Remedies for Refusal of Repatriation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2647 To provide penalties for countries that systematically and unreasonably refuse or delay repatriation of certain nationals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 2021 Mr. COURTNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide penalties for countries that systematically and unreasonably refuse or delay repatriation of certain na- tionals, 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 ‘‘Remedies for Refusal 4 of Repatriation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2647 IH (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 1 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 2 gress’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 4 the Senate; 5 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 6 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 7 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 8 Senate; 9 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 10 the House of Representatives; 11 (E) the Committee on Homeland Security 12 of the House of Representatives; and 13 (F) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 14 House of Representatives. 15 (2) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 16 violence’’ has the meaning given that term in section 17 16 of title 18, United States Code. 18 (3) VIOLENT FELONY.—The term ‘‘violent fel- 19 ony’’ means a crime of violence that is classified as 20 a felony in the convicting jurisdiction, excluding 21 State or local offenses for which an essential element 22 was the alien’s immigration status. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2647 IH SEC. 3. REMEDIES FOR SYSTEMATIC REFUSAL OF REPATRI- 1 ATION. 2 (a) CRITERIA FOR SYSTEMATIC REFUSAL OR 3 DELAY.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the en- 4 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 5 shall establish procedures for determining whether the 6 government of a foreign country systematically and unrea- 7 sonably refuses or delays the repatriation of nationals of 8 such country who— 9 (1) have been ordered removed from the United 10 States; and 11 (2)(A) have been convicted of a violent felony; 12 or 13 (B) are a threat to national security or public 14 safety. 15 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR INCLUSION ON REFUSAL OR 16 DELAY LIST.—A country shall be deemed to systemati- 17 cally and unreasonably refuse or delay the repatriation of 18 its nationals if— 19 (1) the country refuses— 20 (A) to repatriate an individual described in 21 subsection (a) who has been ordered removed 22 notwithstanding the designation of such country 23 as the place to which the individual is to be re- 24 moved by the United States under section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2647 IH 241(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 1 (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)); and 2 (B)(i) to secure and analyze all documents 3 within its control that could tend to identify the 4 nationality of such individual; or 5 (ii) to ensure that a government official ca- 6 pable of determining that such individual is a 7 national of such country interviews such indi- 8 vidual and, if additional evidence is needed, 9 such individual’s family; or 10 (2) other factors indicate that the country sys- 11 tematically and unreasonably refuses or delays the 12 repatriation of nationals of such country who are de- 13 scribed in subsection (a) and have been ordered re- 14 moved to such country by the United States. 15 (c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Upon deter- 16 mining that a country systematically and unreasonably re- 17 fuses or delays repatriation of its nationals— 18 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 19 notify the Secretary of State of such determination 20 in writing not later than 5 days after such deter- 21 mination; and 22 (2) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 23 Homeland Security shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2647 IH (A) meet concurrently with representatives 1 of the foreign government in the United States 2 and in the foreign country about such deter- 3 mination; and 4 (B) notify such representatives that the 5 United States may discontinue issuance of visas 6 to nationals of such country under section 7 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 8 (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)). 9 (d) DISCONTINUANCE OF VISAS.—In furtherance of 10 section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 11 U.S.C. 1253) and except as provided under subsection (e), 12 if a country described in subsection (c) continues to sys- 13 tematically and unreasonably refuse or delay the repatri- 14 ation of its nationals described in subsection (a) after re- 15 ceiving notification under subsection (c)(2)(B)— 16 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 17 notify the Secretary of State that the country meets 18 the criteria described in section 243(d) of the Immi- 19 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)); and 20 (2) the Secretary of State shall discontinue the 21 issuance of visas in accordance with such section. 22 (e) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary of Homeland Se- 23 curity determines that it is not in the interests of the 24 United States to discontinue the issuance of visas to na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2647 IH tionals of a country described in subsection (d), the Sec- 1 retary of Homeland Security shall submit to the appro- 2 priate committees of Congress a report documenting the 3 reasons for such determination. 4 (f) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 5 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 6 State shall list countries that systematically and unreason- 7 ably refuse or delay repatriation of their nationals de- 8 scribed in subsection (a) on the Web sites of their respec- 9 tive departments. 10 (g) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than March 11 1 of each year, the Secretary of Homeland Security and 12 the Secretary of State shall jointly submit to the appro- 13 priate committees of Congress a report that— 14 (1) identifies the countries that met the criteria 15 developed pursuant to subsection (a) in the previous 16 calendar year; 17 (2) describes the actions taken by the Secretary 18 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 19 after determining that a country met the criteria de- 20 veloped pursuant to subsection (a); 21 (3) identifies the countries included in the noti- 22 fications described in subsections (c) and (d) and the 23 actions taken by the Secretary of State as a result 24 of such notifications; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2647 IH (4) identifies the countries that do not meet the 1 criteria described in subsection (b), but have refused 2 or delayed the repatriation of their nationals; and 3 (5) describes the actions taken by the Secretary 4 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 5 with respect to the countries described in paragraph 6 (4). 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS