Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act of 2016
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) establish the number of annual refugee admissions at 60,000, (2) authorize the President to submit an adjustment recommendation to Congress for approval based upon humanitarian or national interest concerns, and (3) provide that the President must submit emergency refugee admission recommendations to Congress for approval.
The President shall (currently, may) terminate the refugee status of a person not entitled to such status.
Refugee status is terminated for an individual who applied for such status because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution in the country from which he or she sought refuge on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, but who has returned to such country absent changed conditions.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall, when processing refugee applications from individuals seeking refuge from a "country of particular concern," grant priority to minority religion applicants whose claims are based on persecution because of their religion.
DHS may conduct recurrent background security checks of an admitted refugee until the refugee adjusts to permanent resident status.
Waiver authorities are limited with respect to refugee inadmissibility and permanent resident status adjustment.
With respect to refugee status adjustment to permanent resident: (1) required U.S. residency is increased to three years; (2) an in-person DHS interview is required; (3) five-year reexaminations are required for a refugee whose status adjustment is refused; and (4) deportability grounds, with an exception for public charge grounds, shall be grounds for refusal of status adjustment.
Resettlement of any refugee may not be provided for in any state or locality where the governor, chief executive, or legislature has taken action disapproving such resettlement.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shall complete a refugee processing fraud study.
DHS shall: (1) establish a program to detect the use of fraudulent documents in refugee admissions applications, which shall include placement of fraud detection officers at screening locations; and (2) use digital recording technology to record USCIS refugee interviews.
A person may not be considered a refugee if such person fled from violence in his or her country of nationality (or of last habitual residence for a person with no nationality) if the violence: (1) was not specifically directed at the person; or (2) was specifically directed at the person but not because of that person's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Prior to U.S. refugee admission, DHS shall ensure that an alien is not a threat to U.S. national security based on a background check that includes a review of the alien's open source Internet interactions, including social media services.
[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4731 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4731
To provide for an annual adjustment of the number of admissible
refugees, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2016
Mr. Labrador (for himself, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Gowdy, Mr. Smith of
Texas, and Mr. Collins of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for an annual adjustment of the number of admissible
refugees, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Refugee Program Integrity
Restoration Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE NUMBER OF ADMISSIBLE REFUGEES.
(a) In General.--Section 207(a)(2) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(a)(2)) is amended by striking all that
follows after ``shall be'' and inserting the following: ``60,000. The
President may, after appropriate consultation, submit a recommendation
to Congress for the revision of such number not later than 6 months
prior to the beginning of such fiscal year, setting forth the
justification for such revision due to humanitarian concerns or that
such revision is otherwise in the national interest.''.
(b) In Cases of Emergencies.--Section 207(b) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(b)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``the President may fix a number of
refugees'' and inserting the following: ``the President may
submit to Congress a recommended number of refugees''; and
(2) by striking all that follows after ``to the emergency
refugee situation'' and inserting a period.
SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF REFUGEE STATUS.
Section 207(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1157(c)), as amended by this Act, is further amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)--
(A) by striking ``may'' each place it appears and
inserting ``shall'';
(B) by inserting after ``determines'' the
following: ``--'';
(C) by striking ``that the alien was not'' and
inserting the following:
``(A) that the alien was not'';
(D) by striking the period at the end and inserting
``; or''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) that the alien, who applied for such status
because of persecution or a well-founded fear of
persecution in the country from which they sought
refuge on account of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political
opinion, returned to such country absent changed
conditions therein.''; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
``(5) Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report that
includes the number of terminations of status under paragraph
(4), disaggregated by whether the termination occurred pursuant
to subparagraph (A) or (B) of such paragraph.''.
SEC. 4. PRIORITY CONSIDERATION FOR CERTAIN APPLICANTS FOR REFUGEE
STATUS.
Section 207(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1157(c)), as amended by this Act, is further is amended--
(1) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) When processing refugee applications from individuals
seeking refuge from a country listed as a `Country of
Particular Concern' in the annual report of the Commission on
International Religious Freedom under section 203 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for the year prior
to the current year, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
grant priority consideration to such applicants whose claims
are based on persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution
based on religion by reason of those applicants being
practitioners of a minority religion in the country from which
they sought refuge.''; and
(2) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place it appears
and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland Security''.
SEC. 5. LIMITATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY ON ADMISSION OF REFUGEES.
Section 207(c)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1157(c)(3)) is amended by striking ``any other provision of such
section (other than paragraph (2)(C) or subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or
(E) of paragraph (3))'' and inserting ``paragraph (1) of section
212(a)''.
SEC. 6. RECURRENT SECURITY MONITORING.
Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) The Secretary may conduct recurrent background security
checks of an admitted refugee until such date as the refugee adjusts
status under section 209.''.
SEC. 7. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF REFUGEES.
Section 209(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1159(a)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``for at least one
year'' and inserting ``for 3 years''; and
(2) by striking ``shall, at the end of such year period''
and inserting ``shall, at the end of such period''.
SEC. 8. LIMITATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY ON ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF
REFUGEES.
(a) Grounds for Inadmissibility.--Section 209(c) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1159(c)) is amended by striking ``any
other provision of such section (other than paragraph (2)(C) or
subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E) of paragraph (3))'' and inserting
``paragraph (1) of section 212(a)''.
(b) Grounds of Deportability; In-Person Interview Required;
Required Reexamination for Admission.--Section 209 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1159) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(d) Coordination With Section 237.--An alien may not adjust
status under this section if the alien is deportable under section 237,
except that section 237(a)(5) shall not apply for purposes of this
subsection.
``(e) In-Person Interview Requirements.--An alien may not adjust
status under this section unless, at the time of application for
adjustment, the alien establishes by clear and convincing evidence
during an in-person interview with the Secretary of Homeland Security
that the alien continues to meet the requirements of section
101(a)(42).
``(f) Required Reexamination for Admission.--An alien who is
admitted as a refugee who is denied admission under subsection (a)(1)
shall, beginning on the date that is 5 years after such denial, and
every 5 years thereafter, if that alien retains status as a refugee,
return or be returned to the custody of the Department of Homeland
Security for inspection and examination for admission to the United
States as an immigrant in accordance with the provisions of sections
235, 240, and 241.''.
SEC. 9. LIMITATION ON RESETTLEMENT.
Section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Limitation on Resettlement.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, for a fiscal year, the resettlement of any
refugee may not be provided for--
``(1) in any State where the Governor of that State, or the
State legislature, has taken any action formally disapproving
of resettlement in that State; or
``(2) in any locality where the chief executive of that
locality's government, or the local legislature, has taken any
action formally disapproving of resettlement in that
locality.''.
SEC. 10. BENEFIT FRAUD ASSESSMENT.
Not later than 540 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate of U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services shall--
(1) complete a study on the processing of refugees by
officers and employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services including an identification of the most common ways in
which fraud occurs in such processing and recommendations for
the prevention of fraud in such processing; and
(2) submit a report on such study to the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the Senate.
SEC. 11. DOCUMENT FRAUD DETECTION PROGRAM.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a program for detecting
the use of fraudulent documents in applications for admission as a
refugee, including--
(1) placement of Fraud Detection and National Security
officials who are under the direction of the Fraud Detection
and National Security Directorate of U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services at initial refugee screening in
conjunction with the resettlement agency and with the authority
to hold a refugee application in abeyance until any fraud or
national security concerns are resolved; and
(2) creation of a searchable database of scanned and
categorized documents proffered by applicants at initial
refugee screening to allow for discovery of fraud trends and
random translation verification within such documents.
SEC. 12. RECORDING OF INTERVIEWS TO PROTECT REFUGEES AND PREVENT FRAUD.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall use
digital recording technology to record each interview of an alien
applying for admission as a refugee under section 207 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act by an officer or employee of the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services.
(b) Auditing of Translations.--The Secretary shall randomly select
a number of interviews conducted, with the assistance of an
interpreter, during each refugee circuit ride, equal to 20 percent of
the total number of interviews conducted with the assistance of an
interpreter during such circuit ride and review each such selected
interview in order to determine whether any interpreter who
participated in the interview incorrectly interpreted any portion of
the interview (other than a de minimis error in translation). Such
reviews shall take place prior to approval or denial of any application
for admission as a refugee submitted at that location.
(c) In Cases of Mistranslations.--If the Secretary determines that
the interpreter incorrectly interpreted any portion of the interview
(other than a de minimis error in translation)--
(1) the interpreter shall be barred from subsequently
serving as an interpreter for immigration purposes; and
(2) no action shall be taken regarding the application
until the applicant has been reinterviewed.
SEC. 13. LIMITATION ON QUALIFICATION AS A REFUGEE.
Section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(42)) is amended by inserting ``For purposes of this paragraph,
a person may not be considered a refugee solely or in part because the
person is displaced due to, or is fleeing from, violence in the country
of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no
nationality, the country in which such person last habitually resided,
if that violence is not specifically directed at the person, or, if it
is directed specifically at the person, it is not directed at the
person on account of that person's race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.'' before
``The term `refugee' does not include''.
SEC. 14. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR REFUGEES.
Prior to admitting to the United States as a refugee under section
207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) an alien,
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that the alien does not
pose a threat to the national security of the United States based on a
background check that the Secretary conducts, which includes a review
of the alien's open source interactions on and posting of material to
the Internet (including social media services).
SEC. 15. GAO REPORT ON U.S. REFUGEE ADMISSIONS PROGRAM.
Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a review and
report to Congress on the following:
(1) The security of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program,
including an examination of--
(A) how the U.S. Government conducts security
screening and background checks, including the agencies
or U.S. Government partners involved and the systems
and databases used;
(B) how the U.S. Government determines whether
applicants are eligible for refugee resettlement and
admissible to the United States; and
(C) the number of individuals who were admitted
into the United States as refugees and subsequently
convicted as a result of a terrorism-related
investigation by the U.S. Government since fiscal year
2006.
(2) Federally funded benefit programs for which aliens
admitted into the United States under section 207 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) are eligible,
as well as what is known about their participation in these
programs.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 18 - 9.
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