Prevention of Anti-Immigrant Violence Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2536 To provide relief for victims of hate crimes, advance the safety and well- being of immigrants and refugees, and fund improved law enforcement and prosecution official training. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 14, 2021 Mr. TAKANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide relief for victims of hate crimes, advance the safety and well-being of immigrants and refugees, and fund improved law enforcement and prosecution official training. 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 ‘‘Prevention of Anti- 4 Immigrant Violence Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2536 IH (1) Anti-immigrant violence is on the rise, with 1 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reporting 2 an 0.95-percent increase in hate crimes against indi- 3 viduals for 2019 compared to 2018 and an observed 4 shift in crimes against individuals as opposed to 5 property. The FBI data shows that 57.6 percent of 6 hate crimes reported were motivated by race, eth- 7 nicity, or ancestry. In addition, the 51 hate crime 8 murders recorded in 2019 are the highest ever re- 9 ported by the FBI since it began tracking hate 10 crimes in 1991. Since 2014, FBI hate crime statis- 11 tics have shown an increasing trend in hate crimes, 12 with the highest yearly gains so far reported for 13 2017 at 17 percent. 14 (2) The vast majority of the reported hate 15 crimes are related to race, ethnicity, or ancestry. Ac- 16 cording to the Department of Justice’s Bureau of 17 Justice Statistics (BJS), Hispanics experience close 18 to double the rate of hate crime victimization that 19 non-Hispanic Whites (1.3 vs 0.7 per 1,000). The 20 2019 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 21 data shows that non-U.S. citizens are victimized at 22 a rate of approximately 12.5 victims per 1,000 non- 23 U.S. citizens. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2536 IH (3) BJS has shown a precipitous decline in re- 1 porting of hate crimes since 2014, with BJS’s 2 NCVS data showing that between 2013 and 2017 3 more than half of all hate crimes (>100,000) went 4 unreported annually. NCVS 2019 statistics show 5 that after declining by more than 60 percent in the 6 past 21 years, the number of violent crime victims 7 has steadily increased since 2015; and that the rate 8 of unreported violent crimes continues to rise; in- 9 creasing from 9.5 to 12.9 per 1,000 persons between 10 2015 and 2018. 11 (4) Many immigrant advocates cite fear of de- 12 portation as one of the reasons people are not com- 13 ing forward to report crimes. The threat of being re- 14 ported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement 15 (ICE) is used by perpetrators of hate crimes to si- 16 lence both victims and witnesses and to avoid crimi- 17 nal prosecution. 18 (5) Detention and removal of victims of hate 19 crimes undermine the rule of law and gives perpetra- 20 tors the means by which to escape prosecution. The 21 deportation of victims and witnesses denies them the 22 ability to see justice served, prevents law enforce- 23 ment from keeping communities safe, and exacer- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2536 IH bates the problems communities face in the rise of 1 anti-immigrant violence. 2 (6) Lack of resources has prevented law en- 3 forcement, prosecutors, and victimized communities 4 from learning about available tools for their protec- 5 tion and the prosecution of these crimes. Everyone 6 seeking justice for victims and eager to see a reduc- 7 tion in hate crimes must be afforded the resources 8 to learn and educate the public of these available 9 tools. 10 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY FOR WHICH A 11 U VISA MAY BE ISSUED; ADDITIONAL U VISAS 12 MADE AVAILABLE. 13 (a) EXPANSION OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.—Section 14 101(a)(15)(U)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 15 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(U)) is amended by inserting after 16 ‘‘fraud in foreign labor contracting (as defined in section 17 1351 of title 18, United States Code);’’ the following: 18 ‘‘hate crime acts;’’. 19 (b) ADDITIONAL VISAS MADE AVAILABLE.—Section 20 214(p)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 21 U.S.C. 1184(p)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘10,000’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘12,000’’, thus designating the additional 23 2,000 visas for victims of hate crimes. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2536 IH SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF REMOVAL OF NON-CITIZENS WITH 1 PENDING PETITIONS AND APPLICATIONS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—A non-citizen described in sub- 3 section (b) shall not be removed from the United States 4 under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 5 (8 U.S.C. 1229a) or any other provision of law until there 6 is a final denial of the non-citizen’s application for status 7 after the exhaustion of administrative and judicial review. 8 (b) NON-CITIZENS DESCRIBED.—A non-citizen is de- 9 scribed in this subsection if the non-citizen— 10 (1) has a pending application under section 11 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(27)(J), 106, 12 240A(b)(2), or 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 13 1997) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 14 U.S.C. 1101, 1229a, 1254a); or 15 (2) is a VAWA self-petitioner, as defined in sec- 16 tion 101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nationality 17 Act, with a pending application for relief. 18 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON DETENTION OF CERTAIN VICTIMS 19 WITH PENDING PETITIONS AND APPLICA- 20 TIONS. 21 Section 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 22 (8 U.S.C. 1226) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 23 lowing: 24 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON DETENTION OF CERTAIN VIC- 25 TIMS WITH PENDING PETITIONS AND APPLICATIONS.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2536 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 1 provision of this Act, there shall be a presumption 2 that the non-citizen described in paragraph (2) 3 should be released from detention. The Secretary of 4 Homeland Security shall have the duty of rebutting 5 this presumption, which may only be shown based on 6 clear and convincing evidence, including credible and 7 individualized information, that the use of alter- 8 natives to detention will not reasonably ensure the 9 appearance of the non-citizen at removal pro- 10 ceedings, or that the non-citizen is a threat to an- 11 other person or the community. The fact that a non- 12 citizen has a criminal charge pending against the 13 non-citizen may not be the sole factor to justify the 14 continued detention of the non-citizen. 15 ‘‘(2) NON-CITIZEN DESCRIBED.—A non-citizen 16 is described in this paragraph if the non-citizen— 17 ‘‘(A) has a pending application under sec- 18 tion 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 19 101(a)(27)(J), 106, 240A(b)(2), or 244(a)(3) 20 (as in effect on March 31, 1997); or 21 ‘‘(B) is a VAWA self-petitioner, as defined 22 in section 101(a)(51), with a pending applica- 23 tion for relief.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2536 IH SEC. 6. GRANTS TO IDENTIFY, ASSIST, AND PROTECT VIC- 1 TIMS OF HATE CRIME VIOLENCE. 2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 4 ty’’ means a State, a local government, or non-gov- 5 ernmental organizations. 6 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 7 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 8 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the 9 United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of 10 the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, 11 and any other territory or possession of the United 12 States. 13 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 14 may award grants to eligible entities to assist non-citizen 15 victims of hate crimes and/or provide training to State and 16 local law enforcement personnel or prosecution officials to 17 identify and protect victims of anti-immigrant driven hate 18 crime violence, criminal activities and harms covered by 19 section 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(27)(J), 20 106, 240A(b)(2), or 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 21 1997); or is a VAWA self-petitioner, as defined in section 22 101(a)(51), with a pending application for relief. 23 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 24 (1) PARTNERSHIP OR COLLABORATION.—An el- 25 igible entity receiving a grant under this section 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2536 IH shall carry out or possess at least one of the fol- 1 lowing activities or expertise described in paragraph 2 (2) in partnership or collaboration with— 3 (A) National, State, local, or Federal law 4 enforcement or prosecution officials dedicated 5 to reducing anti-immigrant hate crimes and 6 which possess personnel who have more than 2- 7 year expertise in and have received U Visa Law 8 Enforcement Certification and/or T visa dec- 9 larations training; or 10 (B) National, State, or local non-govern- 11 mental organizations with more than 2 years 12 expertise in the identification and prosecution 13 of hate crime, dedicated to the reduction of 14 anti-immigrant biased violence or expertise 15 training on and/or assisting non-citizens navi- 16 gate the process of applying for the U visa and 17 any of the forms of immigration relief listed in 18 section 4(b) of this Act; or 19 (C) a non-governmental organization work- 20 ing in partnership or collaboration with a group 21 in subparagraph (A) or (B). 22 (2) ACTIVITIES AND EXPERTISE.—The activi- 23 ties and expertises referred to in paragraph (1) are 24 as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2536 IH (A) To provide funding to community- 1 based, legal or victim services organizations, law 2 enforcement or prosecution programs with a 3 documented history of effective work in identi- 4 fication of hate crimes and anti-immigrant vio- 5 lence, to perform outreach in communities that 6 have experienced an increase in anti-immigrant 7 violence since 2014. 8 (B) To provide funding to community- 9 based, legal or victim services organizations, law 10 enforcement or prosecution programs with a 11 documented history of effective work in the 12 training of law enforcement and/or prosecution 13 agency personnel to protect victims of crimes 14 who are non-citizens without lawful immigration 15 status, including training such personnel to uti- 16 lize Federal, State, or local resources to assist 17 such victims and their families. 18 (C) To provide funding to community- 19 based, legal or victim services organizations, law 20 enforcement or prosecution programs with a 21 documented history of effective work in the 22 training of law enforcement or State or local 23 prosecutors to utilize Federal laws that protect 24 such non-citizens and their families. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2536 IH (d) RESTRICTIONS.— 1 (1) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A grant 2 awarded under this section shall be used to supple- 3 ment and not supplant other Federal, State, and 4 local public funds available to carry out the training 5 described in subsection (c). 6 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An eligible 7 entity that receives a grant under this section may 8 use not more than 5 percent of the total amount of 9 such grant for administrative expenses. 10 (3) NONEXCLUSIVITY.—Nothing in this section 11 may be construed to restrict the ability of an eligible 12 entity to apply for or obtain funding from any other 13 source to carry out the training described in sub- 14 section (c). 15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each 17 of fiscal years 2022 through 2032 to carry out this sec- 18 tion. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2536.IH H2536 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS