Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4110 To designate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 30, 2020 Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To designate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administra- tive Region as Priority 2 refugees of special humani- tarian concern, 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 ‘‘Hong Kong Safe Har- 4 bor Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF HONG 6 KONG AS PRIORITY 2 REFUGEES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con- 8 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4110 IS designate as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian 1 concern the following categories of aliens: 2 (1) Individuals who are residents of the Hong 3 Kong Special Administrative Region who suffered 4 persecution, or have a well-founded fear of persecu- 5 tion, on account of their peaceful expression of polit- 6 ical opinions or peaceful participation in political ac- 7 tivities or associations. 8 (2) Individuals who have been formally charged, 9 detained, or convicted on account of their peaceful 10 actions as described in section 206(b)(2) the United 11 States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 12 5726). 13 (3) The spouses, children, and parents (as such 14 terms are defined in subsections (a) and (b) of sec- 15 tion 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 16 U.S.C. 1101)) of individuals described in paragraph 17 (1) or (2), except such parents who are citizens of 18 a country other than the People’s Republic of China. 19 (b) PROCESSING OF HONG KONG REFUGEES.—The 20 processing of individuals described in subsection (a) for 21 classification as refugees may occur in Hong Kong or in 22 a third country. 23 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR ADMISSION AS REFUGEES.—An 24 alien may not be denied the opportunity to apply for ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4110 IS mission as a refugee under this section primarily because 1 such alien— 2 (1) qualifies as an immediate relative of a cit- 3 izen of the United States; or 4 (2) is eligible for admission to the United 5 States under any other immigrant classification. 6 (d) FACILITATION OF ADMISSIONS.—An applicant 7 for admission to the United States from the Hong Kong 8 Special Administrative Region may not be denied pri- 9 marily on the basis of a politically motivated arrest, deten- 10 tion, or other adverse government action taken against 11 such applicant as a result of the participation by such ap- 12 plicant in protest activities. 13 (e) EXCLUSION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 14 Aliens provided refugee status under this section shall not 15 be counted against any numerical limitation under section 16 201, 202, 203, or 207 of the Immigration and Nationality 17 Act (8 U.S.C. 1151, 1152, 1153, or 1157). 18 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 21 every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of State and 22 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 23 report on the matters described in paragraph (2) 24 to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4110 IS (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 1 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen- 2 ate; and 3 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 4 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 5 of Representatives. 6 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report 7 required by paragraph (1) shall include— 8 (A) the total number of applications that 9 are pending at the end of the reporting period; 10 (B) the average wait-times for all appli- 11 cants who are currently pending— 12 (i) employment verification; 13 (ii) a prescreening interview with a re- 14 settlement support center; 15 (iii) an interview with U.S. Citizen- 16 ship and Immigration Services; and 17 (iv) the completion of security checks; 18 and 19 (C) the number of denials of applications 20 for refugee status, disaggregated by the reason 21 for each such denial. 22 (3) FORM.—Each report required by paragraph 23 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 24 include a classified annex. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4110 IS (4) PUBLIC REPORTS.—The Secretary of State 1 shall make each report submitted under this sub- 2 section available to the public on the internet website 3 of the Department of State. 4 (g) SATISFACTION OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 5 Aliens granted status under this section as Priority 2 refu- 6 gees of special humanitarian concern under the refugee 7 resettlement priority system shall be considered to satisfy 8 the requirements under section 207 of the Immigration 9 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) for admission to the 10 United States. 11 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF IMMIGRANT STATUS PRESUMPTION. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The presumption under the first 13 sentence of section 214(b) (8 U.S.C. 1184(b)) that every 14 alien is an immigrant until the alien establishes that the 15 alien is entitled to nonimmigrant status shall not apply 16 to an alien described in subsection (b). 17 (b) ALIEN DESCRIBED.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien described in this 19 paragraph is an alien who— 20 (A) on June 30, 2020, is a resident of the 21 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; 22 (B) is seeking entry to the United States 23 to apply for asylum under section 208 of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4110 IS Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1 1158); and 2 (C)(i) had a leadership role in civil society 3 organizations supportive of the protests in 2019 4 and 2020 relating to the Hong Kong extra- 5 dition bill and the encroachment on the auton- 6 omy of Hong Kong by the People’s Republic of 7 China; 8 (ii) had an organizing role for such pro- 9 tests; 10 (iii) acted as a first aid responder for such 11 protests; 12 (iv) suffered harm while covering such pro- 13 tests as a journalist; 14 (v) provided paid or pro-bono legal services 15 to 1 or more individuals arrested for partici- 16 pating in such protests; or 17 (vi) during the period beginning on June 18 9, 2019, and ending on June 30, 2020, was for- 19 mally charged, detained, or convicted for his or 20 her participation in such protests. 21 (2) EXCLUSION.—An alien described in this 22 paragraph does not include any alien who is a citizen 23 of a country other than the People’s Republic of 24 China. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4110 IS SEC. 4. REFUGEE AND ASYLUM DETERMINATIONS UNDER 1 THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT. 2 (a) PERSECUTION ON ACCOUNT OF POLITICAL OPIN- 3 ION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of refugee de- 5 terminations under this Act in accordance with sec- 6 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 7 U.S.C. 1157), an individual whose citizenship, na- 8 tionality, or residency is revoked for having sub- 9 mitted to any United States Government agency a 10 nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, 11 or any other immigration benefit under the immigra- 12 tion laws (as defined in section 101(a) of that Act 13 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) shall be considered to have suf- 14 fered persecution on account of political opinion. 15 (2) NATIONALS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 16 CHINA.—For purposes of refugee determinations 17 under this Act in accordance with section 207 of the 18 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), a 19 national of the People’s Republic of China whose 20 residency in the Hong Kong Special Administrative 21 region, or any other area within the jurisdiction of 22 the People’s Republic of China, as determined by the 23 Secretary of State, is revoked for having submitted 24 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivo- 25 lous application for refugee status, asylum, or any 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4110 IS other immigration benefit under the immigration 1 laws shall be considered to have suffered persecution 2 on account of political opinion. 3 (b) CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES.—For purposes of 4 asylum determinations under this Act in accordance with 5 section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 6 U.S.C. 1158), the revocation of the citizenship, nation- 7 ality, or residency of an individual for having submitted 8 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous 9 application for refugee status, asylum, or any other immi- 10 gration benefit under the immigration laws shall be con- 11 sidered to be a changed circumstance under subsection 12 (a)(2)(D) of that section. 13 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON ENCOURAGING ALLIES 14 AND PARTNERS TO MAKE SIMILAR ACCOM- 15 MODATIONS. 16 It is the policy of the United States to encourage al- 17 lies and partners of the United States to make accom- 18 modations similar to the accommodations made in this Act 19 for residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Re- 20 gion who are fleeing oppression by the Government of the 21 People’s Republic of China. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4110 IS SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 1 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 2 shall cease to have effect on the date that is 5 years after 3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS