JOLT Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2187 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to stimulate international tourism to the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 9, 2019 Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself and Mr. RICE of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to stimulate international tourism to the United States, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Jobs Originated 4 through Launching Travel Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘JOLT 5 Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2187 IH SEC. 2. ENCOURAGING CANADIAN TOURISM TO THE 1 UNITED STATES. 2 Section 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 3 (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(s) CANADIAN RETIREES.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 7 Security may admit as a visitor for pleasure as de- 8 scribed in section 101(a)(15)(B) any alien for a pe- 9 riod not to exceed 240 days, if the alien dem- 10 onstrates, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that 11 the alien— 12 ‘‘(A) is a citizen of Canada; 13 ‘‘(B) is at least 50 years of age; 14 ‘‘(C) maintains a residence in Canada; 15 ‘‘(D) owns a residence in the United States 16 or has signed a rental agreement for accom- 17 modations in the United States for the duration 18 of the alien’s stay in the United States; 19 ‘‘(E) is not inadmissible under section 212; 20 ‘‘(F) is not described in any ground of de- 21 portability under section 237; 22 ‘‘(G) will not engage in employment or 23 labor for hire in the United States; and 24 ‘‘(H) will not seek any form of assistance 25 or benefit described in section 403(a) of the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2187 IH Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 1 Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1613(a)). 2 ‘‘(2) SPOUSE.—The spouse of an alien de- 3 scribed in paragraph (1) may be admitted under the 4 same terms as the principal alien if the spouse satis- 5 fies the requirements of paragraph (1), other than 6 subparagraph (D). 7 ‘‘(3) IMMIGRANT INTENT.—In determining eli- 8 gibility for admission under this subsection, mainte- 9 nance of a residence in the United States shall not 10 be considered evidence of intent by the alien to 11 abandon the alien’s residence in Canada. 12 ‘‘(4) PERIOD OF ADMISSION.—During any sin- 13 gle 365-day period, an alien may be admitted as de- 14 scribed in section 101(a)(15)(B) pursuant to this 15 subsection for a period not to exceed 240 days, be- 16 ginning on the date of admission. Periods of time 17 spent outside the United States during such 240-day 18 period shall not toll the expiration of such 240-day 19 period.’’. 20 SEC. 3. SECURE TRAVEL PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM EN- 21 HANCED SECURITY AND REFORM. 22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 217(c)(1) of the Immi- 23 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(1)) is 24 amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2187 IH ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE; DEFINI- 1 TIONS.— 2 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE.—The 3 Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 4 with the Secretary of State, may designate any 5 country as a program country if that country 6 meets the requirements under paragraph (2). 7 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 8 ‘‘(i) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL 9 COMMITTEES.—The term ‘appropriate 10 Congressional Committees’ means— 11 ‘‘(I) the Committee on Foreign 12 Relations, the Committee on Home- 13 land Security and Governmental Af- 14 fairs, and the Committee on the Judi- 15 ciary of the Senate; and 16 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Foreign 17 Affairs, the Committee on Homeland 18 Security, and the Committee on the 19 Judiciary of the House of Representa- 20 tives. 21 ‘‘(ii) OVERSTAY RATE.— 22 ‘‘(I) INITIAL DESIGNATION.—The 23 term ‘overstay rate’ means, with re- 24 spect to a country being considered 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2187 IH for designation in the program, the 1 ratio of— 2 ‘‘(aa) the number of nation- 3 als of that country who were ad- 4 mitted to the United States on 5 the basis of a nonimmigrant visa 6 under section 101(a)(15)(B) 7 whose periods of authorized stay 8 ended during a fiscal year but 9 who remained unlawfully in the 10 United States beyond such peri- 11 ods; to 12 ‘‘(bb) the number of nation- 13 als of that country who were ad- 14 mitted to the United States on 15 the basis of a nonimmigrant visa 16 under section 101(a)(15)(B) 17 whose periods of authorized stay 18 ended during that fiscal year. 19 ‘‘(II) CONTINUING DESIGNA- 20 TION.—The term ‘overstay rate’ 21 means, for each fiscal year after ini- 22 tial designation under this section 23 with respect to a country, the ratio 24 of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2187 IH ‘‘(aa) the number of nation- 1 als of that country who were ad- 2 mitted to the United States 3 under this section or on the basis 4 of a nonimmigrant visa under 5 section 101(a)(15)(B) whose pe- 6 riods of authorized stay ended 7 during a fiscal year but who re- 8 mained unlawfully in the United 9 States beyond such periods; to 10 ‘‘(bb) the number of nation- 11 als of that country who were ad- 12 mitted to the United States 13 under this section or on the basis 14 of a nonimmigrant visa under 15 section 101(a)(15)(B) whose pe- 16 riods of authorized stay ended 17 during that fiscal year. 18 ‘‘(III) COMPUTATION OF OVER- 19 STAY RATE.—In determining the over- 20 stay rate for a country, the Secretary 21 of Homeland Security may utilize in- 22 formation from any available data- 23 bases to ensure the accuracy of such 24 rate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2187 IH ‘‘(iii) PROGRAM COUNTRY.—The term 1 ‘program country’ means a country des- 2 ignated as a program country under sub- 3 paragraph (A).’’. 4 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 5 Section 217(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 6 U.S.C. 1187(c)) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (2)(C)(iii), by striking ‘‘Com- 8 mittee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Foreign 9 Affairs, and the Committee on Homeland Security of 10 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 11 the Judiciary, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 12 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov- 13 ernmental Affairs of the Senate’’ and inserting ‘‘ap- 14 propriate congressional committees’’; 15 (2) in paragraph (5)(A)(i)(III), by striking 16 ‘‘Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 17 Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select Committee on 18 Intelligence, and the Committee on Homeland Secu- 19 rity, of the House of Representatives and the Com- 20 mittee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Foreign 21 Relations, the Select Committee on Intelligence and 22 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 23 mental Affairs of the Senate’’ and inserting ‘‘appro- 24 priate congressional committees’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2187 IH (3) in paragraph (7), by striking subparagraph 1 (E). 2 (c) DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM COUNTRIES BASED 3 ON OVERSTAY RATES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 217(c)(2)(A) of the 5 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 6 1187(c)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(A) GENERAL NUMERICAL LIMITA- 8 TIONS.— 9 ‘‘(i) LOW NONIMMIGRANT VISA RE- 10 FUSAL RATE.—The percentage of nationals 11 of that country refused nonimmigrant visas 12 under section 101(a)(15)(B) during the 13 previous full fiscal year was not more than 14 3 percent of the total number of nationals 15 of that country who were granted or re- 16 fused nonimmigrant visas under such sec- 17 tion during such year. 18 ‘‘(ii) LOW NONIMMIGRANT OVERSTAY 19 RATE.—The overstay rate for that country 20 was not more than 3 percent during the 21 previous fiscal year.’’. 22 (2) QUALIFICATION CRITERIA.—Section 23 217(c)(3) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(3)) is 24 amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2187 IH ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATION CRITERIA.—After designa- 1 tion as a program country under section 217(c)(2), 2 a country may not continue to be designated as a 3 program country unless the Secretary of Homeland 4 Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 5 determines, pursuant to the requirements under 6 paragraph (5), that the designation will be contin- 7 ued.’’. 8 (3) INITIAL PERIOD.—Section 217(c) is further 9 amended by striking paragraph (4). 10 (4) CONTINUING DESIGNATION.—Section 11 217(c)(5)(A)(i)(II) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 12 1187(c)(5)(A)(i)(II)) is amended to read as follows: 13 ‘‘(II) shall determine, 14 based upon the evaluation in 15 subclause (I), whether any 16 such designation under sub- 17 section (d) or (f), or proba- 18 tion under subsection (f), 19 ought to be continued or ter- 20 minated;’’. 21 (5) REPORT.—Section 217(c)(5)(A)(i) of such 22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(5)(A)(i)) is further amend- 23 ed— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2187 IH (A) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; 2 (B) in subclause (V), by striking the period 3 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding after subclause (V) the fol- 5 lowing new subclause: 6 ‘‘(VI) shall submit to Congress a 7 report regarding the security param- 8 eters described in paragraph (9).’’. 9 (6) COMPUTATION OF VISA REFUSAL RATES; 10 JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 217(c)(6) of such Act 11 (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(6)) is amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘(6) COMPUTATION OF VISA REFUSAL RATES 13 AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 14 ‘‘(A) COMPUTATION OF VISA REFUSAL 15 RATES.—For purposes of determining the eligi- 16 bility of a country to be designated as a pro- 17 gram country, the calculation of visa refusal 18 rates shall not include any visa refusals which 19 incorporate any procedures based on, or are 20 otherwise based on, race, sex, or disability, un- 21 less otherwise specifically authorized by law or 22 regulation. 23 ‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall 24 have jurisdiction under this section to review 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2187 IH any visa refusal, the Secretary of State’s com- 1 putation of a visa refusal rate, the Secretary of 2 Homeland Security’s computation of an over- 3 stay rate, or the designation or nondesignation 4 of a country as a program country.’’. 5 (7) VISA WAIVER INFORMATION.—Section 6 217(c)(7) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(7)) is 7 amended by— 8 (A) striking subparagraphs (B) through 9 (D); and 10 (B) striking ‘‘WAIVER INFORMATION.—’’ 11 and all that follows through ‘‘In refusing’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘WAIVER INFORMATION.—In refus- 13 ing’’. 14 (8) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Section 217(c)(8) of 15 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(8)) is amended to read 16 as follows: 17 ‘‘(8) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 18 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec- 19 retary of State, may waive the application of para- 20 graph (2)(A)(i) for a country if— 21 ‘‘(A) the country meets all other require- 22 ments of paragraph (2); 23 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Homeland Security 24 determines that the totality of the country’s se- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2187 IH curity risk mitigation measures provide assur- 1 ance that the country’s participation in the pro- 2 gram would not compromise the law enforce- 3 ment, security interests, or enforcement of the 4 immigration laws of the United States; 5 ‘‘(C) there has been a general downward 6 trend in the percentage of nationals of the 7 country refused nonimmigrant visas under sec- 8 tion 101(a)(15)(B); 9 ‘‘(D) the country consistently cooperated 10 with the Government of the United States on 11 counterterrorism initiatives, information shar- 12 ing, preventing terrorist travel, and extradition 13 to the United States of individuals (including 14 the country’s own nationals) who commit 15 crimes that violate United States law before the 16 date of its designation as a program country, 17 and the Secretary of Homeland Security and 18 the Secretary of State assess that such coopera- 19 tion is likely to continue; 20 ‘‘(E) the percentage of nationals of the 21 country refused a nonimmigrant visa under sec- 22 tion 101(a)(15)(B) during the previous full fis- 23 cal year was not more than 10 percent of the 24 total number of nationals of that country who 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2187.IH H2187 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2187 IH were granted or refused such nonimmigrant 1 visas; and 2 ‘‘(F) the country enters into intelligence 3 collection and information sharing arrange- 4 ments with the United States and meets nec- 5 essary requirements as established by the Sec- 6 retary of Homeland Security and the United 7 States intelligence community.’’. 8 (d) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION; PROBATION.— 9 Section 217(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 10 U.S.C. 1187(f)) is amended to read as follows: 11 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION; PROBATION.— 12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 13 ‘‘(A) PROBATIONARY PERIOD.—The term 14 ‘probationary period’ means the fiscal year in 15 which a probationary country is placed in pro- 16 bationary status under this subsection. 17 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM COUNTRY.—The term ‘pro- 18 gram country’ has the meaning given that term 19 in subsection (c)(1)(B). 20 ‘‘(2) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]