Strengthening Citizenship Services for Veterans Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3294 To require U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to facilitate naturaliza- tion services for noncitizen veterans who have been removed from the United States or are inadmissible. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 13, 2020 Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to facilitate naturalization services for noncitizen veterans who have been removed from the United States or are inadmissible. 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 ‘‘Strengthening Citizen- 4 ship Services for Veterans Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3294.IS S3294 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3294 IS (1) BIOMETRIC COLLECTION.—The term ‘‘bio- 1 metric collection’’ means the biometric collection de- 2 scribed in section 103.2(b)(9) of title 8, Code of 3 Federal Regulations, during which the applicant pro- 4 vides information, including by providing finger- 5 prints, photographs, or signatures, to confirm his or 6 her identity and to satisfy any requirement for back- 7 ground and security checks in connection with an 8 application to become a naturalized citizen of the 9 United States. 10 (2) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.—The term ‘‘eligible 11 veteran’’— 12 (A) means a veteran who is a noncitizen; 13 and 14 (B) includes any veteran who— 15 (i) was removed from the United 16 States; or 17 (ii) is not in the United States and is 18 inadmissible under section 212(a) of the 19 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 20 1182(a)). 21 (3) NATURALIZATION EXAMINATION.—The 22 term ‘‘naturalization examination’’ means the 23 English and civics test that each noncitizen is re- 24 quired to pass (unless exempted) pursuant to section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3294.IS S3294 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3294 IS 312(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 1 U.S.C. 1423(a)) to become a naturalized citizen of 2 the United States. 3 (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 4 means an individual who is not a citizen of the 5 United States. 6 (5) OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.—The term ‘‘oath of 7 allegiance’’ means the affirmation and ceremony 8 necessary to become a naturalized citizen of the 9 United States. 10 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 12 (7) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 13 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, 14 United States Code. 15 SEC. 3. NATURALIZATION EXAMINATIONS AND BIOMETRIC 16 COLLECTION FOR ELIGIBLE VETERANS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of U.S. Citizenship 18 and Immigration Services shall ensure that the naturaliza- 19 tion examination for each eligible veteran is conducted 20 at— 21 (1) a United States port of entry that is acces- 22 sible to the veteran; or 23 (2) a United States embassy or consulate in the 24 country in which the veteran resides. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3294.IS S3294 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3294 IS (b) BIOMETRIC COLLECTION.—The Director of U.S. 1 Citizenship and Immigration Services shall ensure that bi- 2 ometric collection is made available for each eligible vet- 3 eran at— 4 (1) a United States port of entry that is acces- 5 sible to the veteran; or 6 (2) a United States embassy or consulate in the 7 country in which the veteran resides. 8 (c) OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.—The Director of U.S. 9 Citizenship and Immigration Services shall ensure that the 10 oath of allegiance for each eligible veteran is conducted 11 at— 12 (1) a United States port of entry that is acces- 13 sible to the veteran; or 14 (2) a United States embassy or consulate in the 15 country in which the veteran resides. 16 SEC. 4. JOINT GUIDANCE FROM THE SECRETARY OF HOME- 17 LAND SECURITY AND THE SECRETARY OF 18 STATE. 19 The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Sec- 20 retary of State shall issue guidance regarding— 21 (1) the methods used by the Department of 22 Homeland Security to conduct biometric collections, 23 naturalization examinations, and oath ceremonies for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3294.IS S3294 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3294 IS eligible veterans at a United States port of entry, 1 embassy, or consulate; 2 (2) the methods used by the Department of 3 State to facilitate available space for the activities 4 described in paragraph (1); and 5 (3) quality assurance mechanisms to ensure eli- 6 gible veterans are able to complete the naturalization 7 process at a port of entry, embassy, or consulate. 8 SEC. 5. REPORT. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home- 11 land Security and the Secretary of State shall jointly sub- 12 mit a report to Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen- 13 ate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the 14 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 15 resentatives, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 16 House of Representatives that contains an analysis of— 17 (1) the implementation of this Act; and 18 (2) the effectiveness of the guidance issued pur- 19 suant to section 4. 20 (b) UPDATED GUIDANCE.—Not later than the last 21 day of the 90-day period beginning on the date on which 22 the report is submitted pursuant to subsection (a), the 23 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 24 State shall jointly update the guidance required under sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3294.IS S3294 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3294 IS tion 4 to the extent any shortcomings are identified in the 1 report. 2 SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 3 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula- 5 tions to implement this Act. 6 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 7 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 90 8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 9 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements under this 10 Act shall apply to all naturalization examinations involving 11 eligible veterans with a pending naturalization application 12 as of the date of the enactment of this Act or who submit 13 a naturalization application after such date of enactment, 14 regardless of the date on which the veterans were dis- 15 charged from the military or exited the United States. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3294.IS S3294 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS