Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1201 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1201
5	5	To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for claims of
6	6	ineffective assistance of counsel in immigration matters, and for other
7	7	purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	MARCH31, 2025
10	10	Mr. M
11	11	URPHYintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
12	12	to the Committee on the Judiciary
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide
15	15	for claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in immigra-
16	16	tion matters, and for other purposes.
17	17	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
18	18	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
19	19	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
20	20	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Immi-4
21	21	gration Procedures Act of 2025’’. 5
22	22	SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 6
23	23	(a) F
24	24	INDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-7
25	25	ings: 8
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28	28	•S 1201 IS
29	29	(1) Consistent with the Fifth Amendment to 1
30	30	the Constitution of the United States, an alien has 2
31	31	the right to effective counsel in removal proceedings 3
32	32	and in pursuing applications for discretionary and 4
33	33	nondiscretionary immigration relief and benefits in 5
34	34	the United States. 6
35	35	(2) Effective counsel must be competent counsel 7
36	36	if it is to be meaningful, and aliens do not always 8
37	37	receive effective counsel. 9
38	38	(3) Board of Immigration Appeals precedent 10
39	39	and Department of Justice and Department of 11
40	40	Homeland Security policy has been interpreted to re-12
41	41	quire aliens who have been victims of ineffective as-13
42	42	sistance of counsel, to file official complaints with 14
43	43	State bar associations before seeking further relief 15
44	44	under the immigration laws (as defined in section 16
45	45	101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 17
46	46	U.S.C. 1101(a))). 18
47	47	(4) A mandatory filing of a bar complaint is 19
48	48	unique to the application of immigration laws. 20
49	49	(5) Consequently, such requirement— 21
50	50	(A) has had a chilling effect on immigra-22
51	51	tion attorneys; 23
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54	54	•S 1201 IS
55	55	(B) acts as a barrier to access to counsel 1
56	56	for aliens in need of representation in immigra-2
57	57	tion matters; and 3
58	58	(C) results in additional obstacles aliens 4
59	59	must overcome to access a full and fair process 5
60	60	in immigration proceedings. 6
61	61	(6) In every other matter, the standard set 7
62	62	forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 8
63	63	(1984), is the standard used to assess an ineffective 9
64	64	assistance of counsel claim; therefore, the same 10
65	65	standard should apply to immigration matters. 11
66	66	(b) P
67	67	URPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to set forth 12
68	68	a procedure and associated standards for the evaluation 13
69	69	of ineffective assistance of counsel claims in immigration 14
70	70	matters. 15
71	71	SEC. 3. CLAIMS OF INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL 16
72	72	IN IMMIGRATION MATTERS. 17
73	73	(a) I
74	74	NGENERAL.—Chapter 9 of title II of the Immi-18
75	75	gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1351 et seq.) is 19
76	76	amended by adding at the end the following: 20
77	77	‘‘SEC. 295. CLAIMS OF INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUN-21
78	78	SEL. 22
79	79	‘‘(a) I
80	80	NGENERAL.—With respect to any immigration 23
81	81	matter, an alien may raise a claim of ineffective assistance 24
82	82	of counsel based on a claim that— 25
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85	85	•S 1201 IS
86	86	‘‘(1) the performance of the alien’s prior coun-1
87	87	sel with respect to such immigration matter was de-2
88	88	ficient; and 3
89	89	‘‘(2) such deficient performance prejudiced the 4
90	90	immigration proceeding. 5
91	91	‘‘(b) D
92	92	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 6
93	93	‘‘(1) I
94	94	MMIGRATION MATTER .—The term ‘immi-7
95	95	gration matter’ means, any stage of an exclusion, 8
96	96	deportation, or removal proceeding, including a col-9
97	97	lateral matter, a motion to reopen or reconsider, and 10
98	98	any matter concerning an alien pending before the 11
99	99	Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 12
100	100	General. 13
101	101	‘‘(2) P
102	102	REJUDICE.—The term ‘prejudice’ means, 14
103	103	with respect to counsel of an alien, the errors of 15
104	104	such counsel were so serious as to deprive the alien 16
105	105	of a fair immigration proceeding.’’. 17
106	106	(b) C
107	107	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 18
108	108	for the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 19
109	109	et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 20
110	110	to section 294 the following: 21
111	111	‘‘Sec. 295. Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.’’.
112	112	(c) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 22
113	113	this section shall apply with respect to any immigration 23
114	114	case or proceeding regardless of whether such case or pro-24
115	115	ceeding is— 25
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118	118	•S 1201 IS
119	119	(1) pending as of the date of the enactment of 1
120	120	this Act; 2
121	121	(2) commenced after such date of enactment; or 3
122	122	(3) fully adjudicated before such date of enact-4
123	123	ment. 5
124	124	Æ
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