Venezuela TPS Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 161 To designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to be eligible for temporary pro- tected status under such section, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. SOTO (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigra- tion and Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to be eligible for temporary protected status under such section, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Venezuela TPS Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:49 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H161.IH H161 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 161 IH SEC. 2. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM- 1 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS. 2 (a) DESIGNATION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244 4 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 5 1254a), Venezuela shall be treated as if it had been 6 designated under subsection (b)(1)(C) of that sec- 7 tion, subject to the provisions of this section. 8 (2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe- 9 riod of the designation referred to in paragraph (1) 10 shall be for the 18-month period beginning on the 11 date of the enactment of this Act. 12 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE.—As a result of the designa- 13 tion made under subsection (a), an alien who is a national 14 of Venezuela is deemed to satisfy the requirements under 15 paragraph (1) of section 244(c) of the Immigration and 16 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)), subject to paragraph 17 (3) of such section, if the alien— 18 (1) has been continuously physically present in 19 the United States since the date of the enactment of 20 this Act; 21 (2) is admissible as an immigrant, except as 22 otherwise provided in paragraph (2)(A) of such sec- 23 tion, and is not ineligible for temporary protected 24 status under paragraph (2)(B) of such section; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:49 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H161.IH H161 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 161 IH (3) registers for temporary protected status in 1 a manner established by the Secretary of Homeland 2 Security. 3 (c) CONSENT TO TRAVEL ABROAD.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 5 Security shall give prior consent to travel abroad, in 6 accordance with section 244(f)(3) of the Immigra- 7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(f)(3)), to 8 an alien who is granted temporary protected status 9 pursuant to the designation made under subsection 10 (a) if the alien establishes to the satisfaction of the 11 Secretary of Homeland Security that emergency and 12 extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the 13 alien require the alien to depart for a brief, tem- 14 porary trip abroad. 15 (2) TREATMENT UPON RETURN.—An alien re- 16 turning to the United States in accordance with an 17 authorization described in paragraph (1) shall be 18 treated as any other returning alien provided tem- 19 porary protected status under section 244 of the Im- 20 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a). 21 (d) FEE.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other fee 23 authorized by law, the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 24 rity is authorized to charge and collect a fee of $360 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:49 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H161.IH H161 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 161 IH for each application for temporary protected status 1 under section 244 of the Immigration and Nation- 2 ality Act by a person who is only eligible for such 3 status by reason of subsection (a). 4 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary of Homeland Se- 5 curity shall permit aliens to apply for a waiver of 6 any fees associated with filing an application re- 7 ferred to in paragraph (1). 8 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 9 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 10 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 11 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 12 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 13 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 14 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 15 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 16 vote on passage. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:49 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H161.IH H161 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS