Sponsors (4)
The bill trades stronger limits, humane standards, transparency, and oversight of short-term ICE holding for increased operational complexity, recordkeeping burdens, infrastructure strain, and added costs — with effectiveness depending on how exceptions and logistics are managed.
Immigrants held in ICE holding facilities will generally be limited to short stays (≤12 hours), reducing prolonged detention harms, stress, and health risks and lowering routine overcrowding.
Law enforcement and DHS staff gain a clear 12-hour standard and a clarified definition of 'holding facility,' creating more consistent policy guidance and improving predictable custody procedures and oversight.
Detainees (including minors and pregnant or breastfeeding people) will receive better basic care—more frequent meals, guaranteed access to snacks/milk/juice, and drinking water in rooms—improving nutrition, hydration, and sanitary safety.
Taxpayers, ICE/DHS, and local partners will face increased operational, administrative, and compliance costs—for faster transfers, expedited transports, facility upgrades, meals/compliance, recordkeeping, and reporting.
Broad discretionary exceptions (e.g., the Secretary's authority to declare 'exigent operational conditions' or vague 'exceptional circumstances') could be used to extend detentions, undermining the intended 12-hour limit.
The 12-hour cap can be sidestepped by repeated or back-to-back short detentions, meaning some people could still experience effectively prolonged custody despite the limit.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Limits ICE holding-room custody to 12 hours except in narrow emergencies, requires humane basic conditions, mandates documentation and annual reporting, and authorizes IG audits.
Official title: To prohibit long-term custody in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facilities, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Greg Stanton · Last progress April 28, 2026
Limits how long people can be held in ICE holding cells by restoring a 12-hour maximum for "short-term" custody except in narrowly defined emergency situations, requires humane basic conditions and meals, mandates contemporaneous recordkeeping when the 12-hour limit is exceeded, and creates annual reporting and Inspector General audits to track compliance. It defines key terms and requires DHS to justify and document any detention beyond the short-term standard and keep records for oversight.