or meet other qualifications outlined in the legislation, Fox News Digital reported.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Sen. Cory Booker from New Jersey have introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which seeks to establish basic standards for detention facilities where numerous undocumented immigrants are held while awaiting processing. The proposed legislation seeks to prohibit the use of privately-owned detention centers and ensure that government-run facilities adhere to the minimum standards set forth by the American Bar Association, among other provisions.
“Our immigration system has allowed for the unjust treatment of immigrants and stripped them of their humanity and due process,” Booker claimed in a Thursday statement. “We must respect and protect the basic rights of immigrants detained in the United States.”
For instance, Fox News Digital reported, officials would be required to decide within 48 hours whether to detain an undocumented immigrant, and detention can only occur if “the release of an alien will not reasonably ensure the appearance of the alien as required or will endanger the safety” of others. In such cases, DHS “shall impose the least restrictive conditions” for detention while ensuring that they are provided a custody hearing within 72 hours. And during those hearings, “there shall be a presumption that the alien should be released,” the bill says.
But the legislation goes much further. It seeks to exempt many groups of illegal aliens from any detention at all by creating a “special rule for vulnerable persons and primary caregivers.” The bill says that aliens “may not be detained” unless Homeland Security is able to demonstrate that it is “unreasonable or not practicable to place the alien in a community-based supervision program.”
Under the measure, a “vulnerable person” is defined as anyone who is under the age of 21 or over the age of 60, pregnant, or who “identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex.”
Other categories include individuals who have been a victim or witness to a crime, those who have filed a credible civil rights claim in court, individuals with workplace grievances, and those with a “serious mental or physical illness or disability.”
Aliens who claim a fear of persecution, “limited English language proficiency,” those experiencing “severe trauma,” and survivors of “torture or gender-based violence” will also qualify under the definition of a “vulnerable person,” thus requiring DHS to take extra steps before the department can detain the illegal migrant.
Even if DHS is able to meet the additional requirements for detaining vulnerable immigrants, they would still be required to conduct new custody determination hearings every 60 days, or whenever circumstances change and necessitate a new hearing, according to the proposed legislation.
“The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act urgently reforms the alarming injustices of a broken, for-profit immigration detention system by ending the use of private detention facilities altogether, repealing mandatory detention, and prohibiting family detention while also restoring due process and increasing oversight, accountability, and transparency measures,” said Jayapal. “This is a measure that will go a long way to restore humanity and dignity to the immigration system.”
“This bill is a crucial step forward to bringing due process back to our immigration system and centering the humanity and dignity of people who come to our country to build a better life,” claimed Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., another sponsor.
