Coronavirus Containment Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7650 To require the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure that foreign nationals test negative for SARS–CoV–2 before repatriation or removal, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2020 Mr. NADLER (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CORREA, Ms. DEAN, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. TED LIEU of Cali- fornia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. VARGAS, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure that foreign nationals test nega- tive for SARS–CoV–2 before repatriation or removal, 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Contain- 4 ment Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7650.IH H7650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7650 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 3 ment repatriated or attempted to repatriate dozens 4 of foreign nationals who tested positive for SARS– 5 CoV–2 prior to departure from the United States or 6 upon arrival in their country of destination. 7 (2) Haiti is one of the most vulnerable nations 8 in the world to SARS–CoV–2 with only a few dozen 9 ventilators for 11 million people. Yet, in April 2020, 10 multiple individuals who were repatriated or other- 11 wise removed to Haiti on a single flight tested posi- 12 tive for SARS–CoV–2 upon their arrival. In May, 13 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 14 planned to repatriate more than 100 individuals to 15 Haiti, including individuals known to have COVID– 16 19, but abandoned these plans after media scrutiny 17 and pressure from the Haitian government. 18 (3) As of mid-May 2020, more than 100 indi- 19 viduals have tested positive for SARS–CoV–2 upon 20 arrival in Guatemala, prompting Guatemala to sus- 21 pend repatriation flights from the United States on 22 several occasions. 23 (4) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 24 ment’s patchwork approach to the screening and 25 testing of deportees prior to repatriation has failed, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7650.IH H7650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7650 IH leading to the removal of dozens of individuals in- 1 fected with SARS–CoV–2 to countries with over- 2 taxed healthcare infrastructures, furthering the glob- 3 al spread of the disease. 4 SEC. 3. TESTING BEFORE REPATRIATION OR REMOVAL. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the period described in 6 subsection (c), the Director of U.S. Immigration and Cus- 7 toms Enforcement shall, prior to the repatriation or re- 8 moval of any individual— 9 (1) conduct a viral test to determine if such an 10 individual is infected with SARS–CoV–2; and 11 (2) engage with the receiving country to ensure, 12 subject to subsection (b), that such an individual can 13 be safely removed or otherwise repatriated. 14 (b) LIMITATION ON REPATRIATION OR REMOVAL.— 15 In the case that an individual tested under subsection 16 (a)(1) tests positive for SARS–CoV–2, such individual 17 may not be removed or otherwise repatriated until such 18 individual— 19 (1) exhibits no symptoms of COVID–19 for at 20 least 10 days; and 21 (2) is administered 2 additional viral tests more 22 than 24 hours apart and tests negative for SARS– 23 CoV–2 each time such a viral test is administered. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7650.IH H7650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7650 IH (c) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period described in 1 this section is the period beginning on the date of the en- 2 actment of this Act and ending 180 days after the date 3 on which the public health emergency declared by the Sec- 4 retary of Health and Human Services under section 319 5 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with 6 respect to COVID–19 is terminated. 7 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 8 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, the Director of U.S. Immigration and 10 Customs Enforcement shall publish on its public website, 11 and update on a weekly basis, information related to test- 12 ing of individuals it intends to remove or repatriate. Such 13 information shall be delineated by facility and shall in- 14 clude— 15 (1) the number of removals and repatriations, 16 delineated by country of origin; 17 (2) the results of the viral tests administered to 18 individuals U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 19 ment intends to remove or repatriate; and 20 (3) in the case of individuals U.S. Immigration 21 and Customs Enforcement intends to remove or re- 22 patriate who test positive for SARS–CoV–2, the av- 23 erage length of stay in detention for such individ- 24 uals. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7650.IH H7650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7650 IH SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) SYMPTOMS OF COVID–19.—The term 3 ‘‘symptoms of COVID–19’’ includes— 4 (A) fever or chills; 5 (B) cough; 6 (C) shortness of breath or difficulty 7 breathing; 8 (D) fatigue; 9 (E) muscle or body aches; 10 (F) headaches; 11 (G) new loss of taste or smell; 12 (H) sore throat; 13 (I) congestion or runny nose; 14 (J) nausea or vomiting; 15 (K) diarrhea; or 16 (L) any other symptom that the Director 17 of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 18 tion determines to be a symptom of COVID–19. 19 (2) VIRAL TEST.—The term ‘‘viral test’’ means 20 a diagnostic test with respect to SARS–CoV–2 that 21 is approved, cleared, or authorized under section 22 510(k), 513, 515 or 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, 23 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360(k), 360c, 360e, or 24 360bbb–3). 25 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7650.IH H7650 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS