Bill brief/HR7347/119th Congress
ICE detention sites would face new health tracking and complaint rules
Official title
Stop Inhumane Conditions in ICE Detention Act of 2026
H.R. 7347 would set new rules for tracking and reporting health conditions and complaints in immigration detention facilities. It covers all locations where the Department of Homeland Security holds noncitizens for more than four hours, including contract facilities. The bill was introduced in the House and sent to the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees for consideration.
Bill
HR7347
Introduced
Date not available
Sponsor
Sponsor not listed
Chamber
House
What the bill does
What this bill does
The bill requires every immigration detention facility used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including contract and temporary spaces, to set up an internet-based system to record detainee health conditions. This system must track reports of disease or injury, diagnoses, treatments, and treatment outcomes for medical, dental, and mental health issues, and be updated as close to real time as practical. All staff must receive mandatory training on how to use the system, and no facility can be excused from this requirement.
The bill directs DHS to create an anonymous, multilingual way for detainees to report health concerns, using secure digital kiosks or toll-free hotlines. If someone who files a report faces retaliation, such as harassment, loss of privileges, solitary-type confinement, or extra work, the DHS Inspector General or the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman must investigate within 14 days. The complainant must receive a detailed report of the findings in a language they understand, and if retaliation is confirmed, that report may be made public.
If a facility gets three complaints that are verified as involving health concerns, DHS must review the contract or agreement with the entity running that facility and decide whether there is cause to end it. Any decision to terminate must be published. The bill also requires the DHS Inspector General to conduct an annual audit of health conditions at every covered facility, with special attention to gender-related health protections such as menstrual care, pregnancy outcomes, and trauma-informed care, and to report the findings to Congress.
At each covered facility, there must be a full-time health services liaison whose only job is to coordinate health and wellness efforts, collect health information, and serve as the main contact for the Inspector General on health issues. Starting one year and three months after the bill becomes law, DHS must issue public quarterly reports and send them to key congressional committees, describing detainee health conditions and complaints at each facility. The bill also protects access for Members of Congress and certain staff to enter any immigration detention facility for oversight.
DHS may not block entry for oversight purposes or temporarily change conditions in ways that would alter what these visitors see. Members of Congress do not have to give advance notice before visiting; designated staff may be required to give 24 hours’ notice. The bill applies definitions from the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure consistent use of immigration terms.
Key provisions
- This bill covers every place where DHS holds noncitizens under immigration law. That includes contract facilities and temporary spaces used for more than four hours.
- Each facility operator would have to set up an online health reporting system. It must log illnesses or injuries, diagnoses, prescribed treatment, and treatment results.
- Facility staff would have to be trained to use that health system. No facility could be excused from using it.
- DHS would have to create an anonymous complaint system in multiple languages. People in detention could use secure kiosks or toll-free hotlines inside the facility.
- If someone is punished for filing a health complaint, federal investigators would have 14 days to act. The case would go to the DHS Inspector General or the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman.
- People who file complaints would have to get a detailed report on the investigation in a language they understand. If retaliation is confirmed, that report could be made public.
- Three verified health complaints at one facility would trigger a mandatory DHS contract review. DHS would then decide whether there is cause to end the agreement and would have to publish any decision to terminate it.
- The DHS Inspector General would have to audit health conditions at every covered facility each year. Those audits must look at menstrual care, pregnancy outcomes, and trauma-informed care, and the findings must go to Congress.
- Each facility would need a full-time health services liaison. That person's only job would be to coordinate health and wellness work and serve as the Inspector General's main contact.
- DHS would have to post quarterly public reports for each facility about detainee health conditions and complaints. DHS would also have to send those reports to named House and Senate committees.
Impact
Why it matters—and who it affects
Why it matters
The bill could change how health problems in immigration detention are tracked and addressed by setting uniform reporting systems and investigation timelines. This may affect detainees’ ability to raise health concerns and receive responses, and may influence how facility operators manage medical, dental, and mental health care. Regular audits and a dedicated health services liaison at each facility could increase the amount and quality of information available about health conditions in detention. Tying repeated, verified health complaints to possible contract reviews may affect private and local entities that run facilities under agreements with DHS. Public quarterly reports and easier access for Members of Congress may increase oversight and transparency of detention conditions. The exact impact on detainee health outcomes, facility operations, and government spending is not stated in the bill and would depend on how DHS and facility operators carry out these requirements.
Who it affects
This bill mainly affects people held in immigration detention, because it changes how facilities track health care and handle health complaints. It also directly affects the public and private groups that run detention sites for DHS, since they would have new staffing, reporting, and oversight duties. Members of Congress and certain staff would get clearer legal access to inspect facilities. Families, advocates, and policymakers could also get more public information about health conditions inside detention.
The debate
The case for it—and the concerns
These are the main arguments surrounding the bill, not Modern Action’s position.
Arguments in support
- May improve detection and tracking of medical, dental, and mental health problems in detention through standardized, near–real-time reporting systems.
- Anonymous, multilingual complaint channels and investigation deadlines could make it safer and more practical for detainees to speak up about health concerns and retaliation.
- Annual audits, a dedicated health services liaison, and required congressional access may increase accountability and transparency for conditions in immigration detention.
- Linking repeated verified health complaints to contract reviews could give DHS a clearer basis to end agreements with facilities that do not meet health standards.
- Public quarterly reports may give families, advocates, and policymakers more information to monitor trends in detention health conditions over time.
Concerns and tradeoffs
- New reporting systems, audits, and staff positions may increase administrative and financial burdens on DHS and facility operators, including local jails and private contractors.
- Some may view the required level of data collection and oversight as federal overreach into how contracted facilities manage their internal operations.
- The risk of contract termination after multiple verified complaints could make some entities less willing to contract with DHS, possibly reducing detention capacity or shifting where detainees are held.
- Allowing Members of Congress to visit facilities without advance notice might be seen as disruptive to facility security and daily operations.
- Frequent reporting and investigations could be viewed as diverting time and resources away from direct care and basic facility management tasks.
- Temporary holding spaces used to detain noncitizens for longer than four hours are covered, so short-term overflow or staging areas must also comply with the health reporting rules.
- The retaliation provisions apply to a wide range of actions, including added work duties and placement in “special” or solitary-like conditions, which may broaden what counts as retaliation compared to typical workplace standards.
- Only after three verified health-related complaints at a single facility does DHS have to review whether to end a contract; the bill does not require termination, only a cause determination and publication if termination is chosen.
Check the details
Key facts
- Applies to all facilities where DHS detains or houses noncitizens under immigration laws, including facilities run under competitively bid contracts and temporary spaces used for more than four hours.
- Requires each facility operator to establish an internet-accessible health reporting system that logs detainee diseases or injuries, diagnoses, prescribed treatments, and treatment outcomes.
- Mandates that facility staff receive training on operating the health reporting system, and bars any facility from being exempt from using it.
- Orders DHS to create an anonymous, multilingual complaint system reachable via secure kiosks or toll-free hotlines inside facilities.
- Sets a 14-day deadline for the DHS Inspector General or the Immigration Detention Ombudsman to investigate alleged retaliation against someone who filed a health-related complaint.
- Requires that complainants receive a detailed investigation report in a language they can understand; such reports may be published if retaliation is confirmed.
- Triggers a mandatory DHS review of a facility’s operating agreement once three complaints at that facility have been verified as involving health concerns, including a decision on whether there is cause to terminate the agreement and publication of any termination decision.
- Directs the DHS Inspector General to conduct yearly audits of health conditions at each covered facility, including specific review of menstrual care, pregnancy outcomes, and trauma-informed care, and to report to Congress.
Legislative record
How far the bill has moved
Border Security and Enforcement
Referred to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement. · Feb 5, 2026
- Introduced
- 2House Committee
- 3House Floor Vote
- 4Passed House
- 5Senate Review
- 6Passed Both Chambers
- 7Signed into Law
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