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AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would make it much harder for people in immigration proceedings to be released from detention and would increase electronic monitoring for those who are not held in a detention center. It says people should only be placed in a release or monitoring program if detention beds are already full, there is no other place to keep them detained, and immigration officials have tried all reasonable ways to detain them. It would also require everyone on ICE’s non-detained list to be enrolled in monitoring, wear continuous GPS tracking during their immigration case, and follow a nightly curfew. If someone breaks the terms of their release, the bill would allow them to be ordered removed from the country without being present in court.
- Release into an Alternatives to Detention program would only be allowed after detention space is fully used and officials have tried and failed to keep the person detained.
- Anyone on ICE’s non-detained docket would have to be in the monitoring program, tracked by GPS at all times during their immigration case, and kept under a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. stay-at-home rule.
- If a person does not follow the conditions of release, an immigration officer could tell a judge, and the person could be ordered removed without being there in person.
- The bill also says that if one part of the law is struck down by a court, the rest of it would still remain in effect.
Official Summaries
Justice for Jocelyn Act
This bill limits Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) Alternatives to Detention program, which supervises non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) subject to removal who are released from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Specifically, releases under this program are prohibited unless all detention beds are filled and DHS found no alternatives after exercising and exhausting all reasonable options.
The bill requires all individuals on ICE’s nondetained docket to be enrolled in the program and be subject to continuous GPS monitoring and curfew.
Further, the bill requires a non-U.S. national who was arrested and released to be removed in absentia if an immigration officer submits an affidavit to an immigration judge stating that the individual failed to comply with a condition of release.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 72 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 72
To remove aliens who fail to comply with a release order, to enroll all
aliens on the ICE nondetained docket in the Alternatives to Detention
program with continuous GPS monitoring, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 13, 2025
Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cassidy, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr.
Daines, Mr. Wicker, and Mr. Budd) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To remove aliens who fail to comply with a release order, to enroll all
aliens on the ICE nondetained docket in the Alternatives to Detention
program with continuous GPS monitoring, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Justice for Jocelyn Act''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON PARTICIPATION IN ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION.
No alien may be released as part of any program under an
Alternatives to Detention program unless--
(1) all detention beds available to the Secretary of
Homeland Security have been filled;
(2) there exists no available option to hold such alien in
detention; and
(3) the Secretary has exercised and exhausted all
reasonable efforts to hold such alien in detention.
SEC. 3. GPS TRACKING AND CURFEW REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN ALIENS.
Each alien on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's
nondetained docket shall be--
(1) enrolled in an Alternatives to Detention program;
(2) continuously subject to GPS monitoring--
(A) for the duration of all applicable immigration
proceedings, including any appeal; and
(B) in the case of an alien who has been ordered
removed from the United States, until removal; and
(3) required to stay in their Alternatives to Detention-
compliant home address between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00
a.m.
SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF ALIENS WHO FAIL TO COMPLY WITH RELEASE ORDER.
Section 240(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1229a(b)(5)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(F) Failure to comply with release order.--If an
immigration officer submits an affidavit to an
immigration judge stating that an alien failed to
comply with a condition of release under section
236(a), such alien shall be ordered removed in
absentia.''.
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision
to any person or circumstance is held by a Federal court to be
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application of such
provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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