Protecting Children Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3214 To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. PERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. 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 ‘‘Protecting Children 4 Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) the laws of the United States and the poli- 8 cies of the Department of State aim to prevent and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3214.IH H3214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3214 IH reduce the risks of child marriages, sex trafficking, 1 and sexual abuse occurring throughout the world; 2 (2) major loopholes in Federal law have allowed 3 up to thousands of minors to be subjected to child 4 marriages; 5 (3) under the Immigration and Nationality Act 6 (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)— 7 (A) a United States citizen child may peti- 8 tion for an immigrant visa for a spouse or 9 fiance´ living in another country; and 10 (B) a United States citizen adult may peti- 11 tion for an immigrant visa for a minor spouse 12 or fiance´ living abroad; 13 (4) the United States Government has advo- 14 cated for preventing and reducing the occurrence of 15 child marriages throughout the world; 16 (5) Congress passed the Violence Against 17 Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 18 113–4), which requires the Secretary of State to es- 19 tablish and implement a multiyear strategy— 20 (A) to ‘‘prevent child marriages’’; and 21 (B) to ‘‘promote the empowerment of girls 22 at risk of child marriage in developing coun- 23 tries’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3214.IH H3214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3214 IH (6) acknowledges that although the Federal 1 Government is limited in its ability to address child 2 marriage within individual States, establishing a 3 minimum age of 18 years for marriage-based and 4 fiance´-based immigrant visa petitions is an imme- 5 diate and viable solution for preventing child mar- 6 riage through exploitation of the United States im- 7 migration system; 8 (7) affirms that child well being is a foremost 9 priority and consideration when imposing strict age 10 requirements for visa spousal and fiance´ petitions 11 within the United States immigration system; and 12 (8) recognizes that under the current immigra- 13 tion legal framework, individuals may exploit visa 14 marriage and fiance´ petitions for nefarious purposes, 15 including— 16 (A) coercing forced marriages; and 17 (B) the trafficking and abuse of children. 18 SEC. 3. PROTECTING CHILDREN THROUGH ELIMINATING 19 VISA LOOPHOLES. 20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Immigra- 21 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 22 (1) in paragraph (15)(K)— 23 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 24 striking ‘‘(p) of section 214, an alien’’ and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3214.IH H3214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3214 IH serting ‘‘(r) of section 214, an alien who is at 1 least 18 years of age’’; and 2 (B) by inserting ‘‘who is at least 18 years 3 of age’’ after ‘‘a citizen of the United States’’ 4 each time such term appears; and 5 (2) in paragraph (35), by adding at the end the 6 following: ‘‘Such terms do not include any individual 7 who is younger than 18 years of age or who is mar- 8 ried to an individual who is younger than 18 years 9 of age.’’. 10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 11 (1) K NONIMMIGRANTS.—The amendments 12 made by subsection (a)(1)— 13 (A) shall take effect on the date of the en- 14 actment of this Act; and 15 (B) shall apply to any petition or applica- 16 tion seeking nonimmigrant status for any alien 17 under section 101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration 18 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(K)) 19 that is pending before any agency, officer, or 20 employee of the United States on or after such 21 date of enactment. 22 (2) SPOUSE; WIFE; HUSBAND.—The amend- 23 ment made by subsection (a)(2)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3214.IH H3214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3214 IH (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 1 shall take effect on the date of the enactment 2 of this Act; 3 (B) subject to subparagraph (C), shall 4 apply to marriages entered into before, on, or 5 after such date of enactment; and 6 (C) shall apply to any petition or applica- 7 tion for any status or benefit under the immi- 8 gration laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) 9 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 10 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)) that is filed or otherwise 11 submitted on or after such date of enactment, 12 except for a petition under section 216 of such 13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186a) to remove the conditional 14 basis of lawful permanent residence based upon 15 a grant of conditional lawful permanent resi- 16 dent status before such date of enactment. 17 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment 18 made by subsection (a)(2)— 19 (1) shall apply to the immigration laws (as de- 20 fined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 21 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)); 22 (2) may not be construed to affect or modify 23 any reference to, or legal effect of, any marriage 24 under any provision of the immigration laws using 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3214.IH H3214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3214 IH a term not defined by such amendment, including 1 whether any person is married or has been born in 2 wedlock or legitimated for purposes of determining 3 whether such person is a child or is a married or un- 4 married son or daughter; and 5 (3) may not be construed to limit or modify the 6 eligibility of any VAWA self-petitioner (as defined in 7 section 101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nation- 8 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(51)) for any available 9 relief under the immigration laws. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3214.IH H3214 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS