Sen. Harris’ 1st bill seeks legal counsel for refugees

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens as Retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly testifies during the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on his confirmation to be Secretary of Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) less Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens as Retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly testifies during the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on his confirmation to be Secretary of Homeland Security on Capitol ... more Photo: Cliff Owen, Associated Press Photo: Cliff Owen, Associated Press Image 1 of / 49 Caption Close Sen. Harris’ 1st bill seeks legal counsel for refugees 1 / 49 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON — California Sen. Kamala Harris will introduce her first bill in the Senate on Thursday to guarantee legal counsel for refugees and other travelers blocked at U.S. ports of entry, a bill intended to address the chaos that engulfed people trying to enter the country in the face of President Trump’s travel ban.

Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order banned U.S. entry for 90 days for anyone from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen. It also placed a 120-day ban on all U.S. admission of refugees who are fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries and indefinitely suspended admission of refugees from Syria.

Several courts have blocked it and the order is currently under review by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Any ruling is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Harris, a Democrat elected in November after serving as the state’s attorney general, quickly took a high-profile stand against the ban. She joined a protest at the White House on the Sunday after it took effect, as thousands of protesters converged on San Francisco International Airport and other major ports of entry in opposition to the ban.

She also sent a letter that Sunday to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly demanding that border officials carry out court orders that blocked the ban, after hearing from attorneys in California and other states that legal permanent residents and travelers holding valid visas were still being denied entry into the country or were being delayed. The administration later clarified that the ban did not apply to permanent legal residents or U.S. passport holders.

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Harris’ office said the senator received numerous reports of “refugees, green-card holders and even U.S. citizens — many of whom were women, elderly, or children — held for long periods of time, and denied access to volunteer lawyers” when the ban was imposed.

Harris’Access to Legal Counsel Act is being co-sponsored by six Democrats: Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Tom Carper of Delaware, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, both of Massachusetts.

A number of civil rights and immigrant rights groups, including the National Council of La Raza and the National Immigrant Justice Center, support the legislation.

The bill faces a steep uphill climb with Republicans holding the Senate majority.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead