II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1201
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for claims of
ineffective assistance of counsel in immigration matters, and for other
purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH31, 2025
Mr. M
URPHYintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide
for claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in immigra-
tion matters, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Immi-4
gration Procedures Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 6
(a) F
INDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-7
ings: 8
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•S 1201 IS
(1) Consistent with the Fifth Amendment to 1
the Constitution of the United States, an alien has 2
the right to effective counsel in removal proceedings 3
and in pursuing applications for discretionary and 4
nondiscretionary immigration relief and benefits in 5
the United States. 6
(2) Effective counsel must be competent counsel 7
if it is to be meaningful, and aliens do not always 8
receive effective counsel. 9
(3) Board of Immigration Appeals precedent 10
and Department of Justice and Department of 11
Homeland Security policy has been interpreted to re-12
quire aliens who have been victims of ineffective as-13
sistance of counsel, to file official complaints with 14
State bar associations before seeking further relief 15
under the immigration laws (as defined in section 16
101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 17
U.S.C. 1101(a))). 18
(4) A mandatory filing of a bar complaint is 19
unique to the application of immigration laws. 20
(5) Consequently, such requirement— 21
(A) has had a chilling effect on immigra-22
tion attorneys; 23
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(B) acts as a barrier to access to counsel 1
for aliens in need of representation in immigra-2
tion matters; and 3
(C) results in additional obstacles aliens 4
must overcome to access a full and fair process 5
in immigration proceedings. 6
(6) In every other matter, the standard set 7
forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 8
(1984), is the standard used to assess an ineffective 9
assistance of counsel claim; therefore, the same 10
standard should apply to immigration matters. 11
(b) P
URPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to set forth 12
a procedure and associated standards for the evaluation 13
of ineffective assistance of counsel claims in immigration 14
matters. 15
SEC. 3. CLAIMS OF INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL 16
IN IMMIGRATION MATTERS. 17
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 9 of title II of the Immi-18
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1351 et seq.) is 19
amended by adding at the end the following: 20
‘‘SEC. 295. CLAIMS OF INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUN-21
SEL. 22
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—With respect to any immigration 23
matter, an alien may raise a claim of ineffective assistance 24
of counsel based on a claim that— 25
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‘‘(1) the performance of the alien’s prior coun-1
sel with respect to such immigration matter was de-2
ficient; and 3
‘‘(2) such deficient performance prejudiced the 4
immigration proceeding. 5
‘‘(b) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 6
‘‘(1) I
MMIGRATION MATTER .—The term ‘immi-7
gration matter’ means, any stage of an exclusion, 8
deportation, or removal proceeding, including a col-9
lateral matter, a motion to reopen or reconsider, and 10
any matter concerning an alien pending before the 11
Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 12
General. 13
‘‘(2) P
REJUDICE.—The term ‘prejudice’ means, 14
with respect to counsel of an alien, the errors of 15
such counsel were so serious as to deprive the alien 16
of a fair immigration proceeding.’’. 17
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 18
for the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 19
et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 20
to section 294 the following: 21
‘‘Sec. 295. Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 22
this section shall apply with respect to any immigration 23
case or proceeding regardless of whether such case or pro-24
ceeding is— 25
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(1) pending as of the date of the enactment of 1
this Act; 2
(2) commenced after such date of enactment; or 3
(3) fully adjudicated before such date of enact-4
ment. 5
Æ
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