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119-hr-5941119th Congress

Restoring Access for Detainees Act

Sponsored By: Representative Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3]

Introduced

Summary

Restores free, government-funded communication for people in DHS custody. This bill would create a paid phone and electronic access program so detained immigrants can notify family and reach legal help quickly.

Show full summary
  • Families: Detainees must get at least one 10-minute call during the first 5 hours of custody and at least 200 free minutes each month to contact immediate family.
  • People seeking counsel and courts: Detainees would have private access to legal counsel, potential counsel, immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and other courts with unlimited free minutes for those contacts.
  • Oversight and consular access: Detainees can privately contact consular officials and offices that investigate detention conditions without monitoring, except under a court-issued warrant.
  • Detention operations: Facilities can set consistent time and place rules but may not limit minutes with legal representatives, impose automatic cut-offs, or count incoming calls against the free minutes. The Department must adopt protocols so detainees are not deterred from using the service and staff must keep trying to reach family during initial custody periods.

*No specific fiscal estimate is provided in the sources.*

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Free phone and privacy for detainees

If enacted, detainees in DHS custody would get government-paid communications and privacy protections. You would get at least one 10-minute call to an immediate family member during the first 5 hours of custody and again within 5 hours after arrival at a new location. You would receive at least 200 free outgoing minutes each month to family and related contacts, and unlimited free minutes to your lawyer, oversight officials, courts, the U.N. refugee agency, and certain government offices. The bill would ban monitoring or recording of lawyer and oversight calls unless a court warrant allows it. DHS would have to make rules preventing staff from discouraging or retaliating against use of these calls. Each facility could set consistent time, place, and manner rules, but must give those rules to arrivals and make them public. The bill would define "communication" to include phone calls, email, video, and other electronic forms, and define "custody" broadly to include federal, state, local, contractor, or military detention where a person is not free to leave.

Preserve existing settlement agreements

If enacted, nothing in this bill would change any settlement agreement that is already in effect on the date of enactment. Existing rights and obligations in those agreements would be preserved.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3]

OR • D

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3]

    AZ • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]

    DC • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Larsen, Rick [D-WA-2]

    WA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7]

    WA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1]

    OR • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]

    ME • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10]

    NY • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12]

    NJ • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Pou, Nellie [D-NJ-9]

    NJ • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2]

    HI • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Balint, Becca [D-VT-At Large]

    VT • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6]

    WA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4]

    IL • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5]

    PA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9]

    NY • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Friedman, Laura [D-CA-30]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24]

    FL • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32]

    TX • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5]

    GA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Kelly, Robin L. [D-IL-2]

    IL • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Subramanyam, Suhas [D-VA-10]

    VA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4]

    OR • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6]

    OR • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Crockett, Jasmine [D-TX-30]

    TX • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12]

    MI • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Fletcher, Lizzie [D-TX-7]

    TX • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Morrison, Kelly [D-MN-3]

    MN • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D-FL-25]

    FL • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Escobar, Veronica [D-TX-16]

    TX • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. Tran, Derek [D-CA-45]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/7/2025

  • Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10]

    NJ • D

    Sponsored 11/10/2025

  • Rep. Lee, Susie [D-NV-3]

    NV • D

    Sponsored 11/10/2025

  • Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray [D-CA-31]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/10/2025

  • Rep. Sorensen, Eric [D-IL-17]

    IL • D

    Sponsored 11/10/2025

  • Del. Plaskett, Stacey E. [D-VI-At Large]

    VI • D

    Sponsored 11/10/2025

  • Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17]

    PA • D

    Sponsored 11/10/2025

  • Rep. Magaziner, Seth [D-RI-2]

    RI • D

    Sponsored 11/18/2025

  • Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-50]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 11/18/2025

  • Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7]

    IL • D

    Sponsored 11/19/2025

  • Rep. Rivas, Luz M. [D-CA-29]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 12/11/2025

  • Rep. Horsford, Steven [D-NV-4]

    NV • D

    Sponsored 2/13/2026

  • Rep. Latimer, George [D-NY-16]

    NY • D

    Sponsored 3/5/2026

  • Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13]

    MI • D

    Sponsored 6/4/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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