Sponsors (3)
The bill protects immigrants' ability to safely attend and participate in DHS/EOIR proceedings and preserves certain privacy and eligibility protections, but does so by restricting detention authority and on-site transparency, which could increase administrative costs and create enforcement and oversight trade-offs.
Immigrants who attend DHS or EOIR appointments can enter and leave those facilities with reduced risk of being detained, making it safer for them to appear for hearings and seek counsel.
Court participants and witnesses at EOIR facilities have greater privacy because names and identities are less likely to be publicly exposed on-site, reducing harassment and encouraging participation in proceedings.
Noncitizens are less likely to suffer immigration consequences based solely on unlawful presence or entry, because that status alone cannot be treated as evidence of lacking 'good moral character.'
Limits on DHS's authority to detain at or around DHS/EOIR facilities could hinder enforcement, potentially allowing individuals who pose public-safety or flight risks to avoid custody until after removal orders are issued.
Requiring additional assessments (e.g., of 'good moral character') and restricting detention discretion will create procedural burdens for DHS and immigration courts, likely delaying removals and increasing administrative costs and staff workload.
Reducing on-site public identification and access at EOIR facilities makes it harder for the public, press, and advocates to locate and monitor hearings in person, limiting transparency and public oversight of immigration proceedings.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Prevents DHS from detaining noncitizens at DHS field offices or EOIR facilities before a removal order except after a judge finds lack of good moral character; bans public posting of parties' names in EOIR public spaces.
Official title: To limit the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to detain aliens of good moral character, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 9, 2026 by Bonnie Watson Coleman · Last progress February 9, 2026
Prohibits DHS from taking into custody (detaining) a noncitizen who is arriving at or leaving a DHS field office or an Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) facility before an order of removal is entered, unless an immigration judge finds the person is not of good moral character (and that finding cannot be based solely on unlawful presence or entry). Also bars public display of the names of parties to immigration proceedings in public areas of EOIR facilities outside hearing rooms. The bill mainly protects immigrants who visit DHS or immigration court facilities from on-site pre-order detention and increases privacy of court participants by preventing posting of names in publicly accessible spaces of immigration courts.