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116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 523
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to render overstaying a
visa a criminal offense, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 11, 2019
Mr. SMUCKER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to render
overstaying a visa a criminal offense, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. VISA OVERSTAYS CRIMINALIZED.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—The Immigration and Nationality
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Act is amended by inserting after section 274D the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘SEC. 274E. VISA OVERSTAYS.
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‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
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(b), any alien who remains in the United States for any
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period of time after the date on which any visa or status
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•HR 523 IH
under which the alien is lawfully present has expired
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shall—
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‘‘(1) for the first commission of any such of-
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fense, be fined under title 18, United States Code,
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or imprisoned no more than 6 months, or both; and
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‘‘(2) for a subsequent commission of any such
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offense, be fined under title 18, United States Code,
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or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
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‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary of Homeland Se-
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curity determines on an individual case-by-case basis that,
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because of reasons of a medical necessity, public safety,
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or national security, the alien violated subsection (a), the
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alien shall not be subject to the penalties under subsection
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(a).
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‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON REENTRY.—
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‘‘(1) FIRST
OFFENDERS.—Subject to section
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222(g)(2), any alien convicted of a violation of sub-
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section (a)(1)—
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‘‘(A) may not be admitted to the United
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States for a period of 5 years, beginning on the
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date of the conviction; and
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‘‘(B) may not be granted a visa for a pe-
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riod of 10 years, beginning on the date of the
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conviction.
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‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES.—Notwithstand-
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ing section 222(g)(2), any alien convicted of a viola-
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tion of subsection (a)(2)—
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‘‘(A) may not be admitted to the United
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States; and
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‘‘(B) may not be granted a visa.
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‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE OF PENALTIES.—In the case of
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any application or petition by or on behalf of an alien for
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admission to the United States, the Secretary of State or
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the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide the alien
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with notice of the penalties under this section and section
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275 on receipt of the application or petition, and again
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at the time of admission.’’.
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
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of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by in-
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serting after the item relating to section 274D the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘274E. Visa overstays.’’.
SEC. 2. EFFECT OF VISA REVOCATION.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 221(i) of the Immigration
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and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)) is amended by in-
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serting before the final sentence the following: ‘‘A revoca-
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tion under this subsection shall automatically cancel any
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other valid visa that is in the alien’s possession.’’.
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
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subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-
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•HR 523 IH
ment of this Act and shall apply to revocations under sec-
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tion 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
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U.S.C. 1201(i)) occurring on or after such date.
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SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF INTENT REGARDING TAXPAYER-
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PROVIDED COUNSEL.
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Section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
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(8 U.S.C. 1362) is amended—
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(1) by striking ‘‘In any removal proceedings be-
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fore an immigration judge and in any appeal pro-
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ceedings before the Attorney General from any such
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removal proceedings’’ and inserting ‘‘In any removal
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proceedings before an immigration judge, or any
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other immigration proceedings before the Attorney
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General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or any
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appeal of such a proceeding’’;
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(2) by striking ‘‘(at no expense to the Govern-
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ment)’’; and
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(3) by adding at the end the following ‘‘Not-
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withstanding any other provision of law, in no in-
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stance shall the Government bear any expense for
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counsel for any person in proceedings described in
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this section.’’.
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SEC. 4. SHARING VISA RECORDS WITH FOREIGN GOVERN-
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MENTS.
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Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality
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Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) is amended—
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(1) in paragraph (1), by striking the period at
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the end and inserting a semicolon;
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(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
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graph (3); and
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(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘(2) the Secretary of State on a case-by-case
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basis may provide to a foreign government copies of
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any record of the Department of State and of diplo-
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matic and consular offices of the United States per-
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taining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits
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to enter the United States, or any information con-
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tained in those records, if the Secretary determines
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that it is in the national interests of the United
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States; and’’.
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SEC. 5. ACCESS TO NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CEN-
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TER FILES FOR VISA ADJUDICATIONS RELAT-
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ING TO DIPLOMATS AND OTHER GOVERN-
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MENT OFFICIALS.
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Section 222 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
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(8 U.S.C. 1202) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘(i) In the case of an alien described in one of clauses
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(i) through (iv) of subsection (h)(2)(E) who has applied
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for a visa, the Attorney General and the Director of the
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Federal Bureau of Investigation shall provide the Sec-
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retary of State with access to the criminal history record
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information contained in files maintained by the National
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Crime Information Center for the purpose of determining
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whether the visa should be issued.’’.
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Æ
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