Department of Homeland Security - GPO

1 Vol. 79 Friday, No. 45 March 7, 2014 Part II Department of Homeland Security 6 CFR Part 115 Standards To Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Sexual Abuse and Assault in Confinement Facilities; Final Rule VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:46 Mar 06, 2014 Jkt 232001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\ 07 MRR2mstockstill on DSK4 VPTVN1 PROD with RULES213100 Federal Register/ Vol. 79, No. 45 / Friday, March 7, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 1As discussed in greater detail below, in this final rule, sexual abuse includes sexual abuse and assault of a detainee by another detainee, as well as sexual abuse and assault of a detainee by a staff member, contractor, or volunteer.

2 2 National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report 1 (2009), 3 For simplicity, all persons confined in DHS immigration detention facilities and holding facilities are referred to as detainees in this rulemaking. Department OF Homeland Security 6 CFR Part 115 [ICEB 2012 0003] RIN 1653 AA65 Standards To Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Sexual Abuse and Assault in Confinement Facilities AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security . ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is issuing regulations setting standards to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and assault in DHS confinement facilities.

3 DATES: This rule is effective May 6, 2014. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexander Y. Hartman, Office of Policy; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security ; Potomac Center North, 500 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20536; Telephone: (202) 732 4292 (not a toll- free number). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Abbreviations ANPRM Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ASR Administrative Stay of Removal BJS Bureau of Justice Statistics BOP Bureau of Prisons CBP Customs and Border Protection CDF Contract Detention Facility CFR Code of Federal Regulations CMD Custody Management Division CRCL DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties DHS Department of Homeland Security DOJ Department of Justice DSM Detention Service Manager ERO ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations FOD ICE

4 Field Office Director FR Federal Register FOJC ICE Field Office Juvenile Coordinator FSAF lores v. Reno Settlement Agreement HHS Department of Health and Human Services HSI ICE Homeland Security Investigations ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement IGA Intergovernmental Agreement IGSA Intergovernmental Service Agreement INA Immigration and Nationality Act IRFA Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis IRIA Initial Regulatory Impact Analysis JIC Joint Intake Center LEP Limited English Proficient/Proficiency LGBTI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex LGBTIGNC Lesbian.

5 Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Gender Non- conforming MOU Memorandum of Understanding NAICS North American Industry Classification System NDS National Detention Standards NPREC National Prison Rape Elimination Commission NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ODO ICE Office of Detention Oversight OIG DHS Office of the Inspector General OMB Office of Management and Budget OPR ICE Office of Professional Responsibility ORR HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement PBNDS Performance Based National Detention Standards PRA

6 Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 PREA Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 PSA Prevention of Sexual Assault QAT Quality Assurance Team RCA Risk Classification Assessment RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act RIA Regulatory Impact Analysis SAAPID Sexual Abuse and Assault Prevention and Intervention Directive SAFE Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner SANE Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner SBA Small Business Administration SIJ Special Immigrant Juvenile SPC Service Processing Center TVPRA Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act UMRA Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 United States Code USCIS Citizenship and Immigration Services USMS Marshals Service VAWA Reauthorization Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 II.

7 Executive Summary A. Purpose of the Regulatory Action The purpose of this regulatory action is to set standards to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confinement violence, against any victim, is an assault on human dignity and an affront to American values. Many victims report persistent, even lifelong mental and physical suffering. As the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) explained in its 2009 report: Until recently .. the public viewed sexual abuse as an inevitable feature of confinement.

8 Even as courts and human rights standards increasingly confirmed that prisoners have the same fundamental rights to safety, dignity, and justice as individuals living at liberty in the community, vulnerable men, women, and children continued to be sexually victimized by other prisoners and corrections staff. Tolerance of sexual abuse of prisoners in the government s custody is totally incompatible with American DHS is committed to preventing, detecting, and responding to sexual abuse in facilities used to detain individuals for civil immigration purposes.

9 Sexual abuse is not an inevitable feature of detention, and with DHS s strong commitment, DHS immigration detention and holding facilities have a culture that promotes safety and refuses to tolerate abuse. DHS is fully committed to its zero-tolerance policy against sexual abuse in its confinement facilities, and these standards will strengthen that policy across DHS confinement facilities. DHS is also fully committed to the full implementation of the standards in DHS confinement facilities, and to robust oversight of these facilities to ensure this implementation.

10 The standards build on current Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Performance Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) and other DHS detention policies. The standards also respond to the President s May 17, 2012 Memorandum, Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which directs all agencies with Federal confinement facilities to work with the Attorney General to create rules or procedures setting standards to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in confinement facilities, and to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA Reauthorization)