PRIA Logo™
119-s-3995119th Congress

LOCATE Act

Sponsored By: Senator Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]

Introduced

Summary

Timely public updates of detainee location and status. The LOCATE Act would force U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to keep the Online Detainee Locator System current with strict deadlines and required data fields to improve transparency and family notification.

Show full summary
  • Families and legal representatives: Agencies must make reasonable efforts to notify close family members or legal reps within 12 hours after a custody event, when contact information is known.
  • Detainees and public access: The ODLS would have to show full name, date of birth, current facility and address, a contact official, dates of initial apprehension and most recent transfer, and any scheduled release, removal, or information about release, deportation, or death.
  • Agency operations and oversight: CBP must send biographical and custodial info to ICE within 4 hours after transfers to ICE, CBP updates must appear within 6 hours, ICE updates within 12 hours, and the DHS Inspector General must audit and report findings annually to Judiciary committees.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

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

Annual oversight of detainee reporting

If enacted, the DHS Inspector General would conduct annual audits of DHS compliance with the locator update and notification rules. The IG would send yearly reports summarizing findings to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. These audits and reports would begin 30 days after the law is enacted.

Faster detainee location updates

If enacted, the bill would require ICE and CBP to update the online detainee locator faster. For people in CBP custody, the locator would be updated within 6 hours of a custody event. For people in ICE custody, it would be updated within 12 hours. If CBP transfers someone to ICE, CBP would have to send biographical and custodial information to ICE within 4 hours. The locator would list name, date of birth, current facility with address and a contact, dates of apprehension and recent transfer, and any known release, removal, transfer, or death information. Agencies would make reasonable efforts to notify known close family or legal representatives within 12 hours. These rules would start 30 days after the law is enacted and would not replace existing in-custody death reporting requirements under the Death in Custody Reporting Act.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]

NM • D

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation