HR 5581 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Access to Counsel Act of 2020

Introduced Jan 10, 2020 Originated House Sponsor Pramila Jayapal D-WA

Latest action · Mar 5, 2020 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 332.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedJan 10, 2020
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Access to Counsel Act of 2020

This bill provides various protections for covered individuals subject to secondary or deferred inspections when seeking admission into the United States. Covered individuals include U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, aliens in possession of a visa, and refugees.

The Department of Homeland Security shall ensure that a covered individual subject to secondary or deferred inspection has a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel and certain related parties, such as a relative, within an hour of the start of the secondary inspection and as necessary during the inspection process. The counsel and related party shall be allowed to advocate on behalf of the covered individual, including by providing evidence and information to the examining immigration officer.

A lawful permanent resident subject to secondary or deferred inspection may not abandon lawful permanent resident status until the individual has had a reasonable opportunity to seek advice from counsel, unless the individual voluntarily and knowingly waives in writing this opportunity to seek counsel's advice.

Cosponsors 50

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 10, 2020 to Feb 18, 2020; 21 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-CA	Adam B. Schiff	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-WA	Adam Smith	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-IL	Bobby L. Rush	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-NJ	Bonnie Watson Coleman	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-IL	Bradley Scott Schneider	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-FL	Debbie Wasserman Schultz	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-WA	Derek Kilmer	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-CA	Eric Swalwell	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-GA	Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-MA	James P. McGovern	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-MD	Jamie Raskin	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-NY	Jerrold Nadler	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-CA	Judy Chu	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-CA	Lucille Roybal-Allard	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-IL	Mike Quigley	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-OR	Suzanne Bonamici	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-FL	Theodore E. Deutch	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-NY	Yvette D. Clarke	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren	Original	Jan 10, 2020
D-CA	Anna G. Eshoo		Jan 15, 2020
D-WA	Rick Larsen		Jan 15, 2020
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer		Jan 17, 2020
D-IL	Jesús G. "Chuy" García		Jan 27, 2020
D-CA	Nanette Diaz Barragán		Jan 27, 2020
D-FL	Alcee L. Hastings		Jan 30, 2020
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly		Jan 30, 2020
D-CA	Grace F. Napolitano		Jan 30, 2020
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva		Jan 30, 2020
D-MA	Ayanna Pressley		Feb 3, 2020
D-CA	Ro Khanna		Feb 4, 2020
D-MI	Andy Levin		Feb 5, 2020
D-CA	Barbara Lee		Feb 5, 2020
D-MI	Daniel T. Kildee		Feb 5, 2020
D-NY	Eliot L. Engel		Feb 5, 2020
D-AZ	Ruben Gallego		Feb 5, 2020
D-RI	David N. Cicilline		Feb 7, 2020
D-WI	Mark Pocan		Feb 10, 2020
D-TX	Veronica Escobar		Feb 10, 2020
D-NY	Adriano Espaillat		Feb 11, 2020
D-CA	J. Luis Correa		Feb 13, 2020
D-GA	John Lewis		Feb 13, 2020
D-PA	Mary Gay Scanlon		Feb 13, 2020
D-CT	Rosa L. DeLauro		Feb 13, 2020
D-FL	Stephanie N. Murphy		Feb 13, 2020
D-TX	Sylvia R. Garcia		Feb 13, 2020
D-CA	Ted Lieu		Feb 13, 2020
D-CA	Alan S. Lowenthal		Feb 18, 2020
D-MA	Joseph P. Kennedy III		Feb 18, 2020

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Jan 10, 2020Markup Feb 12, 2020Reported Mar 5, 2020
	Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee	Referred Jan 28, 2020Discharged Feb 11, 2020
House	Homeland Security Committee	Referred Jan 10, 2020Discharged Mar 5, 2020
	Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee	Referred Jan 17, 2020

Actions 10

Everything that happened, newest first.

Mar 5, 2020Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 116-412, Part I.
Mar 5, 2020Committee on Homeland Security discharged.
Mar 5, 2020Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 332.
Feb 12, 2020Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Feb 12, 2020Ordered to be Reported (Amended).

Show all 10 actions

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
House	Debate and remarks H1520	Steny H. Hoyer D-MD	Mar 5, 2020

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Committee report

H. Rept. 116-412

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: This bill is enacted pursuant to the power granted to Congress under Article I of the United States Constitution and its subsequent amendments, and further clarified and interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 6, January 10, 2020, page H180.

CRS reports 1

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 1

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
R46419	Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 116th Congress Archived	Report	Jul 27, 2020

Related bills 3

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
HR 1006	To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.	Reintroduction of	Feb 24, 2017
S 2219	A bill to clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.	Related bill	Jul 23, 2019
HR 2486	FUTURE Act	Related bill	Jul 23, 2020

Titles 3

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Access to Counsel Act of 2020
Short Title(s) as Reported to House: Access to Counsel Act of 2020

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.

Text 2

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Mar 5, 2020Reported in House
Jan 10, 2020Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.