Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 636 To designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to be eligible for temporary pro- tected status under such section. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigra- tion and Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to be eligible for temporary protected status under such section. 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 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 636 IS (1) Venezuela is enduring an unprecedented 1 economic, humanitarian, security, and refugee crisis, 2 consisting of extreme food and medicine shortages, 3 severe infant and child malnutrition, rampant crime, 4 and government-sponsored repression. 5 (2) Venezuela’s economic crisis continues 6 unabated and the International Monetary Fund 7 projects that inflation in Venezuela could reach an 8 annual rate of 10,000,000 percent in 2019. 9 (3) As evidence of the humanitarian crisis cre- 10 ated by Venezuela’s systemic economic turmoil— 11 (A) more than 9,000,000 people in Ven- 12 ezuela are eating 2 or fewer meals a day; and 13 (B) approximately 75 percent of the popu- 14 lation have reported losing an average of— 15 (i) 19 pounds in 2016; and 16 (ii) 24 pounds in 2017. 17 (4) Moderate to severe malnutrition among 18 Venezuelan children under 5 years of age increased 19 by more than 50 percent in 2017, and approximately 20 300,000 Venezuelan children are at risk of dying 21 from malnutrition, according to Ca´ritas de Ven- 22 ezuela, a Catholic humanitarian organization. 23 (5) Pharmacies in Venezuela have shortages of 24 approximately 85 percent of needed medicines and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 636 IS 76 percent of public hospitals lack the basic medi- 1 cines that should be available in any functional pub- 2 lic hospital, including those that are on the World 3 Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. 4 (6) As evidence of the significant effect that 5 Venezuela’s economic crisis on public health, Ven- 6 ezuela’s Health Ministry reported that in 2016— 7 (A) there was a 30-percent increase in the 8 infant mortality rate; and 9 (B) there was a 65-percent increase in the 10 maternal mortality rate. 11 (7) Violent crime in Venezuela has risen sharply 12 and the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, an inde- 13 pendent nongovernmental organization, calculated 14 the national per capita murder rate to be 89 per 15 100,000 people in 2017. 16 (8) According to Citizens Council for Public 17 Safety and Criminal Justice, Caracas was the most 18 dangerous capital city in the world in 2017, with 19 111 murders per 100,000 residents. 20 (9) According to the United Nations Human 21 Rights Office of the High Commissioner— 22 (A) Venezuelan intelligence and security 23 forces have increasingly used arbitrary arrests 24 and detentions to repress and intimidate civil 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 636 IS society, political opponents, and any voices of 1 dissent; and 2 (B) between 2015 and 2017, at least 505 3 people including 24 children, were executed by 4 Venezuelan security forces, leading the Inter- 5 national Criminal Court prosecutor to announce 6 a preliminary investigation into the use of ex- 7 cessive force in Venezuela. 8 (10) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Na- 9 tions High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated, 10 ‘‘The failure to hold security forces accountable for 11 such serious human rights violations suggests that 12 the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela.’’. 13 (11) According to the United Nations High 14 Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 15 3,400,000 Venezuelans have left their country for 16 reasons such as violence, political oppression, eco- 17 nomic hardship, and the ongoing humanitarian cri- 18 sis. 19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 20 It is the sense of the Congress that— 21 (1) Venezuela’s economic, humanitarian, secu- 22 rity, and refugee crisis has resulted in extraordinary 23 and temporary conditions that currently prevent 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 636 IS Venezuelan nationals from safely returning to Ven- 1 ezuela; and 2 (2) Venezuela should be designated under sub- 3 section (b)(1)(C) of section 244 of the Immigration 4 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) for a period 5 of 18 months to permit nationals of Venezuela to be 6 eligible for temporary protected status in accordance 7 with such section. 8 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM- 9 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS. 10 (a) DESIGNATION.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244 12 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 13 1254a), Venezuela shall be treated as if it had been 14 designated under subsection (b)(1)(C) of that sec- 15 tion, subject to the provisions of this section. 16 (2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe- 17 riod of the designation referred to in paragraph (1) 18 shall be for the 18-month period beginning on the 19 date of the enactment of this Act. 20 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE.—As a result of the designa- 21 tion made under subsection (a), an alien who is a national 22 of Venezuela is deemed to satisfy the requirements under 23 paragraph (1) of section 244(c) of the Immigration and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 636 IS Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)), subject to paragraph 1 (3) of such section, if the alien— 2 (1) has been continuously physically present in 3 the United States since the date of the enactment of 4 this Act; 5 (2) is admissible as an immigrant, except as 6 otherwise provided in paragraph (2)(A) of such sec- 7 tion, and is not ineligible for temporary protected 8 status under paragraph (2)(B) of such section; and 9 (3) registers for temporary protected status in 10 a manner established by the Secretary of Homeland 11 Security. 12 (c) CONSENT TO TRAVEL ABROAD.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 14 Security shall give prior consent to travel abroad, in 15 accordance with section 244(f)(3) of the Immigra- 16 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(f)(3)), to 17 an alien who is granted temporary protected status 18 pursuant to the designation made under subsection 19 (a) if the alien establishes to the satisfaction of the 20 Secretary of Homeland Security that emergency and 21 extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the 22 alien require the alien to depart for a brief, tem- 23 porary trip abroad. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 7 •S 636 IS (2) TREATMENT UPON RETURN.—An alien re- 1 turning to the United States in accordance with an 2 authorization described in paragraph (1) shall be 3 treated as any other returning alien provided tem- 4 porary protected status under section 244 of the Im- 5 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a). 6 SEC. 5. IMPROVING INTERNAL MIGRATION SYSTEMS IN 7 COUNTRIES SURROUNDING VENEZUELA. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con- 9 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 10 work with international partners, including the United 11 Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to support and 12 provide technical assistance to improve the domestic ca- 13 pacity of countries surrounding Venezuela and in the re- 14 gion to provide migration services and asylum to eligible 15 Venezuelan citizens— 16 (1) by establishing and expanding temporary 17 and long-term, in-country reception centers and shel- 18 ter capacity in those surrounding countries to meet 19 the humanitarian needs of Venezuelan migrants or 20 Venezuelans seeking asylum or other forms of inter- 21 national protection; 22 (2) by improving migration and asylum reg- 23 istration systems in those surrounding countries to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 8 •S 636 IS ensure that Venezuelan migrants and Venezuelans 1 seeking asylum or other humanitarian protection— 2 (A) receive due process and meaningful ac- 3 cess to legal protections; and 4 (B) receive proper documents in order to 5 prevent fraud and facilitate freedom of move- 6 ment and access to basic social services; 7 (3) by supporting the creation or expansion of 8 a corps of trained migration and asylum officers 9 from those countries who are capable of— 10 (A) providing migration services; and 11 (B) evaluating and deciding individual asy- 12 lum claims consistent with international law 13 and obligations; and 14 (4) by developing the capacity to conduct best 15 interest determinations for Venezuelan migrants to 16 ensure that their needs are properly met. 17 (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after the 18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 19 in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 20 shall submit a strategy describing plans for assisting the 21 development of the international asylum processing capa- 22 bilities described in subsection (a) to— 23 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 24 Senate; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 9 •S 636 IS (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen- 1 ate; 2 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 3 Senate; 4 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 5 House of Representatives; 6 (5) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 7 House of Representatives; and 8 (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 9 House of Representatives. 10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 12 appropriated to the Secretary of State $10,000,000 13 for fiscal year 2019 to carry out the activities set 14 forth in subsection (b), in accordance with this sec- 15 tion. 16 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 18 under subparagraph (B), amounts appropriated 19 or otherwise made available pursuant to para- 20 graph (1) may not be obligated until 15 days 21 after the date on which the President provides 22 notice to the committees listed in subsection (b) 23 of the intent to obligate such funds. 24 (B) WAIVER.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 10 •S 636 IS (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 1 State may waive the requirement under 2 subparagraph (A) if the Secretary of State 3 determines that such waiver is in the na- 4 tional interest of the United States. 5 (ii) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—If 6 a waiver is invoked under clause (i), the 7 President shall notify the committees listed 8 in subsection (b) of the intention to obli- 9 gate funds under this section as early as 10 practicable, but not later than 3 days after 11 taking the action to which such notification 12 requirement was applicable in the context 13 of the circumstances necessitating such 14 waiver. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S636.IS S636 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS