Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 50 To temporarily designate Venezuela under section 244(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit eligible nationals of Venezuela to be granted temporary protected status. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 26, 2021 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. BOOKER) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To temporarily designate Venezuela under section 244(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit eligible nationals of Venezuela to be granted temporary protected status. 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 Temporary 4 Protected Status Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 50 IS (1) Venezuela is enduring an unprecedented 1 economic, humanitarian, security, and human rights 2 crisis, consisting of extreme food and medicine 3 shortages, severe infant and child malnutrition, 4 rampant crime, and government-sponsored repres- 5 sion, which has resulted in significant displacement 6 of Venezuelans to countries across the Western 7 Hemisphere. 8 (2) Venezuela’s economy contracted by 66 per- 9 cent between 2014 and 2019, with the International 10 Monetary Fund reporting that inflation reached an 11 annual rate of nearly 20,000 percent in 2019, mak- 12 ing Venezuela the country with the highest level of 13 inflation in the world. 14 (3) As evidence of the humanitarian crisis cre- 15 ated by Venezuela’s systemic economic turmoil and 16 government corruption— 17 (A) the percentage of Venezuelans living in 18 poverty increased from 48.4 percent in 2014 to 19 96 percent in 2019, with 80 percent living in 20 extreme poverty, according to household sur- 21 veys; and 22 (B) at least 2,300,000 Venezuelans face 23 severe food insecurity. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 50 IS (4) Access to quality healthcare is severely im- 1 peded, with— 2 (A) more than 50 percent of healthcare 3 professionals having left Venezuela during the 4 past 5 years; 5 (B) pharmacies experiencing shortages of 6 approximately 85 percent of needed medicines; 7 (C) 88 percent of hospitals lacking the 8 basic medicines that should be available in any 9 functional public hospital, including those that 10 are on the World Health Organization’s List of 11 Essential Medicines; and 12 (D) roughly 70 percent of Venezuelan hos- 13 pitals surveyed in 2019 lacking access to clean 14 water. 15 (5) Venezuela continues to be among the 16 world’s most violent countries, and the Venezuelan 17 Violence Observatory, an independent nongovern- 18 mental organization, calculated that there were ap- 19 proximately 46 murders in Venezuela during 2020 20 for every 100,000 people. 21 (6) According to the United Nations Office of 22 the High Commissioner for Human Rights 23 (OHCHR)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 50 IS (A) Venezuelan intelligence and security 1 forces have increasingly used arbitrary arrests, 2 detentions, torture, and extrajudicial killings to 3 repress and intimidate civil society, political op- 4 ponents, and any voices of dissent; 5 (B) between 2015 and 2017, at least 505 6 people, including 24 children, were executed by 7 Venezuelan security forces, leading the Inter- 8 national Criminal Court prosecutor to announce 9 a preliminary investigation into the use of ex- 10 cessive force in Venezuela; and 11 (C) the incidence of alleged extrajudicial 12 killings by security forces has been shockingly 13 high, according to an OHCHR report, with the 14 government registering nearly 7,000 extrajudi- 15 cial killings between January 2018 and May 16 2019. 17 (7) The United Nations Human Rights Coun- 18 cil’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission 19 on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reported in 20 September 2020 that the regime’s crimes were ‘‘part 21 of a widespread and systematic course of conduct, 22 thus amounting to crimes against humanity’’. 23 (8) According to the United Nations High Com- 24 missioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 50 IS 5,400,000 Venezuelans have fled their country for 1 reasons such as violence, political oppression, eco- 2 nomic hardship, and the ongoing humanitarian cri- 3 sis. 4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 It is the sense of the Congress that— 6 (1) Venezuela’s economic, security, and dis- 7 placement crisis has resulted in extraordinary and 8 temporary conditions that currently prevent Ven- 9 ezuelan nationals from safely returning to Ven- 10 ezuela; and 11 (2) Venezuela should be designated under sub- 12 section (b)(1)(C) of section 244 of the Immigration 13 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) for a period 14 of 18 months to permit nationals of Venezuela to be 15 eligible for temporary protected status in accordance 16 with such section. 17 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM- 18 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS. 19 (a) DESIGNATION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244 21 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 22 1254a), Venezuela shall be treated as if it had been 23 designated under subsection (b)(1)(C) of such sec- 24 tion, subject to the provisions of this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 50 IS (2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe- 1 riod of the designation referred to in paragraph (1) 2 shall be for the 18-month period beginning on the 3 date of the enactment of this Act. 4 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE.—As a result of the designa- 5 tion made under subsection (a), an alien who is a national 6 of Venezuela is deemed to satisfy the requirements under 7 paragraph (1) of section 244(c) of the Immigration and 8 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)), subject to paragraph 9 (3) of such section, if the alien— 10 (1) has been continuously physically present in 11 the United States since the date of the enactment of 12 this Act; 13 (2) is admissible as an immigrant, except as 14 otherwise provided in paragraph (2)(A) of such sec- 15 tion; 16 (3) is not ineligible for temporary protected sta- 17 tus under paragraph (2)(B) of such section; and 18 (4) registers for temporary protected status in 19 a manner established by the Secretary of Homeland 20 Security. 21 (c) CONSENT TO TRAVEL ABROAD.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 23 Security shall give prior consent to travel abroad, in 24 accordance with section 244(f)(3) of the Immigra- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 50 IS tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(f)(3)), to 1 an alien who is granted temporary protected status 2 pursuant to the designation made under subsection 3 (a) if the alien establishes, to the satisfaction of the 4 Secretary of Homeland Security, that emergency 5 and extenuating circumstances beyond the control of 6 the alien require the alien to depart for a brief, tem- 7 porary trip abroad. 8 (2) TREATMENT UPON RETURN.—An alien re- 9 turning to the United States in accordance with an 10 authorization described in paragraph (1) shall be 11 treated as any other returning alien provided tem- 12 porary protected status under section 244 of the Im- 13 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a). 14 SEC. 5. IMPROVING INTERNAL MIGRATION SYSTEMS IN 15 COUNTRIES SURROUNDING VENEZUELA. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con- 17 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 18 work with international partners, including the United 19 Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Inter- 20 national Organization for Migration, to support and pro- 21 vide technical assistance to improve the domestic capacity 22 of countries surrounding Venezuela and in the region to 23 provide migration services and asylum to eligible Ven- 24 ezuelan citizens— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 50 IS (1) by establishing and expanding temporary 1 and long-term, in-country reception centers and shel- 2 ter capacity in those surrounding countries to meet 3 the humanitarian needs of Venezuelan migrants or 4 Venezuelans seeking asylum or other forms of inter- 5 national protection; 6 (2) by improving migration and asylum reg- 7 istration systems in those surrounding countries to 8 ensure that Venezuelan migrants and Venezuelans 9 seeking asylum or other humanitarian protection— 10 (A) receive due process and meaningful ac- 11 cess to legal protections; and 12 (B) receive proper documents in order to 13 prevent fraud and facilitate freedom of move- 14 ment and access to basic social services; 15 (3) by supporting the creation or expansion of 16 a corps of trained migration and asylum officers 17 from those countries who are capable of— 18 (A) providing migration services; and 19 (B) evaluating and deciding individual asy- 20 lum claims consistent with international law 21 and obligations; and 22 (4) by developing the capacity to conduct best 23 interest determinations for Venezuelan migrants to 24 ensure that their needs are properly met. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 50 IS (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after the 1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 2 in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 3 shall submit a strategy describing plans for assisting the 4 development of the international asylum processing capa- 5 bilities described in subsection (a) to— 6 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 7 Senate; 8 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen- 9 ate; 10 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 11 Senate; 12 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 13 House of Representatives; 14 (5) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 15 House of Representatives; and 16 (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 17 House of Representatives. 18 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 20 appropriated to the Secretary of State $10,000,000 21 for fiscal year 2021 to carry out the activities set 22 forth in subsection (b). 23 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 50 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 1 under subparagraph (B), amounts appropriated 2 or otherwise made available pursuant to para- 3 graph (1) may not be obligated until 15 days 4 after the date on which the President provides 5 notice to the committees listed in subsection (b) 6 of the intent to obligate such funds. 7 (B) WAIVER.— 8 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 9 State may waive the requirement under 10 subparagraph (A) if the Secretary of State 11 determines that such waiver is in the na- 12 tional interest of the United States. 13 (ii) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—If 14 a waiver is invoked under clause (i), the 15 President shall notify the committees listed 16 in subsection (b) of the intention to obli- 17 gate funds under this section as early as 18 practicable, but not later than 3 days after 19 taking the action to which such notification 20 requirement was applicable in the context 21 of the circumstances necessitating such 22 waiver. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S50.IS S50 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS