No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section provides the short title of the Act as the Governors’ Right to Inspect Act of 2026 and sets forth the table of contents.
This section states congressional findings on the 2026 peak in ICE detention populations above 70,000, nearly 50 deaths in custody from January 2025 to May 2026, and documented health and safety deficiencies at the privately operated Delaney Hall facility in Newark, New Jersey. It establishes the sole purpose of the Act as authorizing designated state officials to conduct independent health and safety oversight of federal immigration detention facilities without authority to interfere in enforcement operations, custody determinations, or removal proceedings.
This section defines terms used throughout the Act. It establishes "covered facility" as any U.S. site detaining individuals in the Secretary of Homeland Security's custody, including ICE-owned facilities, private contractors, and state or local facilities under intergovernmental agreements. It designates "authorized oversight official" as a state governor or a designated state public health or safety official for conducting inspections. It specifies "health and safety inspection" as a visit to observe and document conditions related to sanitation, medical care, food, water, sleeping arrangements, temperature, ventilation, and emergency systems.
This section prohibits the use of funds to bar authorized oversight officials from entering covered facilities to conduct health and safety inspections. It grants such officials the right to access all areas, privately interview consenting detainees, review food preparation logs, aggregate medical records, and maintenance records, and document conditions via notes and photography, subject to security protocols. It bars officials from interfering with ICE enforcement, releasing detainees, directing staff, accessing unrelated classified information, or acting for any purpose other than civilian oversight.
This section requires operators of covered facilities to cooperate with each health and safety inspection. It directs the Secretary to issue a rule within 90 days establishing reasonable security protocols that may prohibit weapons, require staff escorts, restrict photography in narrowly defined high-risk areas, and protect undercover personnel identities, provided the protocols do not prevent or significantly impair inspections.
This section authorizes Governors to submit optional reports after health and safety inspections of covered facilities to specified congressional committees, relevant Members of Congress, and the Secretary. It requires the Secretary to respond within 60 days verifying findings and outlining a plan for recommended corrective actions, and directs that reports and responses be posted publicly on the Secretary's website, subject to redactions for security or privacy.
This section preserves existing state and local authority to inspect private detention facilities. It states that access granted to authorized oversight officials under this Act supplements, and does not limit, rights under state health and safety inspection laws or intergovernmental agreements between a state or locality and the Secretary.
This section authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of such sums as may be necessary to implement the requirements of this Act, including the establishment of security protocols and the maintenance of a public reporting portal.