[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6149 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6149
To make constituent services available to detainees in immigration
detention centers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 19, 2025
Mr. Lieu (for himself, Ms. Jacobs, and Mr. Espaillat) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To make constituent services available to detainees in immigration
detention centers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness and Access for Immigrant
Rights Act'' or the ``FAIR Act''.
SEC. 2. CONSTITUENT SERVICES FOR DETAINEES.
(a) In General.--Section 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1226) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Constituent Services.--
``(1) Request to detention center.--Not later than 90 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection, any individual
detained pursuant to the authority under this section, or any
other provision in this Act, shall have access to the
Department's Privacy Waiver Authorizing Disclosure to a Third
Party, ICE Form 60-001, or any successor form, as well as a
Congressional Privacy Release Form upon written request,
including in the language spoken by the detainee, of the
detainee to the detention center.
``(2) Notice to detainee.--Not later than 24 hours after
arriving at the facility, the detention center shall provide to
each detained alien the ICE National Detainee Handbook, along
with the handbook from the specific facility they are being
held. The Handbook should be available in the language spoken
by the detainee. If not available in such language, any
information in the handbook must be orally interpreted for the
detainee through a professional interpreter, at the request of
the detainee. The National Detainee Handbook shall have a
section titled `Congressional Constituent Services' with
information on the availability of constituent services, the
ability to access the Law Library at the facility to access a
Department's Privacy Waiver Authorizing Disclosure to a Third
Party, ICE Form 60-001, or any successor form, Congressional
Privacy Release Form, how to send it to their Member of
Congress or a third-party individual assisting with their case,
and the process described in paragraph (5) for filing a
complaint for failure to receive such services.
``(3) Notice to congressional office.--Not later than 7
days after a request is submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), an
employee of the detention center in which the detainee is
detained shall electronically submit a written notice to the
congressional office that a detainee is seeking to receive
constituent services as well as a copy of a Privacy Release
from the appropriate congressional office.
``(4) Printing, copying, and correspondence.--A detention
center shall permit a detainee to access a computer, email,
printing, and copying privileges, along with writing implements
and paper to facilitate continued communication with their
congressional office or other third-party individuals assisting
with their case throughout the casework process.
``(5) Enforcement.--
``(A) In general.--If a detention center fails to
provide the detainee access to a Department's Privacy
Waiver Authorizing Disclosure to a Third Party, ICE
Form 60-001, or any successor form, or the
Congressional Privacy Release form, within 30 days
after requesting it, or is found to be in violation of
any provision of this Act, a detainee, or third-party
individual--
``(i) may submit a complaint to the
detention center through such complaint or
grievance process as the detention center may
establish; or
``(ii) may bring a civil action against the
agency which engaged in that violation in an
appropriate United States district court to
recover such relief as may be appropriate from.
``(B) Language.--A detention center shall give a
detainee access to an interpreter for the purpose of
completing and submitting a complaint under
subparagraph (A) if the form is not available in the
language they speak.
``(6) Congressional office defined.--In this subsection,
the term `congressional office' means the congressional office
for the congressional district in which the last known
residence of the detainee was located, or the residence of the
requesting third-party.''.
(b) Regulations.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue a
rule implementing the amendment made by subsection (a) not later than
180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Notice.--Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit written
notice to each immigration detention center of the rules with respect
to the ability to access Congressional constituent services and the
complaint process for detainees.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
take effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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