I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5971 To amend the Immigration Services and Infrastructure Improvements Act of 2000 to provide for additional rules regarding processing of immigra- tion applications, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2020 Mr. CA´RDENAS (for himself and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration Services and Infrastructure Im- provements Act of 2000 to provide for additional rules regarding processing of immigration applications, 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 ‘‘Case Backlog and 4 Transparency Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5971 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 1 Section 202 of the Immigration Services and Infra- 2 structure Improvements Act of 2000 (8 U.S.C. 1571) is 3 amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘Immigration and Natu- 6 ralization Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Department 7 of Homeland Security’’; 8 (B) by striking ‘‘current backlog’’ and in- 9 serting ‘‘backlog’’; and 10 (C) by striking ‘‘within 1 year after enact- 11 ment of this Act’’; and 12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Immigration 13 and Naturalization Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Depart- 14 ment of Homeland Security’’. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 Section 203 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1572) is amended 17 to read as follows: 18 ‘‘SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS. 19 ‘‘In this title: 20 ‘‘(1) ACTIVE SUSPENSE.—The term ‘active sus- 21 pense’ means circumstances in which the Depart- 22 ment of Homeland Security cannot adjudicate an 23 immigration benefit application due to factors out- 24 side of the Department’s control, including any cir- 25 cumstance in which a visa number is unavailable, or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5971 IH circumstances in which the government is waiting 1 for a response from the applicant or a third govern- 2 ment agency. 3 ‘‘(2) BACKLOG.—The term ‘backlog’ means the 4 existence of a number of immigration benefit appli- 5 cations that are pending before the Department out- 6 side of applicable processing time goals, minus those 7 applications in an active suspense category. The De- 8 partment cannot assign a processing time goal that 9 is longer than a maximum processing timeframe set 10 forth in section 202 of the American Competitive- 11 ness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000. 12 ‘Backlog’ may also be referred to as ‘net backlog’. 13 ‘‘(3) CASE COMPLETE PER HOUR RATE.—The 14 term ‘case completion per hour rate’ refers to the 15 average amount of adjudicative time, as measured in 16 hours, required to complete processing of a par- 17 ticular category of immigration benefit application. 18 ‘‘(4) GROSS BACKLOG.—The term ‘gross back- 19 log’ means the number of immigration benefit appli- 20 cations that are pending before the Department out- 21 side of applicable processing time goals, irrespective 22 of whether the applications are in an active suspense 23 category. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5971 IH ‘‘(5) IMMIGRATION BENEFIT APPLICATION.— 1 The term ‘immigration benefit application’ means 2 any application or petition to confer, certify, change, 3 adjust, or extend any status authorized under the 4 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 5 seq.) and any other application or petition for an im- 6 migration benefit. 7 ‘‘(6) PROCESSING TIME.—The term ‘processing 8 time’ means the time from the filing of an immigra- 9 tion benefit application until the completed proc- 10 essing of that application. 11 ‘‘(7) PROCESSING TIME GOAL.—The term ‘proc- 12 essing time goal’ means the the goal for a processing 13 time established by the Department as an appro- 14 priate processing time for an immigration benefit 15 application form type. The Department cannot as- 16 sign a processing time goal that is longer than a 17 maximum processing timeframe set forth in section 18 202 of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty- 19 first Century Act of 2000.’’. 20 SEC. 4. IMMIGRATION SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE 21 IMPROVEMENTS ACCOUNT. 22 Section 204 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1573) is amend- 23 ed— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5971 IH (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Attorney 1 General’’ each place such term appears and inserting 2 ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; 3 (2) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘not later 4 than one year after the date of enactment of this 5 Act’’; 6 (3) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘ensure 7 that a backlog does not develop after such date’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘prevent the recurrence of the backlog 9 after its elimination’’; and 10 (4) in subsection (b)(1)— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘Department of Justice’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘Department of Homeland Secu- 13 rity’’; and 14 (B) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and in- 15 serting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’. 16 SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 17 Section 205 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1574) is amended 18 to read as follows: 19 ‘‘SEC. 205. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 20 ‘‘(a) QUARTERLY REPORT.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 22 after each of the first three quarters of each fiscal 23 year, the Secretary shall publish on the Depart- 24 ment’s website and submit to the Committees on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5971 IH Judiciary, Appropriations, and Oversight and Re- 1 form of the House of Representatives, and to the 2 Committees on the Judiciary, Appropriations, and 3 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 4 Senate, a report concerning the backlog in immigra- 5 tion benefit applications as of the end of that fiscal 6 quarter. 7 ‘‘(2) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The report shall in- 8 clude— 9 ‘‘(A) the number of pending immigration 10 benefit applications, the net backlog, and the 11 gross backlog; 12 ‘‘(B) a description of the active suspense 13 categories and the number of cases pending in 14 each category; and 15 ‘‘(C) the average processing time for each 16 benefit application form type and any change in 17 that time relative to the end of the prior quar- 18 ter. 19 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 21 after the end of each fiscal year the Secretary shall 22 publish on its website and submit to the Committees 23 on the Judiciary, Appropriations, and Oversight and 24 Reform of the House of Representatives, and to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5971 IH Committees on the Judiciary, Appropriations, and 1 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, a re- 2 port concerning the status of— 3 ‘‘(A) the Immigration Services and Infra- 4 structure Improvements Account as of the end 5 of the fiscal year, including any unobligated bal- 6 ances of appropriations in the Account; and 7 ‘‘(B) the backlog in immigration benefit 8 applications as of the end of the fiscal year. 9 ‘‘(2) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The report shall in- 10 clude— 11 ‘‘(A) an analysis of factors contributing to 12 the net and gross backlogs, including a detailed 13 assessment of the impacts of Department poli- 14 cies on the net and gross backlogs; 15 ‘‘(B) a description of existing and planned 16 processes for qualitatively and quantitatively as- 17 sessing the impacts on the net and gross back- 18 logs of Department policies both prior to and 19 following implementation of those policies; 20 ‘‘(C) an assessment of adherence to proc- 21 esses referenced in subparagraph (B); 22 ‘‘(D) existing efforts to eliminate the net 23 backlog and minimize the gross backlog; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5971 IH ‘‘(E) a detailed plan to eliminate the net 1 backlog, to prevent recurrence of the net back- 2 log after elimination, and to minimize the gross 3 backlog; 4 ‘‘(F) a description of existing and planned 5 quality controls for ensuring fair, accurate, and 6 consistent adjudication of immigration benefit 7 applications; 8 ‘‘(G) information on Department funding, 9 including— 10 ‘‘(i) an assessment of how and to 11 what extent funding, both from fee ac- 12 counts and appropriations, was allocated 13 toward backlog elimination; 14 ‘‘(ii) the identification of any transfers 15 of funds between fee accounts and between 16 Department components; 17 ‘‘(iii) description of whether immigra- 18 tion-related fees were used consistent with 19 legal requirements regarding such use; and 20 ‘‘(iv) an estimate of the amount of ap- 21 propriated funds that would be necessary 22 to eliminate the net backlog; 23 ‘‘(H) whether immigration-related ques- 24 tions conveyed by applicants, petitioners, bene- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5971 IH ficiaries, or authorized representatives to the 1 Department (whether conveyed in person, by 2 telephone, or by means of the Internet) were 3 answered effectively and efficiently; 4 ‘‘(I)(i) the information referenced under 5 subsection (a)(2) as of the end of the fiscal 6 year; 7 ‘‘(ii) a description of any changes to proc- 8 essing time goals made in the two years prior 9 to the annual report and how those changes im- 10 pact calculations of the net and gross backlogs; 11 ‘‘(iii) processing time goals for each benefit 12 application form type and the percentage of 13 cases for which the Department completed proc- 14 essing within each goal; 15 ‘‘(iv) State-by-State data on the number of 16 naturalization applications, the number of ad- 17 justment of status applications, and the overall 18 number of immigration benefit applications, 19 pending for up to 6 months, 12 months, 18 20 months, 24 months, 36 months, and 48 months 21 or more; 22 ‘‘(v) cease completion rates per hour for 23 each benefit application type; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5971 IH ‘‘(vi) the number of all immigration benefit 1 applications received, and processed, by the De- 2 partment, both in the aggregate and as 3 disaggregated by benefit application type; and 4 ‘‘(vii) the approval and denial rates associ- 5 ated with the processed cases referenced under 6 subclause (iv), disaggregated by immigration 7 benefit application type; 8 ‘‘(J) State-by-State data on— 9 ‘‘(i) the number of naturalization 10 cases adjudicated in each quarter of each 11 fiscal year; 12 ‘‘(ii) the average processing time for 13 naturalization applications; 14 ‘‘(iii) estimated processing times adju- 15 dicating newly submitted naturalization ap- 16 plications; and 17 ‘‘(iv) the additional resources and 18 process changes needed to eliminate the 19 backlog for naturalization adjudications; 20 and 21 ‘‘(K) a status report on all other immigra- 22 tion benefit application form types, including— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5971 IH ‘‘(i) applications for adjustments of 1 status to that of an alien lawfully admitted 2 for permanent residence; 3 ‘‘(ii) petitions for nonimmigrant visas 4 under section 204; 5 ‘‘(iii) petitions filed under section 204 6 to classify aliens as immediate relatives or 7 preference immigrants under section 1153 8 of this title; 9 ‘‘(iv) applications for asylum under 10 section 208; 11 ‘‘(v) registrations for temporary pro- 12 tected status under section 244; 13 ‘‘(vi) applications for employment au- 14 thorization under section 274A; and 15 ‘‘(vii) the additional resources and 16 process changes needed to eliminate the 17 backlog for all immigration benefit applica- 18 tion form types under this subparagraph. 19 ‘‘(c) BIENNIAL REPORT.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 21 after the date on which this section is enacted, and 22 every two years thereafter, the Comptroller General 23 of the United States shall publish on its website and 24 submit to the Committees on the Judiciary, Appro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5971 IH priations, and Oversight and Reform of the House 1 of Representatives, and to the Committees on the 2 Judiciary, Appropriations, and Homeland Security 3 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, a report 4 concerning the backlog in immigration benefit appli- 5 cations. 6 ‘‘(2) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The report shall in- 7 clude— 8 ‘‘(A) a description of the status of the net 9 backlog, of the gross backlog, and of the overall 10 number of pending immigration benefit applica- 11 tions; 12 ‘‘(B) an assessment of factors contributing 13 to the net and gross backlogs, including an 14 analysis of the impacts of Department policies 15 on the net and gross backlogs and an analysis 16 of the Department’s formal processes for quali- 17 tatively and quantitatively assessing the impacts 18 of its policies on the net and gross backlogs; 19 ‘‘(C) an assessment of existing and 20 planned Department efforts to eliminate the net 21 backlog, to prevent recurrence of the net back- 22 log after its elimination, and to minimize the 23 gross backlog; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5971.IH H5971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 5971 IH ‘‘(D) an assessment of existing and 1 planned Department efforts to ensure fair, ac- 2 curate, and consistent adjudication of immigra- 3 tion benefit applications; and 4 ‘‘(E) recommendations for more expedi- 5 tiously processing immigration benefit applica- 6 tions while ensuring fairness, accuracy, and 7 consistency in processing.’’. 8 SEC. 6. IMMIGRATION FUNCTIONS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 478 of the Homeland Se- 10 curity Act [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]