Sponsors (12)
The bill substantially raises protections, transparency, and alternatives to detention for immigrants—improving due process, health, and oversight—while imposing significant new costs, operational burdens, and certain security and implementation risks for DHS, facilities, courts, and taxpayers.
Noncitizen detainees (including vulnerable people and families) will face shorter and less frequent detention: the bill creates a presumption of release, caps post‑removal detention, requires written custody determinations within 48 hours and immigration‑judge hearings within 72 hours, and bars detention of many vulnerable people and minors in adult facilities.
Immigrants in custody will get substantially better access to legal help: early group legal orientation, guaranteed confidential in‑person/phone/televideo attorney communications, and stronger ability to obtain legal remedies improve representation and case outcomes.
People held in DHS custody will face fewer harmful conditions: the bill bans use of solitary confinement, requires medical participation in sentinel‑event reviews, and promotes other health‑focused practices that reduce suicide risk and improve medical care.
Taxpayers and federal/local budgets will face substantially higher costs to implement and operate the reforms (new standards, inspections, community case management, phase‑out of for‑profit contracts, facility upgrades, staff, and technology).
DHS, detention staff, and immigration courts will face heavy operational strain from new requirements and short deadlines (48–72 hour reviews, one‑year rulemakings, 12‑hour locator updates, frequent inspections), risking diverted resources and implementation difficulties.
Facility security and public safety could be strained: banning solitary confinement, limiting some facility alterations for inspections, increased transfers for court appearances, and a stronger presumption of release may make managing violent/high‑risk detainees and maintaining safe operations more difficult.
Based on analysis of 13 sections of legislative text.
Bans solitary confinement in DHS custody, sets ABA-based detention standards, expands legal access and oversight, phases out for-profit detention, and reforms arrest/detention/bond procedures with a presumption of release.
Official title: Provide standards for facilities at which aliens in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security are detained, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 27, 2026 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress January 27, 2026
Prohibits solitary confinement for people held by DHS, requires detention facilities to provide legal orientation and access to counsel, and demands new, enforceable detention standards modeled on the American Bar Association’s Civil Immigration Detention Standards. The bill strengthens inspections, reporting, and remedy mechanisms (including civil claims and injunctive relief), phases out for-profit detention contracts within three years, requires advance notice and public reporting before building or expanding facilities, and changes arrest, bond, and prompt custody-review rules to favor release and least-restrictive supervision where possible. It also expands congressional oversight access, imposes rapid investigation and public reporting requirements for deaths in custody, sets transportation rules for detainees with unrelated court appearances, and adds special protections for children, vulnerable people, and primary caregivers in custody decisions.