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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6870 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6870
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 18, 2025
Ms. Lofgren (for herself, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Tlaib, Ms.
Norton, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Lieu,
Mr. Khanna, Mr. Davis of Illinois, and Ms. Clarke of New York)
introduced the following bill; which was 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 paragraphs (1) and (2) and
inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (b),
the number of refugees who may be admitted under this section
in any fiscal year shall be the sum of--
``(A) such number as the President determines is
justified by humanitarian concerns or otherwise in the
national interest, which shall be not fewer than
125,000; and
``(B) such number as the President determines shall
be admitted to the United States through community or
private sponsorship, by which community groups and
private sponsors provide to a refugee and the immediate
relatives or beneficiaries of the refugee initial
reception and placement services similar to services
provided by domestic resettlement agencies and local
affiliates, in lieu of services typically provided by
domestic resettlement agencies and local affiliates.
``(2) Absence of determination.--If the President does not
issue a determination under paragraph (1) before the beginning
of a fiscal year, the number of refugees who may be admitted in
that fiscal year under this section shall be 125,000.'';
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as
paragraphs (4) and (7), respectively;
(C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Numerical goals.--Each officer of the Federal
Government responsible for refugee admissions or refugee
resettlement shall treat as the numerical goals for refugee
admissions under this section for the applicable fiscal year--
``(A)(i) a determination under paragraph (1); or
``(ii) in the absence of a determination under
paragraph (1), the number under paragraph (2); and
``(B) a determination under subsection (b).''; and
(D) by inserting after paragraph (4), as
redesignated, the following:
``(5) Consideration of resettlement needs.--In making a
determination under paragraph (1), the President shall consider
the number of refugees who 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.
``(6) Regional allocations.--The President shall determine
regional allocations for admissions under this subsection,
which shall--
``(A)(i) reflect 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; or
``(ii) include an assessment by the Secretary of
State detailing the humanitarian and national interest
justifications for prioritizing refugee admissions from
1 or more regions; 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 Public 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, and publish on a publicly
accessible website, a report that includes the following:
``(1) The number of refugees admitted to the United States
during the preceding quarter.
``(2) 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.
``(3) The cumulative number of refugees admitted to the
United States during the applicable fiscal year, as of the last
day of the preceding quarter.
``(4) 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.
``(5) 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)(6) for the applicable fiscal year.
``(h) Quarterly Reports on Processing.--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) Aliens with enhanced security checks.--
``(A) The number of aliens, by nationality, for
whom an enhanced security check has been requested who
were security-cleared during the preceding quarter,
expressed as a percentage of all cases successfully
adjudicated, approved, and security-cleared by the
Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
in the applicable fiscal year.
``(B) The number of aliens, by nationality, for
whom an enhanced security check has been requested who
were admitted to the United States during the preceding
quarter.
``(2) 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;
``(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 an enhanced security
check; and
``(bb) individuals who do
not require an enhanced
security check; and
``(v) the number of interviews completed by
video teleconferencing.
``(B) For the subsequent quarter--
``(i) the number of circuit rides
scheduled; and
``(ii) the number of circuit rides planned.
``(3) 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.
``(4) Plan and additional information.--If the number of
refugees admitted during the preceding quarter is less than 25
percent of the number of refugees authorized to be admitted in
accordance with the determinations under subsections (a) and
(b) for the applicable fiscal year, the President shall
submit--
``(A) an assessment of country conditions and
emergency humanitarian circumstances that contributed
to the number of refugees admitted;
``(B) 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; and
``(C) any additional information relating to the
pace of refugee admissions, as determined by the
President.
``(5) Enhanced security check defined.--In this subsection,
the term `enhanced security check' means any evaluation process
to investigate national security concerns, including terrorism,
espionage, sabotage, or the illegal transfer of goods,
technology, or sensitive information, including--
``(A) any process within U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services for handling cases with national
security concerns;
``(B) any interagency check requested by U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services during the
adjudication process to investigate national security
concerns;
``(C) any additional vetting or review of
applicants from a country that is a state sponsor of
terrorism or a country with full or partial suspension
of entry into the United States under this Act; and
``(D) any process to screen applicant data against
publicly available social media for national security
purposes.
``(i) 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 House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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