Providing Justice for Asylum Seekers Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3748 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to in absentia removal proceedings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 12, 2019 Mr. PANETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to in absentia removal proceedings, 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 ‘‘Providing Justice for 4 Asylum Seekers Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. INITIATION OF REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS. 6 Section 239(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 7 Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(a)) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3748.IH H3748 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3748 IH (1) in paragraph (1)(F), by inserting ‘‘the Sec- 1 retary of Homeland Security or’’ before ‘‘the Attor- 2 ney General’’ each place such term appears; and 3 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘the alien 4 or to the alien’s counsel of record’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘the alien and to the alien’s counsel of record’’. 6 SEC. 3. REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS. 7 Section 240(b) of the Immigration and Nationality 8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (5)— 10 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 11 as follows: 12 ‘‘(A) REMOVAL IN ABSENTIA.— 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any alien who, 14 after a proceeding under this section is re- 15 scheduled by an immigration judge due to 16 the alien’s failure to attend such pro- 17 ceeding, and written notice required under 18 paragraph (1) or (2) of section 239(a) has 19 been provided to the alien or the alien’s 20 counsel of record, does not attend a pro- 21 ceeding under this section, may be ordered 22 removed in absentia if the Secretary of 23 Homeland Security establishes by clear, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3748.IH H3748 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3748 IH unequivocal, and convincing evidence 1 that— 2 ‘‘(I) sufficient written notice was 3 so provided; 4 ‘‘(II) the alien is removable (as 5 defined in subsection (e)(2)); and 6 ‘‘(III) in the case of an alien re- 7 quired to periodically report to the 8 Department of Homeland Security, 9 the alien has demonstrated a pattern 10 of failing to report. 11 ‘‘(ii) SUFFICIENT NOTICE.—The writ- 12 ten notice provided by the Attorney Gen- 13 eral shall be considered sufficient for pur- 14 poses of this subparagraph if provided at 15 the most recent address provided under 16 section 239(a)(1)(F).’’; and 17 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 18 (i) in clause (i)— 19 (I) by striking ‘‘within 180 days’’ 20 and inserting ‘‘at any time’’; and 21 (II) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 22 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe- 23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, or’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3748.IH H3748 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3748 IH (iii) by inserting after clause (ii) the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(iii) upon a motion to reopen filed at 3 any time if the alien is a minor child.’’; 4 and 5 (iv) by striking ‘‘clause (i) or (ii)’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘clause (i), (ii), or (iii)’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(8) CHECK-IN HISTORY.—Before an immigra- 9 tion judge conducts a proceeding under this section, 10 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall report to 11 the immigration judge the extent to which the alien 12 has complied with any requirement to report periodi- 13 cally the alien’s whereabouts to the Secretary of 14 Homeland Security.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3748.IH H3748 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS