Bennet, Murphy, Dexter, Bicameral Colleagues Introduce Bill to Ensure DHS Detainees Can Speak to a Lawyer, Contact their Families

Nov 7, 2025| Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and 48 bicameral colleagues to introduce the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, legislation to ensure the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allows noncitizens who have been detained to contact their legal counsel and families. U.S. Representative Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) introduced companion legislation in the House.

The bill comes after months of credible reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deprived detainees - including children and longtime legal residents - of the ability to access a lawyer, sometimes for months at a time. In some cases, detainees have also reportedly been transferred to facilities in other countries without being allowed to contact their families.

"The Trump Administration has shown a complete disregard for humane immigration enforcement and has replaced civil rights, due process, and fair treatment with indefensible cruelty," said Bennet. "This bill upholds the basic dignity of our neighbors swept into civil immigration detention by ensuring they can reach their families and legal counsel during the most critical moments."

"For months now, Americans have watched the horrific videos of CBP and ICE agents violently snatching people off the street at schools, workplaces, and grocery stores. But what happens after people are taken into custody is equally disturbing," said Murphy. "DHS has repeatedly refused to allow people to contact their families and lawyers, traumatizing children and families who are left searching for answers when their loved one suddenly misses after-school pickup or just doesn't come home for dinner. It's heartless and deeply un-American. This bill protects the basic right of people in this country to call their family - which often includes American citizens - when they are taken into custody. DHS has proven time and again they cannot be trusted to follow basic humanitarian principles, and it's on Congress to step in and hold them accountable."

"I saw with my own eyes the reality of Trump's immigration system: a mother and her four U.S. citizen children disappeared and locked in a windowless cell unable to contact a lawyer or their loved ones. The inhumanity was staggering. If we allow this to continue, we will lose who we are," said Dexter. "I'm proud to join Senator Chris Murphy in defending the simple truth that access to legal counsel and communication with loved ones isn't a luxury, it is a fundamental human right."

Specifically, the Restoring Access to Detainees Act would:

1. Ensure that people detained, or transferred to a new facility, have the right to call their families to let them know where they are;
2. Ensure that people detained have an opportunity to speak confidentially with their legal counsel or to find competent legal counsel while in custody;
3. Ensure that people detained have an opportunity to communicate confidentially with existing oversight entities, if applicable; and
4. Restore a program from the first Trump Administration which established a process for noncitizens to call their families while they are in deportation proceedings.

The Restoring Access to Detainees Act is endorsed by civil rights groups including the American Immigration Lawyers Association, National Immigration Law Center, National Immigrant Justice Center, Stop AAPI Hate, and New Haven Legal Assistance Association.

In addition to Bennet and Murphy, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) cosponsored the bill.

The text of the bill is available HERE. A summary of the bill is available HERE.