To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reserve EB-5 visas each fiscal year for investors in new commercial enterprises in areas with respect to which a major disaster has been declared by the President.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2173 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reserve EB–5 visas each fiscal year for investors in new commercial enterprises in areas with respect to which a major disaster has been declared by the President. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 9, 2019 Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico (for herself and Mr. LAMALFA) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reserve EB–5 visas each fiscal year for investors in new commer- cial enterprises in areas with respect to which a major disaster has been declared by the President. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. RESERVATION OF EB–5 VISAS FOR INVESTORS 3 IN DISASTER AREAS. 4 Section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality 5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)) is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 7 (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2173.IH H2173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2173 IH (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(C) SET-ASIDE FOR MAJOR DISASTER 3 AREAS.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the visas made 5 available under this paragraph for each fis- 6 cal year, the number required under clause 7 (ii) shall be reserved for qualified immi- 8 grants who invest in a new commercial en- 9 terprise described in subparagraph (A) 10 which will create employment in an area 11 with respect to which a major disaster has 12 been declared by the President under sec- 13 tion 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Dis- 14 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 15 (42 U.S.C. 5170). 16 ‘‘(ii) NUMBER OF RESERVED VISAS.— 17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In the case 18 of each area with respect to which one 19 or multiple major disasters have been 20 declared by the President under sec- 21 tion 401 of the Robert T. Stafford 22 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 23 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) in a single 24 fiscal year, the Secretary of State and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2173.IH H2173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2173 IH the Secretary of Homeland Security 1 shall coordinate so as to ensure that 2 100 visas are reserved under this sub- 3 paragraph for the area for— 4 ‘‘(aa) the fiscal year in 5 which the declaration or declara- 6 tions occur and the two suc- 7 ceeding fiscal years; or 8 ‘‘(bb) the 3 fiscal years fol- 9 lowing the fiscal year in which 10 the declaration or declarations 11 occur. 12 ‘‘(II) TIMING.—The decision 13 whether to implement subclause (I) 14 according to item (aa) or (bb) shall be 15 made jointly by the Secretary of State 16 and the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 17 rity based upon the number of visas 18 already made available under this 19 paragraph on the date on which the 20 declaration (or the first of multiple 21 declarations) occurs and other factors 22 deemed appropriate by such secre- 23 taries.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2173.IH H2173 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS