S. 1201 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Mar 31, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryAllows challenging poor immigration legal help
Right now, people in immigration cases have limited ways to challenge whether their lawyer did a good job. This bill creates a new option: if someone believes their lawyer performed poorly and that bad performance hurt their case, they can raise that claim in their immigration proceedings. The claim applies to cases that are still pending, just starting, or even already finished.
How it affects you
If you're a non-U.S. citizen going through an immigration case and feel your lawyer didn't represent you well, this bill gives you a formal way to say so and potentially get your case reviewed. It directly affects people navigating immigration proceedings before federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security or Department of Justice.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Mar 31, 2025)
Strengthening Immigration Procedures Act of 2025
This bill allows an individual to raise a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel with respect to an immigration matter, including any matter concerning a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) pending before the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice. This claim must be based on allegations of deficient performance by the individual’s prior counsel and that the deficient performance prejudiced the immigration proceeding.
The bill applies to any immigration case or proceeding that is pending as of the date of enactment, has commenced after the date of enactment, or is fully adjudicated before the date of enactment.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 1201
A BILL
Strengthening Immigration Procedures Act of 2025
Sponsor: Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT) · Introduced Mar 31, 2025 · Immigration · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Mar 31, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.”