Safe Zones Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2946 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to advance meritorious asylum claims, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to advance meritorious asylum claims, 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 ‘‘Safe Zones Act of 4 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. STREAMLINING ASYLUM SYSTEM. 6 (a) OFFICERS OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO- 7 TECTION AUTHORIZED TO CONDUCT ASYLUM INTER- 8 VIEWS.—Section 235(b)(1)(E) of the Immigration and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2946 IH Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(E)) by striking ‘‘im- 1 migration officer’’ and inserting ‘‘immigration officer, in- 2 cluding trained and qualified staff as determined by the 3 Secretary of Homeland Security,’’. 4 (b) STANDARDS TO OPTIMIZE AND ADVANCE MERI- 5 TORIOUS ASYLUM CLAIMS.—Section 235(b)(1)(B) of the 6 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 7 1225(b)(1)(B)) is amended— 8 (1) by amending clause (v) to read as follows: 9 ‘‘(v) CREDIBLE FEAR OF PERSECU- 10 TION.— 11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes 12 of this subparagraph, the term ‘cred- 13 ible fear of persecution’ means that 14 there is a significant possibility, tak- 15 ing into account the credibility of the 16 statements made by the alien in sup- 17 port of the alien’s claim and such 18 other facts as are known to the offi- 19 cer, that the alien could establish eli- 20 gibility for asylum under section 208 21 of this title. 22 ‘‘(II) BARS TO ASYLUM.—An 23 alien shall not be determined to have 24 a credible fear of persecution if the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2946 IH alien is prohibited from applying for 1 or receiving asylum, including an alien 2 subject to a limitation or condition 3 under subsection (a)(2) or (b)(2) (in- 4 cluding a regulation promulgated 5 under such subsection) of section 6 208.’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(vi) ELIGIBILITY FOR RELIEF.— 9 ‘‘(I) CREDIBLE FEAR REVIEW BY 10 IMMIGRATION JUDGE.—Not later than 11 90 days after an alien submits an ap- 12 plication for asylum at a safe zone, if 13 the alien is determined to have a cred- 14 ible fear of persecution they shall be 15 referred to an immigration judge for a 16 determination of whether the alien is 17 eligible for asylum under section 208, 18 withholding of removal under section 19 241(b)(3), or protection under the 20 Convention Against Torture. 21 ‘‘(II) ALIENS WITH CREDIBLE 22 FEAR OF PERSECUTION.— 23 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Except 24 as provided in item (bb), if an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2946 IH alien referred under subpara- 1 graph (A)(ii) is determined to 2 have a credible fear of persecu- 3 tion, the alien shall be eligible for 4 asylum under section 208, with- 5 holding of removal under section 6 241(b)(3), or protection under 7 the Convention Against Torture. 8 ‘‘(bb) EXCEPTION.—An 9 alien shall not be eligible for con- 10 sideration of an application for 11 relief under item (aa) if the fail- 12 ure of the alien to establish a 13 credible fear of persecution pre- 14 cludes the alien from eligibility 15 for such relief. 16 ‘‘(vii) INELIGIBILITY FOR REMOVAL 17 PROCEEDINGS.—An alien referred under 18 subparagraph (A)(ii) shall not be eligible 19 for a hearing under section 240.’’. 20 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF SAFE ZONES. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.— 22 (1) IMMIGRATION OFFICER.—Section 23 101(a)(18) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 24 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(18)) is amended by striking ‘‘At- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2946 IH torney General’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Home- 1 land Security’’. 2 (2) SAFE ZONE.—Section 101(a) of the Immi- 3 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following new 5 paragraph: 6 ‘‘(53) The term ‘safe zone’— 7 ‘‘(A) means a facility designated under sec- 8 tion 207(g) by the Secretary of State to accept 9 and process applications for refugee admissions 10 to the United States; and 11 ‘‘(B) may include a United States em- 12 bassy, consulate, or other diplomatic facility, or 13 other facility as determined to be appropriate 14 by the Secretary of State.’’. 15 (b) DESIGNATION.—Section 207 of the Immigration 16 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) is amended by add- 17 ing at the end the following new subsection: 18 ‘‘(g) SAFE ZONE.