Title II — Addressing Migration Needs by Strengthening Regional Humanitarian Responses for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the Western Hemisphere

H.R. 3524 · 116th Congress · Jun 27, 2019 · Lineage

II Addressing Migration Needs by Strengthening Regional Humanitarian Responses for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the Western Hemisphere

Sec. 201 Expanding refugee and asylum processing in the western hemisphere

(a)

Refugee processing— The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall work with international partners, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to support and strengthen the domestic capacity of countries in the Western Hemisphere to process and accept refugees for resettlement and adjudicate asylum claims, including by—

(1)

providing support and technical assistance to expand and improve the capacity to identify, process, and adjudicate refugee claims, adjudicate applications for asylum, or otherwise accept refugees referred for resettlement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or host nations, including by increasing the number of refugee and asylum officers who are trained in the relevant legal standards for adjudicating claims for protection;

(2)

establishing and expanding safe and secure refugee reception centers to facilitate the safe and orderly movement of individuals and families seeking international protection;

(3)

improving national refugee and asylum registration systems to ensure that any person seeking refugee status, asylum, or other humanitarian protections—

(A)

receives due process and meaningful access to existing humanitarian protections;

(B)

is provided with adequate information about his or her rights, including the right to seek protection;

(C)

is properly screened for security, including biographic and biometric capture; and

(D)

receives appropriate documents to prevent fraud and ensure freedom of movement and access to basic social services; and

(4)

developing the capacity to conduct best interest determinations for unaccompanied children with international protection needs to ensure that such children are properly registered and that their claims are appropriately considered.

(b)

Diplomatic engagement and coordination— The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall—

(1)

carry out diplomatic engagement to secure commitments from governments to resettle refugees from Central America; and

(2)

take all necessary steps to ensure effective cooperation among governments resettling refugees from Central America.

Sec. 202 Further strengthening regional humanitarian responses in the western hemisphere

The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, and in coordination with international partners, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, shall support and coordinate with the government of each country hosting a significant population of refugees and asylum seekers from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to—

(1)

establish and expand temporary shelter and shelter network capacity to meet the immediate protection and humanitarian needs of refugees and asylum seekers, including shelters for families, women, unaccompanied children, and other vulnerable populations;

(2)

deliver gender-, trauma-, and age-sensitive humanitarian assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, including access to accurate information, legal representation, education, livelihood opportunities, cash assistance, and health care;

(3)

establish and expand sexual, gender-based, and domestic violence prevention, recovery, and humanitarian programming;

(4)

fund national- and community-led humanitarian organizations in humanitarian response; and

(5)

support local integration initiatives to help refugees and asylum seekers rebuild their lives and contribute in a meaningful way to the local economy in their host country.

Sec. 203 Information campaign on dangers of irregular migration

(a)

In general— The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall design and implement public information campaigns in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to—

(1)

disseminate information about the potential dangers of travel to the United States;

(2)

provide accurate information about United States immigration law and policy; and

(3)

provide accurate information about the availability of asylum and other humanitarian protections in countries in the Western Hemisphere.

(b)

Elements— The information campaigns implemented pursuant to subsection (a) shall, to the greatest extent possible—

(1)

be targeted at regions with high rates of violence, high levels of out-bound migration, or significant populations of internally displaced persons;

(2)

be in local languages;

(3)

employ a variety of communications media; and

(4)

be developed in consultation with program officials at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and other government, nonprofit, or academic entities in close contact with migrant populations from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, including repatriated migrants.

Sec. 204 Definitions

In this title—

(1)

the term internally displaced persons means persons or groups of persons who have been forced to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular due to armed conflict, generalized violence, violations of human rights, or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border;

(2)

the term international protection means asylum status, refugee status, protection under the Convention Against Torture, and other regional protection status available in the Western Hemisphere; and

(3)

the term best interest determination means a formal process with procedural safeguards designed to give primary consideration to the child’s best interests in decisionmaking.

Sec. 205 Reporting requirement

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall submit a report describing the plans of the Secretary of State to assist in developing the refugee and asylum processing capabilities described in this title to—

(1)

the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives;

(2)

the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives;

(3)

the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;

(4)

the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;

(5)

the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and

(6)

the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

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Jun 27, 2019viewing Introduced in House Ms. Lofgren (for herself, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Correa, Mr. Cox of California, Ms. Dean, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Khanna, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Meng, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Welch, Mr. Peters, and Ms. Judy Chu of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Education and Labor, Armed Services, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Financial Services, Homeland Security, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, 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