Padilla, Schiff, 58 Democrats Introduce Bicameral Bill to Ensure Individuals in DHS Custody Can Speak to a Lawyer, Contact Their Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), U.S. Representative Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.-03), and 56 of their Senate and House colleagues in introducing the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, a bill to ensure the Department of Homeland Security allows detained noncitizens to contact legal counsel and their families.

The bill comes after months of credible reporting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have deprived detained individuals - including children and longtime legal residents - of the ability to access a lawyer, sometimes for months at a time. People have also been taken into custody and, in some cases, reportedly transferred to facilities in other countries, without being allowed to contact their families.

"Every noncitizen should be able to call their family and access legal representation while in detention," said Senator Padilla. "Yet under Donald Trump, ICE and CBP have repeatedly denied detained individuals due process or the ability to talk to a lawyer, even disappearing them to other countries without letting them alert their families. Our bill would restore commonsense, humane protections for noncitizens in detention that were established during the first Trump Administration to ensure the basic dignity of being able to contact legal counsel or their families."

"As the Trump administration continues to indiscriminately detain and deport noncitizens without due process, this bill is more important than ever. Families deserve to know where their loved ones are and detained immigrants should be able to access an attorney. I will keep pushing for Congress to pass this legislation," said Senator Schiff.

"For months now, Americans have watched the horrific videos of CBP and ICE agents violently snatching people off the street at schools, workplaces, and grocery stores. But what happens after people are taken into custody is equally disturbing," said Senator Murphy. "DHS has repeatedly refused to allow people to contact their families and lawyers, traumatizing children and families who are left searching for answers when their loved one suddenly misses after-school pickup or just doesn't come home for dinner. It's heartless and deeply un-American. This bill protects the basic right of people in this country to call their family - which often includes American citizens - when they are taken into custody. DHS has proven time and again they cannot be trusted to follow basic humanitarian principles, and it's on Congress to step in and hold them accountable."

"I saw with my own eyes the reality of Trump's immigration system: a mother and her four U.S. citizen children disappeared and locked in a windowless cell unable to contact a lawyer or their loved ones. The inhumanity was staggering. If we allow this to continue, we will lose who we are," said Representative Dexter. "I'm proud to join Senator Chris Murphy in defending the simple truth that access to legal counsel and communication with loved ones isn't a luxury, it is a fundamental human right."

The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas-16), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.-07), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.-03), Becca Balint (D-Vt.-AL), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.-01), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.-31), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.-09), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas-30), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas-07), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.-30), Jesus "Chuy" García (D-Ill.-04), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.-10), Val Hoyle (D-Ore.-04), Julie Johnson (D-Texas-32), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.-02), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.-02), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.-36), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.-10), Dave Min (D-Calif.-47), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.-03), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.-AL), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine-01), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.-09), Emily Randall (D-Wash.-06), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.-06), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.-05), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.-10), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.-12), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii-02), Derek Tran (D-Calif.-45), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.-12), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.-05), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.-24).

Civil rights groups including the American Immigration Lawyers Association, National Immigration Law Center, National Immigrant Justice Center, Stop AAPI Hate, and New Haven Legal Assistance Association have endorsed the Restoring Access to Detainees Act.

"Nothing is more vital to ensuring a fair day in court than ensuring access to legal counsel for people deprived of their liberty who are trying to understand complex immigration laws. The 'Restoring Access to Detainees Act' is exactly the kind of good government reform that not only makes the immigration system more fair but also improves the courts' efficiency. The American Immigration Lawyers Association applauds Senator Murphy and his cosponsors for leading the way," said Gregory Z. Chen, Esq., Senior Director of Government Relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Specifically, the Restoring Access to Detainees Act would ensure noncitizens detained by DHS:

• Have the ability to call their families to let them know where they are;

• Have an opportunity to speak confidentially with their legal counsel or to find competent legal counsel while in custody;

• Have an opportunity to communicate confidentially with existing oversight entities, if applicable; and

• Have access to these basic communication needs through the restoration of a program from the first Trump Administration, which established a process for noncitizens to call their families while they are in deportation proceedings.

Notable instances of the Trump Administration cutting off detained individuals from legal counsel include:

• Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Columbia University graduate and U.S. permanent resident, was arrested without a warrant and transferred across three states - from New Jersey to New York to Louisiana - where he spent more than three months in a detention center with limited access to legal counsel.
• Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old from El Salvador living in Maryland, was arrested without a warrant and detained in Texas. Days later, he called his wife to tell her that he was being sent to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT - which turned out to be the last time his family heard from him until his return to the United States in June.
• Jackie Merlos, a 44-year-old mother with a U-deferred visa and her four U.S. citizen children, who were detained for weeks in a windowless cell without access to legal counsel and unable to contact family or friends.
• A 13-year-old Brazilian national was arrested in Everett, Massachusetts and transferred to a Virginia detention center. His family and lawyers were left in the dark for days about his location or the reason for his arrest.
• Luis Peralta, who has lived in the United States since he was a child, was detained and transferred from Miami to Tacoma. Officers denied him access to his personal documents, leaving him unable to contact his family or attorney.
• George Retes, a U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents and held incommunicado, leaving him unable to contact his family - who only learned what happened to him after his release.
• Ramon Eduardo Contreras-Hernandez was denied access to legal representation after being transferred from an ICE detention center to a county jail, cutting him off from information about his own case.
• A ProPublica investigation found that more than 20 U.S. citizens have reported being detained for over a day without being able to call their loved ones or an attorney.
• Civil rights attorneys representing detained individuals in "Alligator Alcatraz" filed for a temporary restraining order against the detention center, citing systemic violations of detained individuals' constitutional rights to legal representation and due process.

Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in opposition to President Trump's cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda, including standing up for noncitizens' due process rights. Earlier this year, Padilla introduced the Access to Counsel Act to ensure that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status can consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by CBP for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. He and his colleagues also demanded the Trump Administration protect Congressionally mandated legal representation for unaccompanied children in the immigration system.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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