This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to prevent the Secretary of Homeland Security from obligating or spending federal funds to acquire full‑body restraints and from using those restraints in Department operations. It also creates reporting obligations to congressional committees and an employee‑discipline rule tied to violations and deception on the subject.
The measure matters to anyone responsible for DHS detention, transport, or procurement: it changes what equipment the Department may buy or deploy, forces an accounting of existing inventory, and elevates transparency and disciplinary consequences tied to use of these restraints—potentially altering transport and detention procedures across multiple DHS components.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill bars the Secretary of Homeland Security from obligating or expending federal funds to acquire full‑body restraints and from utilizing them. It carves out a narrow grandfathering (contracts entered into on or before enactment), requires periodic reports to specified congressional committees, and directs removal from federal service of any DHS officer or employee who violates the ban or knowingly deceives Congress or department leadership on the matter.
Who It Affects
DHS components that detain or transport people—principally U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Department-wide transport teams—plus DHS procurement offices, contractors supplying restraints, and detention medical staff. Congressional oversight offices and DHS compliance units will also face new reporting and recordkeeping duties.
Why It Matters
By eliminating a class of restraint devices from DHS procurement and use, the bill forces operational changes to detention and transport protocols, imposes new compliance and inventory duties on procurement and field offices, and increases transparency with recurring, detailed reporting to oversight committees.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The act inserts a new section into title VII of the Homeland Security Act that treats ‘‘full‑body restraints’’ as a defined category — the bill specifies the term to mean four‑point and five‑point restraints that immobilize an individual. It creates two linked prohibitions: one on obligating or spending federal funds to acquire such restraints and a separate prohibition on utilizing them in Department operations.
The acquisition prohibition does not reach legacy contracts signed before the statute becomes law; those pre‑existing agreements are preserved by a single‑sentence saving clause.
To make the ban enforceable and visible to Congress, the bill requires the Secretary to submit an initial report within 90 days of enactment and then quarterly reports thereafter to the House and Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees. The statute sets out extensive data points that must appear in a report if the Department finds any instance of utilization: the identity of the individual restrained, applicable field office, stated reason for use, age/sex/race/ethnicity, period of restraint, citizenship or immigration status, injuries incurred in placement or afterward, the DHS component involved, exact location or transportation route, available language‑access services, the responsible officer or employee, and whether that person was a medical professional qualified to evaluate risk and, if so, their qualifications.The bill also ties personnel consequences to the ban.
If a DHS officer or employee uses a prohibited device or deceives Congress or department leadership (the latter reference cross‑points to the statute’s treatment of deception to Congress), the Secretary must remove that person from federal service through the Department’s employee discipline and adverse action regime identified elsewhere in the Homeland Security Act. Finally, the bill requires the Department to include an accounting of any full‑body restraints it currently holds as part of its required reports and adds a clerical amendment to the Act’s table of contents to reflect the new section.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The statute defines ‘‘full‑body restraints’’ explicitly as four‑point and five‑point restraints that immobilize an individual.
A saving provision preserves contracts or similar agreements for acquisition entered into on or before the date of enactment.
The Secretary must deliver an initial report within 90 days of enactment and then submit quarterly reports to the House and Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees.
If the Department reports any utilization of a full‑body restraint, the report must, to the extent practicable, identify the restrained individual, the responsible officer, the DHS component and field office, place or route of use, demographic and immigration information, injuries, and available language‑access services.
The bill requires removal from federal service of any DHS officer or employee who violates the ban or intentionally deceives Congress or department leadership about such use, executed through the Department’s existing discipline and adverse action procedures.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
Provides the act’s short title: the ‘‘Full‑Body Restraint Prohibition Act.’
Prohibition on acquisition and use
Adds a new section to title VII of the Homeland Security Act that creates two distinct prohibitions: the Secretary may not obligate or expend federal funds to acquire full‑body restraints, and the Secretary may not utilize them in Department activities. Because the acquisition and use bans are separate, the Department could, in theory, face different compliance questions for procurement offices (no new purchases) versus operational elements (no deployment), and each ban triggers its own compliance and reporting consequences.
Grandfathering of pre‑existing contracts
Carves out an explicit exception for contracts or similar agreements entered into on or before the date of enactment. Practically, that means vendors with existing contracts may still deliver under those agreements but DHS may not obligate new funds for replacements or new purchases after enactment. The saving clause forces procurement offices to flag expiring contracts and plan for replacement strategies that do not involve these devices.
Mandatory personnel removal for violations or deception
Directs the Secretary to remove from federal service any DHS officer or employee who either uses a full‑body restraint or deceives Congress or department leadership about such use. The removal must proceed through the Department’s employee discipline and adverse action mechanisms referenced in section 704(b)(10) of the Homeland Security Act. The provision is punitive and categorical: it does not create a discretionary remedial path short of removal for the specified misconduct.
Reporting and inventory obligations
Requires an initial report within 90 days and then quarterly reporting to four named committees: the House Homeland Security and Judiciary committees and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Judiciary committees. Reports must cover departmental compliance generally and include an accounting of any full‑body restraints held. If a utilization occurs, the statute lists detailed required data fields—identifiers, demographics, injury status, component, location/route, language access, responsible personnel, and whether a medical professional was involved and their qualifications—designed to give oversight committees granular visibility into use, circumstances, and personnel responsibility.
Definition of full‑body restraints
Defines the statutory term narrowly and technically: ‘‘four‑point and five‑point restraints that immobilize an individual.’' That definitional choice limits the ban to a specific class of devices rather than broader restraint techniques or other restraint types (e.g., waist chains, hobble straps) that are not explicitly called four‑ or five‑point devices.
Table of contents update
Instructs a minor clerical change to the Homeland Security Act’s table of contents to add the new section number and title. This is administrative but important for codification and for legal researchers locating the new prohibition in the statutory text.
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Explore Justice in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Detained individuals and immigration detainees — The ban removes a class of immobilizing devices from DHS use and forces reporting on any prior or current occurrences, which increases oversight and reduces the likelihood DHS will subject people in its custody to these particular restraints.
- Civil‑rights and detention‑reform advocates — The statutory reporting requirement and mandatory accounting give oversight organizations and lawyers concrete data to monitor compliance and to pursue further reforms.
- Congressional oversight committees — Named committees receive timely, recurring, and detailed data that improve their ability to track compliance and investigate any incidents involving forbidden restraints.
Who Bears the Cost
- DHS operational components (CBP, ICE, transport units) — These offices must revise transport and restraint protocols, train staff on alternatives, and potentially change vehicle or holding‑cell procedures to avoid situations where four‑ or five‑point devices were previously used.
- DHS procurement and logistics offices — They must inventory existing holdings, manage contract expirations to avoid re‑procurement, and develop sourcing plans for permissible alternatives, which may increase short‑term administrative and procurement costs.
- Contractors and manufacturers of full‑body restraints — Vendors that supply four‑ and five‑point immobilization devices to DHS lose a federal customer base for new purchases; existing contracts remain but future sales to DHS will be curtailed.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between protecting people in DHS custody by banning a class of immobilizing devices and the operational reality that detention and transport systems rely on equipment, policies, and trained personnel; the bill increases transparency and individual protections but imposes a blunt personnel penalty and leaves agencies to manage transition, interpretation, and privacy for the required reporting.
The bill resolves the headline policy question—whether DHS may purchase or use a defined class of full‑body restraints—but leaves immediate operational questions open. It does not define permissible alternatives or provide funding for training and transition to different restraint or transport protocols.
DHS components will need to interpret whether devices or techniques that are functionally similar but not literally four‑ or five‑point fall inside or outside the ban, which creates room for contested interpretation and inconsistent compliance across components. The reporting regimen increases transparency but also creates operational and privacy tensions: the statute asks for identifying and sensitive information (including immigration status and medical injuries), raising questions about data protection, redaction, and the balance between oversight and individual privacy or due‑process concerns.
Enforcement mechanics also create tension. The requirement to remove any officer or employee who ‘‘violates’’ the ban or deceives Congress is categorical and severe.
The bill places removal within the Department’s existing discipline framework, but it does not specify adjudicative standards, appeal rights, or how to handle inadvertent uses (for example, during an emergency where an older device remained in an ambulance). That creates uncertainty for line personnel and HR/legal teams and may chill legitimate medical decisions during transport.
Finally, the saving clause for pre‑existing contracts limits abrupt logistical disruption but creates a transition window where devices remain in circulation and must be tracked—raising questions about inventory disposal, storage, or repurposing that the statute leaves unanswered.
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