REPAIR Academia Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8883 To modify certain requirements with respect to nonimmigrants admitted under subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 7, 2020 Mr. NORMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To modify certain requirements with respect to non- immigrants admitted under subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Na- tionality Act, 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— 4 (1) the ‘‘Reporting Exogenous Participation 5 Among Incoming Researchers in Academia Act’’; or 6 (2) the ‘‘REPAIR Academia Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8883 IH SEC. 2. REPORTING EXCHANGE VISITOR CHANGE IN FIELD 1 OF STUDY. 2 With respect to a principal nonimmigrant exchange 3 visitor admitted into the United States in the J–1 classi- 4 fication under section 101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigration 5 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(J)) in order 6 to study, the Secretary of State shall take such action as 7 may be necessary to ensure that the applicable program 8 sponsor is required to use the Student and Exchange Vis- 9 itor Information System to report any change to the non- 10 immigrant’s primary field of study. In carrying out this 11 section, the Secretary of State shall take into account the 12 record keeping and reporting requirements of the Sec- 13 retary of Homeland Security with regard to non- 14 immigrants admitted into the United States in the F–1 15 and M–1 classifications under subparagraphs (F) and (M) 16 of section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)). 17 SEC. 3. REPORTING CERTAIN RESEARCH PROGRAM PAR- 18 TICIPATION. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a principal non- 20 immigrant admitted into the United States in the J–1 21 classification under section 101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigra- 22 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(J)), in the 23 F–1 classification under section 101(a)(15)(F) of such 24 Act, or in the M–1 classification under section 25 101(a)(15)(M) of such Act, the Secretary of State and the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8883 IH Secretary of Homeland Security shall take such action as 1 may be necessary to ensure that the applicable program 2 sponsor or academic or nonacademic institution is re- 3 quired to use the Student and Exchange Visitor Informa- 4 tion System to report when the nonimmigrant is partici- 5 pating in a research program funded in whole or in part 6 through a grant, contract, or other similar form of support 7 provided by the Federal Government, as well as program 8 identification information. 9 (b) NOTIFICATIONS.— 10 (1) SECRETARY.—In the case of a non- 11 immigrant described in subsection (a), the Secretary 12 of Homeland Security shall notify the appropriate 13 program manager at an Executive agency (as de- 14 fined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code) 15 if and when the Secretary obtains information that 16 the nonimmigrant is participating in a research pro- 17 gram funded in whole or in part through a grant, 18 contract, or other similar form of support provided 19 by such agency prior to the commencement of that 20 nonimmigrant’s participation and not later than 21 21 days after authorizing such participation. 22 (2) SPONSOR OR INSTITUTION.—In the case of 23 a nonimmigrant described in subsection (a), the ap- 24 plicable program sponsor or academic or nonaca- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8883 IH demic institution shall notify the appropriate pro- 1 gram manager at an Executive agency (as defined in 2 section 105 of title 5, United States Code) if and 3 when the sponsor or institution obtains information 4 that the nonimmigrant is participating in a research 5 program funded in whole or in part through a grant, 6 contract, or other similar form of support provided 7 by such agency prior to the commencement of that 8 nonimmigrant’s participation and not later than 21 9 days after authorizing such participation. 10 SEC. 4. REVIEW AND REVOCATION OF CERTAIN NON- 11 IMMIGRANT VISAS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu- 13 rity shall have the authority to review and revoke a non- 14 immigrant visa granted under subparagraph (F), (J), or 15 (M) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nation- 16 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) if, in consultation with 17 the Attorney General, the Secretary finds that— 18 (1) the visa holder has misrepresented his or 19 her intention to pursue a certain program or field of 20 study; 21 (2) following a change to the nonimmigrant’s 22 primary field of study as described under section 2, 23 that the new primary field of study would have trig- 24 gered a higher level of scrutiny during the visa ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8883 IH plication process, and that the visa holder poses a 1 risk to the homeland security of the United States, 2 the national security of the United States, or re- 3 search integrity at their applicable program sponsor 4 or institution; or 5 (3) the visa holder’s enrollment in a research 6 program funded in whole or in part through a grant, 7 contract, or other similar form of support provided 8 by the Federal Government poses a risk to the 9 homeland security of the United States, the national 10 security of the United States, or research integrity 11 at their applicable program sponsor or institution. 12 (b) NOTICE.—Thirty days before the commencement 13 of a review under subsection (a), the Secretary of Home- 14 land Security shall provide the applicable program sponsor 15 or institution with a notice containing the specific basis 16 of the forthcoming review. During this 30-day period, the 17 program sponsor or institution may take corrective action 18 to alleviate any concerns raised by the Secretary. At the 19 conclusion of the 30-day period, the Secretary shall deter- 20 mine whether the program sponsor or institution has satis- 21 factorily addressed the concerns or a review remains nec- 22 essary. 23 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8883 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be no adminis- 1 trative or judicial review of a determination to re- 2 voke a visa under this section except in accordance 3 with this subsection. 4 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 5 (A) SINGLE LEVEL OF ADMINISTRATIVE 6 APPELLATE REVIEW.—The Secretary of Home- 7 land Security shall establish an appellate au- 8 thority to provide for a single level of adminis- 9 trative appellate review of such a determination. 10 (B) STANDARD FOR REVIEW.—Such ad- 11 ministrative appellate review shall be based 12 solely upon the administrative record estab- 13 lished at the time of the determination and 14 upon such additional or newly discovered evi- 15 dence as may not have been available at the 16 time of the determination. 17 (3) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 18 (A) LIMITATION TO REVIEW OF RE- 19 MOVAL.—There shall be judicial review of a de- 20 termination to revoke a visa under this section 21 only in the judicial review of an order of re- 22 moval under section 242 of the Immigration 23 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1252). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8883 IH (B) STANDARD FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 1 Such judicial review shall be based solely upon 2 the administrative record established at the 3 time of the review by the appellate authority 4 and the findings of fact and determinations 5 contained in such record shall be conclusive un- 6 less the applicant can establish abuse of discre- 7 tion or that the findings are directly contrary to 8 clear and convincing facts contained in the 9 record considered as a whole. 10 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu- 12 rity shall require the Academic Institutions Subcommittee 13 of the Homeland Security Advisory Council of the Depart- 14 ment of Homeland Security to provide an annual report 15 to the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 16 Homeland Security, and the Committee on Foreign Af- 17 fairs of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 18 on the Judiciary, the Committee on Homeland Security 19 and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on Foreign 20 Relations of the Senate, on— 21 (1) the implementation and execution of any 22 visa reviews and revocations undertaken under sec- 23 tion 4; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8883 IH (2) the number of alien students enrolled at 1 academic or nonacademic institutions in the United 2 States, disaggregated by— 3 (A) program of study; 4 (B) previous and current nationality; and 5 (C) participation in a research program 6 (which may or may not be classified) funded in 7 whole or in part through a grant, contract, or 8 other similar form of support provided by the 9 Federal Government, differentiated by agency, 10 sub-agency, and program; and 11 (3) the number of alien students who have 12 changed their field of study, including their original 13 and subsequent field of study, disaggregated by the 14 information described in subparagraphs (A), (B), 15 and (C) of paragraph (2). 16 (b) APPENDIX.—Each report under subsection (a) 17 shall include an appendix containing any feedback pro- 18 vided on a voluntary basis by any program sponsor or in- 19 stitution affected by a visa review or revocation under- 20 taken under section 4. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8883.IH H8883 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS