Full Text of HB5502 101st General Assembly
HB5502ham001 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz Filed: 3/6/2020
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5502
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5502 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Right | 5 | | to Counsel in Immigration Proceedings Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Purpose; findings. | 7 | | (a) The State is committed to fair and equal treatment of | 8 | | all individuals, and, in particular, of individuals at risk of | 9 | | removal and separation from their families through the federal | 10 | | immigration detention and deportation system. | 11 | | (b) While an individual in removal proceedings has the | 12 | | right to legal representation, the representation is at the | 13 | | individual's own expense and may be beyond the financial | 14 | | capacity of low-income households. | 15 | | (c) Nearly two-thirds of all individuals facing | 16 | | immigration removal proceedings throughout the United States |
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| 1 | | lack legal representation. Among the individuals in | 2 | | immigration detention, only one in 6 individuals were | 3 | | represented by counsel. Among the individuals facing removal | 4 | | proceedings in this State, less than one in 3 individuals, | 5 | | generally, and less than one in 8 individuals in detention were | 6 | | represented by counsel. | 7 | | (d) Legal representation is essential to effective | 8 | | identification and presentation of avenues for release from | 9 | | detention and relief from removal. Individuals in immigration | 10 | | detention are 4 times more likely to win release if represented | 11 | | by legal counsel than individuals without representation by | 12 | | legal counsel. In removal proceedings, detained individuals | 13 | | are 11 times more likely to succeed in claims for relief if | 14 | | represented by legal counsel than individuals without | 15 | | representation by legal counsel. | 16 | | (e) Legal representation in removal proceedings has | 17 | | improved the efficiency of the proceedings and the | 18 | | administration of justice as individuals are better able to | 19 | | present their defenses and claims for relief. | 20 | | (f) It is the public policy of this State that all covered | 21 | | individuals should have the right to ongoing legal | 22 | | representation in covered proceedings. This right to counsel | 23 | | should include provisions of funds sufficient to ensure that | 24 | | legal service providers are funded to: | 25 | | (1) engage support staff, interpretation staff, and | 26 | | investigative staff; |
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| 1 | | (2) contract as reasonably necessary with independent | 2 | | experts, including country conditions experts and forensic | 3 | | medical experts; and | 4 | | (3) contract as reasonably necessary with social | 5 | | service providers providing supportive and rehabilitative | 6 | | services to covered individuals during the course of their | 7 | | removal proceedings. | 8 | | (g) This State should establish a program and a dedicated | 9 | | fund to provide the legal services described in subsection (f). | 10 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 11 | | "Covered individual" means any individual subject to | 12 | | removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. 1225, 1228, and 1229a or a | 13 | | final order of removal under 8 CFR 1241.1, including any | 14 | | related covered proceeding, regardless of age, who is: (i) a | 15 | | domiciliary of this State; or (ii) an individual who is not a | 16 | | domiciliary of this State if removal proceedings are conducted | 17 | | against the individual in this State. | 18 | | "Covered proceeding" means any proceeding in which a | 19 | | covered individual is a party and is seeking an avenue of | 20 | | relief from removal from the United States or is challenging | 21 | | his or her arrest or detention under the Immigration and | 22 | | Nationality Act and its implementing regulations. "Covered | 23 | | proceeding" includes: | 24 | | (1) a proceeding or hearing in an immigration court and | 25 | | any related application to United States Citizenship and |
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| 1 | | Immigration Services connected to the proceeding or | 2 | | hearing; | 3 | | (2) an immigration proceeding conducted by telephone | 4 | | or video teleconference; | 5 | | (3) a proceeding in a State court for purposes of | 6 | | obtaining a special findings order; | 7 | | (4) a proceeding in a State court for purposes of | 8 | | vacating a conviction or modifying a sentence in which the | 9 | | conviction or sentence is relevant to the immigration | 10 | | proceedings at issue; | 11 | | (5) a credible fear interview or reasonable fear | 12 | | interview; | 13 | | (6) a habeas corpus petition to a federal district | 14 | | court challenging detention under the Immigration and | 15 | | Nationality Act; | 16 | | (7) a motion to reopen or reconsider under 8 U.S.C. | 17 | | 1229a; | 18 | | (8) a petition for review under 8 U.S.C. 1252; | 19 | | (9) a remand to a federal district court from the | 20 | | United States Court of Appeals for fact-finding purposes; | 21 | | and | 22 | | (10) any appeal related to any of the foregoing to the | 23 | | Board of Immigration Appeals, the United States Court of | 24 | | Appeals, or the United States Supreme Court. | 25 | | "Domicile" means a true, fixed, and permanent legal home of | 26 | | an individual or the place to which the individual intends to |
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| 1 | | return even though the individual may reside elsewhere. | 2 | | "Domiciliary" means an individual who has established a | 3 | | domicile with respect to a particular jurisdiction. | 4 | | "Immigration court" means a tribunal of the Executive | 5 | | Office for Immigration Review, or a successor entity, tasked | 6 | | with deciding the inadmissibility or deportability of a | 7 | | noncitizen of the United States that is presided over by an | 8 | | immigration judge as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(4). | 9 | | "Legal services" means individual legal assistance in a | 10 | | single consultation, or ongoing legal representation, provided | 11 | | by a legal services provider to a covered individual, and all | 12 | | legal advice, advocacy, and assistance associated with the | 13 | | service. | 14 | | "Legal services provider" means an individual, | 15 | | organization, or association that has the authority to provide | 16 | | legal services. | 17 | | Section 15. Task Force on Counsel in Immigration | 18 | | Proceedings. | 19 | | (a) The Task Force on Counsel in Immigration Proceedings is | 20 | | established. | 21 | | (b) The Task Force shall consist of the following 7 | 22 | | members: | 23 | | (1) the Governor, or his or her designee; | 24 | | (2) the President of the Senate, or his or her | 25 | | designee; |
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| 1 | | (3) the Minority Leader of the Senate, or his or her | 2 | | designee; | 3 | | (4) the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or his | 4 | | or her designee; | 5 | | (5) the Minority Leader of the House of | 6 | | Representatives, or his or her designee; | 7 | | (6) the Attorney General, or his or her designee; and | 8 | | (7) the Secretary of Human Services, or his or her | 9 | | designee. | 10 | | (c) Members of the Task Force shall serve without | 11 | | compensation. | 12 | | (d) The Department of Human Services shall provide | 13 | | administrative and other support to the Task Force. | 14 | | (e) The Task Force shall investigate the implementation of | 15 | | universal representation for covered individuals in | 16 | | immigration removal proceedings as described in subsection (f) | 17 | | of Section 5. The Task Force investigation shall include, but | 18 | | is not limited to, the following matters: | 19 | | (1) the estimated number of covered individuals facing | 20 | | a covered proceeding; | 21 | | (2) the current infrastructure for providing | 22 | | independent, competent, and zealous legal representation | 23 | | in a covered proceeding; | 24 | | (3) the additional resources, including salaries and | 25 | | benefits for attorneys and support staff, training, | 26 | | supervision, and material resources that would need to be |
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| 1 | | added to the existing infrastructure described in | 2 | | paragraph (2) in order to provide independent, competent, | 3 | | and zealous legal representation for the number of covered | 4 | | individuals described in paragraph (1), including | 5 | | mechanisms for subcontracted relationships with | 6 | | independent experts and social service providers; | 7 | | (4) the estimated annual cost of the additional | 8 | | resources described in paragraph (3);
| 9 | | (5) funding sources, public and private, that are or | 10 | | would be available to pay for the additional resources | 11 | | described in paragraph (3); and | 12 | | (6) the estimated annual cost of bond payment support | 13 | | needed for covered individuals facing a covered | 14 | | proceeding, and the feasibility of a State-sponsored bond | 15 | | fund for those individuals. | 16 | | (f) In order for the Governor and General Assembly to | 17 | | evaluate different scopes of legal representation in | 18 | | immigration court proceedings, the Task Force investigation | 19 | | described in subsection (e) shall provide additional findings | 20 | | in the following categories: | 21 | | (1) State domiciliary versus non-State domiciliary | 22 | | covered individuals, and, among the State domiciliary | 23 | | covered individuals, the regions of residence within the | 24 | | State; | 25 | | (2) household income above and below 250% of the | 26 | | federal poverty line; |
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| 1 | | (3) type of proceedings in which the covered | 2 | | individuals need legal representation; and | 3 | | (4) current percentages of covered individuals in | 4 | | covered proceedings with and without legal representation. | 5 | | (g) The Task Force shall submit a report of its findings in | 6 | | the investigation described in subsection (e) and its | 7 | | recommendations for how to fully provide legal representation | 8 | | for covered individuals facing covered proceedings no later | 9 | | than July 1, 2021. | 10 | | Section 20. Repeal. This Act is repealed on July 1, 2022.
| 11 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 12 | | becoming law.".
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