Protecting Children Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 742 To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 12, 2019 Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. COTTON) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 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 reduce the risks of child marriages, sex trafficking, 10 and sexual abuse occurring throughout the world; 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S742.IS S742 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 742 IS (2) major loopholes in Federal law have allowed 1 thousands of minors to be subjected to child mar- 2 riages; 3 (3) under the Immigration and Nationality Act 4 (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)— 5 (A) a United States citizen child may peti- 6 tion for an immigrant visa for a spouse or 7 fiance´ living in another country; and 8 (B) a United States citizen adult may peti- 9 tion for an immigrant visa for a minor spouse 10 or fiance´ living abroad; 11 (4) the United States Government has advo- 12 cated for preventing and reducing the occurrence of 13 child marriages throughout the world; 14 (5) Congress passed the Violence Against 15 Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 16 113–4), which requires the Secretary of State to es- 17 tablish and implement a multiyear strategy— 18 (A) to ‘‘prevent child marriages’’; and 19 (B) to ‘‘promote the empowerment of girls 20 at risk of child marriage in developing coun- 21 tries’’; 22 (6) acknowledges that although the Federal 23 Government is limited in its ability to address child 24 marriage within individual States, establishing a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S742.IS S742 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 742 IS minimum age of 18 years for marriage-based and 1 fiance´-based immigrant visa petitions is an imme- 2 diate and viable solution for preventing child mar- 3 riage through exploitation of the United States im- 4 migration system; 5 (7) affirms that child well being is a foremost 6 priority and consideration when imposing strict age 7 requirements for visa spousal and fiance´ petitions 8 within the United States immigration system; 9 (8) recognizes that under the current immigra- 10 tion legal framework, individuals may exploit visa 11 marriage and fiance´ petitions for nefarious purposes, 12 including— 13 (A) coercing forced marriages; and 14 (B) the trafficking and abuse of children; 15 and 16 (9) acknowledges that between 2007 and 17 2017— 18 (A) loopholes in the United States immi- 19 gration laws resulted in the approval by U.S. 20 Citizenship and Immigration Services of 8,868 21 petitions involving minors for spousal or fiance´ 22 entry into the United States; and 23 (B) girls were the younger party in 95 per- 24 cent of such petitions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S742.IS S742 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 742 IS SEC. 3. PROTECTING CHILDREN THROUGH ELIMINATING 1 VISA LOOPHOLES. 2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Immigra- 3 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (15)(K)— 5 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 6 striking ‘‘(p) of section 214, an alien’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘(r) of section 214, an alien who is at 8 least 18 years of age’’; and 9 (B) by inserting ‘‘who is at least 18 years 10 of age’’ after ‘‘a citizen of the United States’’ 11 each time such term appears; and 12 (2) in paragraph (35), by adding at the end the 13 following: ‘‘Such terms do not include any individual 14 who is younger than 18 years of age or who is mar- 15 ried to an individual who is younger than 18 years 16 of age.’’. 17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 18 (1) K NONIMMIGRANTS.—The amendments 19 made by subsection (a)(1)— 20 (A) shall take effect on the date of the en- 21 actment of this Act; and 22 (B) shall apply to any petition or applica- 23 tion seeking nonimmigrant status for any alien 24 under section 101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration 25 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(K)) 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S742.IS S742 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 742 IS that is pending before any agency, officer, or 1 employee of the United States on or after such 2 date of enactment. 3 (2) SPOUSE; WIFE; HUSBAND.—The amend- 4 ment made by subsection (a)(2)— 5 (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 6 shall take effect on the date of the enactment 7 of this Act; 8 (B) subject to subparagraph (C), shall 9 apply to marriages entered into before, on, or 10 after such date of enactment; and 11 (C) shall apply to any petition or applica- 12 tion for any status or benefit under the immi- 13 gration laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) 14 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 15 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) that is filed or otherwise 16 submitted on or after such date of enactment, 17 except for a petition under section 216 of such 18 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186a) to remove the conditional 19 basis of lawful permanent residence based upon 20 a grant of conditional lawful permanent resi- 21 dent status before such date of enactment. 22 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment 23 made by subsection (a)(2)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S742.IS S742 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 742 IS (1) shall apply to the immigration laws (as de- 1 fined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 2 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))); 3 (2) may not be construed to affect or modify 4 any reference to, or legal effect of, any marriage 5 under any provision of the immigration laws using 6 a term not defined by such amendment, including 7 whether any person is married or has been born in 8 wedlock or legitimated for purposes of determining 9 whether such person is a child or is a married or un- 10 married son or daughter; and 11 (3) may not be construed to limit or modify the 12 eligibility of any VAWA self-petitioner (as defined in 13 section 101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nation- 14 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(51))) for any available 15 relief under the immigration laws. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S742.IS S742 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS