Guaranteed Refugee Admission Ceiling Enhancement Act or the GRACE Act
This bill establishes that the maximum number of refugees admitted each fiscal year shall be no less than 95,000 and that the maximum number shall be treated as the numerical goal for refugee admissions for the applicable fiscal year. The President may set a higher number if it is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.
Currently, the number admitted each fiscal year may not exceed 50,000 unless the President determines that a higher number is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.
The bill directs the President to take into consideration information from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees when establishing the maximum admission number and making certain other related decisions. The President shall report to Congress quarterly on (1) the number of refugees admitted during the preceding quarter, (2) the number of aliens who were security-cleared during the preceding quarter, (3) a plan to reach the numerical goal for admitted refugees for that fiscal year, and (4) other related information.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1088 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1088
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the President
to set a minimum annual goal for the number of refugees to be admitted,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 9, 2019
Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Harris, Mr.
Leahy, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Smith, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Murphy,
Mr. Wyden, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the President
to set a minimum annual goal for the number of refugees to be admitted,
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 ``Guaranteed Refugee Admission Ceiling
Enhancement Act'' or the ``GRACE Act''.
SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF REFUGEES.
Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157)
is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking paragraph (1);
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (4) as
paragraphs (1) and (6), respectively;
(C) in paragraph (1), as redesignated--
(i) by striking ``after fiscal year 1982'';
and
(ii) by striking ``is justified'' and all
that follows through ``interest.'' and
inserting ``is--
``(A) justified by humanitarian concerns or otherwise in
the national interest; and
``(B) not less than 95,000.
``(2) Each officer of the Federal Government responsible for
refugee admissions or refugee resettlement shall treat a determination
under paragraph (1) and subsection (b) as the numerical goals for
refugee admissions under this section for the applicable fiscal
year.''; and
(D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) In making a determination under paragraph (1), the President
shall consider the number of refugees who, during the calendar year
beginning immediately after the beginning of the applicable fiscal
year, are in need of resettlement in a third country, as determined by
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the most recently
published projected global resettlement needs report.
``(5) The President shall determine regional allocations for
admissions under this subsection, which shall--
``(A) consider the projected needs identified by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the projected global
resettlement needs report for the calendar year beginning
immediately after the beginning of the applicable fiscal year;
and
``(B) include an unallocated reserve that the Secretary of
State, after notifying the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives, may use for 1 or more regions in which the
need for additional refugee admissions arises.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Quarterly Reports on Admissions.--Not later than 15 days
after the last day of each quarter, the President shall submit to the
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that includes the
following:
``(1) Refugees admitted.--
``(A) The number of refugees admitted to the United
States during the preceding quarter.
``(B) The number of refugees admitted to the United
States during the preceding quarter, expressed as a
percentage of the number of refugees authorized to be
admitted in accordance with the determinations under
subsections (a) and (b) for the applicable fiscal year.
``(C) The cumulative number of refugees admitted to
the United States during the applicable fiscal year, as
of the last day of the preceding quarter.
``(D) The number of refugees to be admitted to the
United States during the remainder of the applicable
fiscal year so as to achieve the numerical goals set
forth in the determinations under subsections (a) and
(b) for such fiscal year.
``(E) The number of refugees from each region
admitted to the United States during the preceding
quarter, expressed as a percentage of the allocation
for each region under subsection (a)(5) for the
applicable fiscal year.
``(2) Aliens with security advisory opinions.--
``(A) The number of aliens, by nationality, for
whom a Security Advisory Opinion has been requested who
were security-cleared during the preceding quarter,
expressed as a percentage of all cases successfully
adjudicated by the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services in the applicable fiscal year.
``(B) The number of aliens, by nationality, for
whom a Security Advisory Opinion has been requested who
were admitted to the United States during the preceding
quarter.
``(3) Circuit rides.--
``(A) For the preceding quarter--
``(i) the number of Refugee Corps officers
deployed on circuit rides, expressed as a
percentage of the overall number of Refugee
Corps officers;
``(ii) the number of individuals
interviewed--
``(I) on each circuit ride; and
``(II) at each circuit ride
location;
``(iii) the number of circuit rides; and
``(iv) for each circuit ride--
``(I) the duration of the circuit
ride;
``(II) the average number of
interviews conducted daily on the
circuit ride; and
``(III) the percentages of
interviews conducted for--
``(aa) individuals who
require Security Advisory
Opinions; and
``(bb) individuals who do
not require Security Advisory
Opinions.
``(B) For the subsequent quarter--
``(i) the number of circuit rides
scheduled; and
``(ii) the number of circuit rides planned.
``(4) Processing.--For the preceding quarter--
``(A) the average number of days between--
``(i) the date on which an individual is
identified by the United States Government as a
refugee; and
``(ii) the date on which such individual is
interviewed by the Secretary of Homeland
Security;
``(B) the average number of days between--
``(i) the date on which an individual
identified by the United States Government as a
refugee is interviewed by the Secretary of
Homeland Security; and
``(ii) the date on which such individual is
admitted to the United States; and
``(C) with respect to individuals identified by the
United States Government as refugees who have been
interviewed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the
approval, denial, and hold rates for the applications
for admission of such individuals, by nationality.
``(5) Plan and additional information.--
``(A) A plan that describes the procedural or
personnel changes necessary to ensure the admission of
the number of refugees authorized to be admitted to the
United States in accordance with determinations under
subsections (a) and (b), including a projection of the
number of refugees to be admitted to the United States
each month so as to achieve the numerical goals set
forth in such determinations.
``(B) Additional information relating to the pace
of refugee admissions, as determined by the President.
``(h) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed--
``(1) to inhibit the expeditious processing of refugee and
asylum applications; or
``(2) to restrict the authority of the Secretary of
Homeland Security to admit aliens to the United States under
any other Act.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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