Restoring Access for Detainees

Summary#

This bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to provide certain free communications to people held in immigration custody. It says detained people must get at least one 10-minute call to an immediate family member during the first 5 hours of custody and again when they arrive at a new location. If a detainee cannot reach family, staff must keep trying. Detainees would get at least 200 free outgoing minutes per month to family or others, plus unlimited free minutes for calls with legal counsel, certain courts and immigration offices, investigators of detention conditions, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and some government offices helping with immigration documents. The bill requires private, unmonitored calls for legal and some oversight communications except when a court warrant authorizes monitoring. It directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to make protocols to stop dissuasion or retaliation and allows facilities to set time, place, and manner rules so long as those rules are applied consistently, given to detainees on arrival, and publicly available. The bill also says the federal government should pay for the covered communications and includes a savings clause that does not change existing settlement agreements.

What it means for you#

• If you are in immigration custody, you could make a 10-minute call to an immediate family member early in detention and when you move to a new facility.
• You could receive at least 200 free outgoing minutes each month for calls to family and others listed in the bill.
• You would have opportunities for private, unmonitored calls with lawyers, consular officials, and certain oversight officials, except when a court warrant allows monitoring.
• Detention facilities can set rules about when and where calls happen, but they cannot limit the number of minutes with legal counsel or cut calls off by automatic rule, and incoming calls cannot be counted against free minutes.

Expenses#

The bill states that the covered communications must be provided "at the expense of the Federal Government." No publicly available information on total cost estimates or funding amounts is included in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

The bill's text and sponsors say that people in civil immigration detention need access to counsel and to keep contact with family. It notes that a prior program (started April 2020) provided up to 520 free minutes per month during the COVID–19 public health emergency but that program stopped in 2024 for lack of funding. The bill says some recently provided funds to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be reserved to restore free telephone service for detainees.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opponents' views or formal objections is included in the bill text or accompanying metadata.