Save the Children Act of 2016
This bill directs the Departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security (DHS), and Health and Human Services to establish the Save the Children program to grant nonimmigrant visas to certain young minor children from Syria between the ages of 3 and 10 to enter and remain in the United States until there is a sustained reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants.
The bill establishes in the DHS Office of Refugee Resettlement a Coordinator of the Save the Children program.
The program shall terminate six months after the State Department certifies that there is a sustained reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants.
The program provides for the admission of not more than 5,000 children in the first year and 10,000 children for each of the second and third years.
The bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a nonimmigrant W-visa for an alien who: (1) is resident in or was born in Syria but is currently a displaced person or refugee living in another country, (2) is between 3 and 10 years old, and (3) has been approved by the State Department to temporarily reside in the United States.
Program aliens may remain in the United States until the State Department certifies that there is a sustained reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants, with a six-month grace period for reunification efforts.
[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6510 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6510
To provide for the temporary resettlement of Syrian children in the
United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 8, 2016
Mr. Honda introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the temporary resettlement of Syrian children in the
United States, 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 ``Save the Children Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) thousands of Syrian children face a humanitarian crisis
due to the sustained civil war violence in Syria and have been
displaced to refugee camps in surrounding countries where their
personal safety and welfare is threatened;
(2) ample numbers of United States citizens,
nongovernmental organizations, and state governments and
instrumentalities would welcome the opportunity to provide
temporary support to young child refugees from Syria during the
ongoing humanitarian crisis;
(3) the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of
Homeland Security, and Secretary of Health and Human Services
should make every effort to facilitate the temporary relocation
and immediate care of up to 25,000 young Syrian minor children
refugees who either are orphaned to the extent that can be
established by proper authorities, or whose proper guardians
transfer custody of the children to representatives of the
United States as established by its proper officials, into the
United States over a period of three years from the date of
enactment of this Act; and
(4) the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of
Homeland Security, and Secretary of Health and Human Services
should make every effort to facilitate family reunification or
safe relocation of these young Syrian child refugees to Syria
after there is a sustained, substantial reduction of civil war
violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the numbers of
newly displaced Syria inhabitants, such time as defined by the
Department of State.
SEC. 3. SAVE THE CHILDREN PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State, Attorney General,
Secretary of Homeland Security, and Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall establish the Save the Children Program to grant visas
allowing certain young minor children from Syria between the ages of
three and ten to enter and remain in the United States until there is a
sustained, substantial reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a
substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria
inhabitants, such time as defined by the Department of State. Following
such time as the Department of State does make this designation, there
shall be an additional six months grace period before the visas expire,
so that due diligence can be done to identify the proper guardians of
these young minor children so they may be reunified with their
families. Only such qualifying children whose established guardians are
physically present to relinquish custody to the proper United States
representatives, or those children who can be established to be
orphaned, shall be eligible for such a visa.
(b) Office of Coordination.--
(1) Establishment.--
(A) There is established in the Office of Refugee
Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human
Services a Coordinator of the Save the Children Program
(hereinafter, ``Coordinator'').
(B) The Coordinator shall have the supervisory
authority for the operations of the Program in the
United States.
(C) The Coordinator of the Save the Children
Program shall be appointed by and report to the
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(2) Staff.--
(A) With the approval of the Office of Personnel
Management, the Coordinator may appoint and fix the pay
of additional personnel as the Coordinator considers
appropriate. Any such personnel may include private
citizens or employees of the Federal Government,
provided, however, that the Coordinator may not fix the
pay of employees of the Federal Government.
(B) Upon request of the Coordinator, the head of
any Federal department or agency may detail, on a
reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, and in
accordance with the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of
1970 (5 U.S.C. 3371-3375), any of the personnel of that
department or agency to the Office to assist it in
carrying out its duties under this Act.
(C) The Coordinator shall use the staff and
resources of the Division of Unaccompanied Children's
Services (as described by section 462 of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002 (2 U.S.C. 279)).
(3) Operations.--
(A) The Coordinator shall have the responsibility
of identifying which young minor children qualify for
the Program, including by properly obtaining custody of
the children from their proper guardians or
establishing that an eligible child is orphaned, and
implementing the temporary resettlement in the United
States of young minor children admitted pursuant to the
Program, consistent with the laws of applicable states
and instrumentalities of the United States,
international agreements, and the foreign policy and
domestic security interests of the United States.
(B) The Coordinator shall cooperate with
appropriate and approved nongovernmental organizations
and government authorities of the states and
instrumentalities of the United States to implement the
Program and to assist those admitted under the Program.
(C) The Coordinator shall consult with the
Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Secretary of
Homeland Security, or their designees, on the
operations of the Program and to ensure that all
operations of the Program are consistent with the laws
of applicable states and instrumentalities of the
United States, international agreements, the foreign
policy and domestic security interests of the United
States, and the goal of family reunification no more
than six months after there is a sustained, substantial
reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a
substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced
Syria inhabitants, such time as defined by the
Department of State.
(c) Sunset.--
(1) Except as provided by paragraph (2), the Program shall
terminate six months after certification by the Secretary of
State that there is a sustained, substantial reduction of civil
war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the
numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants.
(2) Six months after certification by the Secretary of
State that there is a sustained, substantial reduction of civil
war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the
numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants, such time as
defined by the Department of State, the Office, in consultation
with the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security,
shall make every effort to reunite minor children admitted to
the United States pursuant to the Program with their parents,
other close relatives, or appropriate caretakers, as required
by, and to the extent permitted by, international agreements
and the laws of the United States.
(3) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the Program
may be suspended or terminated if the President determines that
such suspension or termination is warranted by the foreign
policy and domestic security interests of the United States.
(d) Appropriations.--
(1) There are authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal
year such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of
this section.
(2) Upon designation by the President, the Office is
authorized to use funds appropriated pursuant to the Migration
and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (22 U.S.C. 2601) to carry
out the purposes of this section.
(e) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Coordinator shall submit a written
report to Congress that contains the details of the implementation of
the Program developed under this section.
SEC. 4. TEMPORARY NONIMMIGRANT VISA.
(a) In General.--The Program under section (b) shall provide for
the admission of not more than 5,000 alien minor children between the
ages of three and ten years old, under section 101(a)(15)(W) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act in the first program year, and then
10,000 additional alien minor children for each of the second and third
program years, and shall give preference to those minor children
already in the custody of the United States or any of its allies
outside Syria on the date of enactment.
(b) Temporary Nonimmigrant Visa.--Section 101(a)(15) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(15)) is
amended by inserting at the end--
``(W) until such time that the Secretary of State
certifies that there is a sustained, substantial
reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a
substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced
Syria inhabitants, such time as defined by the
Department of State, pursuant to Section 3(c)(1) of the
Syrian Civil War Minor Child Protection Act of 2016, an
alien who--
``(i) is resident in Syria or who was born
in Syria but is currently present in another
country as a displaced person or refugee;
``(ii) is between three and ten years of
age at the time of the enactment of the Act;
and
``(iii) has been approved pursuant to
policies promulgated by the Secretary of State,
in consultation with the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, Attorney General, and
Secretary of Homeland Security, to reside in
the United States temporarily pursuant to the
Save the Children Program.''.
(c) Ability To Remain in the United States.--Notwithstanding any
law to the contrary, and as required by, and to the extent permitted
by, international agreements, aliens admitted to the United States
pursuant to the Save the Children Act of 2016 may remain in the United
States until the Secretary of State certifies that there is a
sustained, substantial reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a
substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria
inhabitants, such time as defined by the Department of State, pursuant
to Section 3(c)(1) of the Act, and providing a six month grace period
for efforts at reunification as established herein.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
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