— 19 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 240 days 20 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 21 the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Sec- 22 retary of Homeland Security, shall designate a safe 23 zone outside the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2946 IH ‘‘(2) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary of State shall 1 establish— 2 ‘‘(A) not fewer than 3 safe zones along the 3 United States-Mexico border; and 4 ‘‘(B) 1 safe zone in Guatemala. 5 ‘‘(3) DUTIES OF SECRETARY OF STATE.—The 6 Secretary of State, in coordination with the Sec- 7 retary of Homeland Security, shall ensure that any 8 alien who is a national or habitual resident of a 9 country in which a safe zone is located, or a country 10 contiguous to such a country, may apply for refugee 11 status at such safe zone. 12 ‘‘(4) ADJUDICATIONS BY IMMIGRATION OFFI- 13 CERS.—Not later than 30 days after a credible fear 14 determination is made for an alien, an application 15 for refugee status submitted to a safe zone shall be 16 adjudicated by an immigration officer. 17 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY.—The Secretary of State shall 18 ensure that an application at a safe zone is 19 prioritized— 20 ‘‘(A) for an alien who has been referred by 21 an authorized nongovernmental organization, as 22 determined by the Secretary of State; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2946 IH ‘‘(B) in accordance with any other require- 1 ments and procedures established by the Sec- 2 retary of State under this subsection. 3 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION FEES.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 5 State and the Secretary of Homeland Security 6 shall charge, collect, and account for fees pre- 7 scribed by each such Secretary pursuant to sub- 8 sections (m) and (n) of section 286 of this Act 9 and section 9701 of title 31, United States 10 Code, for the purpose of receiving, docketing, 11 processing, and adjudicating an application 12 under this subsection. 13 ‘‘(B) BASIS FOR FEES.—The fees pre- 14 scribed under subparagraph (A) shall be based 15 on a consideration of the amount necessary to 16 deter frivolous applications and the cost for 17 processing the application, including the imple- 18 mentation of program integrity and anti-fraud 19 measures. 20 ‘‘(7) COVID–19 TESTING.—For the duration of 21 the public health emergency with respect to COVID– 22 19, the Secretary of State shall require an alien to 23 present a negative test for COVID–19 to enter a 24 safe zone. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2946 IH ‘‘(8) REMOTE ADJUDICATION.—Remote adju- 1 dication may be used, at the discretion of the Sec- 2 retary of Homeland Security, to adjudicate any ap- 3 plication submitted at a safe zone outside the United 4 States. 5 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 6 There is authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 7 for each of the fiscal years 2023 to 2033 for the des- 8 ignation of safe zones pursuant to this section.’’. 9 (c) SUNSET.—The amendments made by this section 10 shall cease to have effect beginning on the date that is 11 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 12 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL REQUIRED. 13 (a) U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION.—Not 14 later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 15 Act, the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border 16 Protection shall hire, train, and assign an additional num- 17 ber, as determined necessary by the Secretary of Home- 18 land Security, of border patrol agents. 19 (b) IMMIGRATION JUDGES.—Not later than six 20 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 21 Attorney General shall hire 20 immigration judges and all 22 appropriate support staff to carry out this Act. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2946 IH SEC. 5. SERVICE OF SAFE ZONES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall en- 2 sure that a safe zone under section 207 of the Immigra- 3 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), as amended by 4 this Act, is safe and provides humane conditions. The Sec- 5 retary shall provide— 6 (1) security for the safe zone and shall ensure 7 that it is fortified from potential danger; 8 (2) temporary housing for an alien while such 9 alien’s case is adjudicated; 10 (3) adequate meals; and 11 (4) access to medical care, social workers, the 12 Legal Orientation Program administered by the Ex- 13 ecutive Office for Immigration Review, and other 14 services the Secretary determines appropriate. 15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 16 authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 for each of the 17 fiscal years 2024 to 2034 to carry out this section. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS