U.S. Department of Justice, Procurement Services Staff, National Place, Suite 1040, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530

B -- SPECIAL STUDIES AND ANALYSIS-NOT R&D SOL DOJ-SAS-8-017 DUE 103197 POC Patricia A. Raines 202/307-1946 B -- Sources Sought to provide adequate labor and supplies necessary to perform all on-site sevices which could demonstrate the impact -- in terms of efficiency and effectiveness -- of "rights presentations" at Immigration Courts processes. On-site is defined as the services performed by the Contractor at one or more of the Immigration Courts of the Department of Justice. The Office of the Chief Immigration Judge (OCIJ), under the guidance of the Chief Immigration Judge, supervises and directs the activities of more than 40 Immigration Courts throughout the United States. Immigration Courts are located in federal buildings, private buildings, Criminal Alien Program facilities, including but not limited to correctional institutions, and detention centers. Immigration Judges conduct immigration hearing in these courts, and at designated detail cities, to resolve various immigration matters. Over 200,000 cases are heard each year. Although there are many types of Immigration proceedings before the court, the vast majority will be Removal proceedings, which are schedule as either Custody, Master, or Individual Hearings. In a master calendar hearing, the Immigration Judges are required to assess the needs of pro se aliens and, properly, act to ensure that these parties have a clear understanding of the charges against them, their procedural rights during the hearing process, and their options for relief. In addition, the Judges seek to provide adequate time for pro se aliens to marshal facts, documents, and witnesses which may be helpful in pursuing the relief they seek. As a result, the time required to inform these tens of thousands of pro se aliens places a severe burden on the courts' dockets. Informing the pro se aliens of the legal provisions prior to appearance in court should reduce this burden. Over the last several years, there has developed a concept known as a "rights presentation." This concept is most completely identified with and frequently referrred to as the Florence project. In that process, the project staff is able to identify aliens and review their records; meet with the aliens on the date of their hearing to discuss rights and remedies available to them; and provide an objective assessment to the alien of his or her chances for relief. As a result, it is generally accepted that; (1) many aliens who are told by a person that they trust they have little or no possibility of relief thereby conceding deportability and accepting orders of deportation and waiving appeal, thereby freeing court time; and; (2) aliens with real relief alternatives have a better chance of representation, causing a better outcome. While these rights presentation efforts are intuitively accepted to benefit the judicial process, there is neither hard data to support them nor a widespread view of their applicability. EOIR, therefore, seeks to test the potential benefits of rights presentations by commissioning a number of short-term impact pilot projects whose effects can be measured. Potential contract awards maybe between two and five in number depending on the proposals and their locations. The specific tasks to be provided by any contractor for this proposal are as follows: (1) Identify the Immigration Court sit at which rights presentations are proposed. (2) Establish a plan for pgoram operation of 60-90 day duration. (3) The provision of a rights representative(s) before court opens at every Master Calendar hearing date scheduled by the Court. (4) Said rights presentation program to be presented by an attorney knowledgeable in immigration law, with such support as is necessary. (5) The rights presenter will review the range of rights available and alert the alien as to his or her alternatives or the lack thereof. (6) The program will include a question and answer period in which the rights presenter will respond to specific concerns of aliens. (7) The rights presentation may include a more specific discussion with aliens regarding their individual situations, but will not encompass any activity once the decision to represent or refer an alien for representation has been made. (8) The rights presenter may identify situations felt to be relevant to the government's evaluation of the demonstration project by the submission of a brief report at the completion of the project. (9) Additional steps may include the provision of written or taped material to individual aliens. (10) A list of names and alien numbers of all those who receive rights presentation or counsel will be filed with the court to serve as the basis for the government to evaluate court processing for those individuals given benefits of the rights presentation. In determining the award of a contract, the government will examine the following elements in each proposal: (1) The background information regarding the proposing agency. (2) The quality and expertise of the staff of the proposed agency. (3) The range and breadth of issued to be covered and material provided. (4) the location(s) in which the program is proposed. (5) the availability of the agency to provide presentation before all master calendars. All responsible sources should submit their prosposal by 10/31/97 to Department of Justice, Procurement Services Staff, 1331 Pa. Ave., NW, Room 1040, Washington, DC 20530 POC: Patrica A. Raines (202)307-1946***** (0247)

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