PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 28, 2021
New Way Forward Act
This bill makes changes to immigration enforcement, including ending mandatory detention in certain cases.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall not enter into or extend any contract with any public or private for-profit entity to own or operate a facility to detain aliens in DHS custody.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
The bill provides for various protections related to detaining aliens, such as (1) requiring DHS to make an initial custody determination and establish probable cause within 48 hours of taking an alien into custody, (2) establishing in hearings related to such determinations a presumption that the alien be released, and (3) requiring immigration judges to impose the least restrictive detention conditions necessary.
A DHS officer may not interrogate a person as to immigration status based on factors such as the person's race, religion, sexual orientation, or spoken language.
The bill removes mandatory detention requirements for certain aliens, such as asylum seekers with a credible fear of persecution.
Removal proceedings against certain aliens previously admitted into the United States must commence within five years of the alien becoming deportable or inadmissible. The bill also removes certain crime-related grounds of inadmissibility and deportability.
The bill gives immigration judges discretion to provide relief from removal if the removal is not based on certain crime-related grounds.
State or local officers are prohibited from performing certain immigration enforcement functions, such as apprehending aliens. The National Crime Information Center database shall not contain an alien's immigration information.
The bill repeals provisions providing criminal penalties for improper entry or reentry into the United States.
People & committees
Rep. Garcia, Jesus G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] · D–IL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Jun 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.536 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.536 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.536 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.536 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.