Protecting Children Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1738 To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 13, 2019 Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on For- eign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction 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 04:24 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1738.IH H1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1738 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 thousands of minors to be subjected to child mar- 4 riages; 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 04:24 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1738.IH H1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1738 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; 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 and 19 (9) acknowledges that between 2007 and 20 2017— 21 (A) loopholes in the United States immi- 22 gration laws resulted in the approval by U.S. 23 Citizenship and Immigration Services of 8,868 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1738.IH H1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1738 IH petitions involving minors for spousal or fiance´ 1 entry into the United States; and 2 (B) girls were the younger party in 95 per- 3 cent of such petitions. 4 SEC. 3. PROTECTING CHILDREN THROUGH ELIMINATING 5 VISA LOOPHOLES. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Immigra- 7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (15)(K)— 9 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 10 striking ‘‘(p) of section 214, an alien’’ and in- 11 serting ‘‘(r) of section 214, an alien who is at 12 least 18 years of age’’; and 13 (B) by inserting ‘‘who is at least 18 years 14 of age’’ after ‘‘a citizen of the United States’’ 15 each time such term appears; and 16 (2) in paragraph (35), by adding at the end the 17 following: ‘‘Such terms do not include any individual 18 who is younger than 18 years of age or who is mar- 19 ried to an individual who is younger than 18 years 20 of age.’’. 21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 22 (1) K NONIMMIGRANTS.—The amendments 23 made by subsection (a)(1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1738.IH H1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1738 IH (A) shall take effect on the date of the en- 1 actment of this Act; and 2 (B) shall apply to any petition or applica- 3 tion seeking nonimmigrant status for any alien 4 under section 101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration 5 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(K)) 6 that is pending before any agency, officer, or 7 employee of the United States on or after such 8 date of enactment. 9 (2) SPOUSE; WIFE; HUSBAND.—The amend- 10 ment made by subsection (a)(2)— 11 (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 12 shall take effect on the date of the enactment 13 of this Act; 14 (B) subject to subparagraph (C), shall 15 apply to marriages entered into before, on, or 16 after such date of enactment; and 17 (C) shall apply to any petition or applica- 18 tion for any status or benefit under the immi- 19 gration laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) 20 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 21 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)) that is filed or otherwise 22 submitted on or after such date of enactment, 23 except for a petition under section 216 of such 24 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186a) to remove the conditional 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1738.IH H1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1738 IH basis of lawful permanent residence based upon 1 a grant of conditional lawful permanent resi- 2 dent status before such date of enactment. 3 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment 4 made by subsection (a)(2)— 5 (1) shall apply to the immigration laws (as de- 6 fined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 7 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)); 8 (2) may not be construed to affect or modify 9 any reference to, or legal effect of, any marriage 10 under any provision of the immigration laws using 11 a term not defined by such amendment, including 12 whether any person is married or has been born in 13 wedlock or legitimated for purposes of determining 14 whether such person is a child or is a married or un- 15 married son or daughter; and 16 (3) may not be construed to limit or modify the 17 eligibility of any VAWA self-petitioner (as defined in 18 section 101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nation- 19 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(51)) for any available 20 relief under the immigration laws. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1738.IH H1738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS