I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 469
To require asylum officers at United States embassies and consulates to
conduct credible fear screenings before aliens seeking asylum may be
permitted to enter the United States to apply for asylum, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY24, 2023
Mr. H
ERNintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require asylum officers at United States embassies and
consulates to conduct credible fear screenings before
aliens seeking asylum may be permitted to enter the
United States to apply for asylum, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Asylum Abuse Reduc-4
tion Act’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H469.IH H469
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2
•HR 469 IH
SEC. 2. ASYLUM INTERVIEWS. 1
(a) B
ORDERCROSSINGS.—Notwithstanding section 2
235(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 3
U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)), if an alien who is seeking asylum in 4
the United States attempts to enter the United States 5
from Canada or Mexico at a land port of entry without 6
a valid visa or other appropriate entry document, the im-7
migration officer who is inspecting the alien— 8
(1) may not admit or parole the alien into the 9
United States; and 10
(2) shall advise the alien to schedule an asylum 11
hearing with the most convenient United States em-12
bassy or consulate in Canada or Mexico. 13
(b) C
REDIBLEFEARSCREENINGS.—An alien de-14
scribed in subsection (a) may only be permitted to enter 15
the United States to apply for asylum if an asylum officer 16
stationed at a United States embassy or consulate— 17
(1) has conducted an in-person or telephonic 18
interview with the alien; and 19
(2) as a result of such interview, has concluded 20
that the alien— 21
(A)(i) has been persecuted in the alien’s 22
country of nationality on account of the alien’s 23
race, religion, nationality, membership in a par-24
ticular social group, or political opinion; 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H469.IH H469
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3
•HR 469 IH
(ii) has a credible fear of persecution (as 1
defined in section 235(b)(1)(B) of the Immigra-2
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 3
1225(b)(1)(B))) if the alien returned to such 4
country; or 5
(iii) would be subject to torture by a gov-6
ernment or public official acting under the color 7
of law if the alien returned to his or her coun-8
try of nationality; and 9
(B) is otherwise eligible for asylum under 10
section 208(a) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)). 11
SEC. 3. ASYLUM INELIGIBILITY. 12
Section 208(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality 13
Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the 14
end the following: 15
‘‘(F) T
RANSIT THROUGH THIRD COUN -16
TRY.— 17
‘‘(i) I
N GENERAL.—Except as pro-18
vided in clause (ii), paragraph (1) shall not 19
apply to any alien who, on or after the 20
date of the enactment of this subpara-21
graph, enters, attempts to enter, or arrives 22
in the United States through the Southern 23
land border after transiting through, on 24
the way to the United States, one or more 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H469.IH H469
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4
•HR 469 IH
countries other than the country of citizen-1
ship, nationality, or last lawful habitual 2
residence of the alien. 3
‘‘(ii) E
XCEPTIONS.—Clause (i) shall 4
not apply if— 5
‘‘(I)(aa) the alien demonstrates 6
that he or she applied for protection 7
from persecution or torture in one or 8
more countries (other than the coun-9
try of citizenship, nationality, or last 10
lawful habitual residence of the alien) 11
through which the alien transited on 12
the way to the United States; and 13
‘‘(bb) the alien received a final 14
judgment denying the alien protection 15
in such country; 16
‘‘(II) the alien demonstrates that 17
he or she is or has been subject to a 18
severe form of trafficking in persons; 19
or 20
‘‘(III) the one or more countries 21
through which the alien transited on 22
the way to the United States were 23
not, at the time of the transit, parties 24
to— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H469.IH H469
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5
•HR 469 IH
‘‘(aa) the Convention Relat-1
ing to the Status of Refugees, 2
done at Geneva July 28, 1951 3
(as made applicable by the Pro-4
tocol Relating to the Status of 5
Refugees, done at New York 6
January 31, 1967 (19 UST 7
6223)); or 8
‘‘(bb) the Convention 9
against Torture and Other Cruel, 10
Inhuman or Degrading Treat-11
ment or Punishment, done at 12
New York December 10, 1984. 13
‘‘(G) I
NTERNAL RELOCATION .—Paragraph 14
(1) shall not apply to an alien interviewed by an 15
asylum officer under section 2(b) of the Asylum 16
Abuse Reduction Act if the asylum officer 17
makes a determination that the alien may avoid 18
purported persecution or torture in the alien’s 19
country of nationality by relocating to another 20
part of such country.’’. 21
SEC. 4. CRIMINAL BENCH WARRANTS. 22
(a) I
SSUANCE.—Each Federal judicial district shall 23
appoint at least 1 magistrate or district court judge who, 24
upon a showing of probable cause, shall issue a warrant 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H469.IH H469
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6
•HR 469 IH
of arrest for a violation of section 243(a)(1) of the Immi-1
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(a)(1)). 2
(b) P
ROBABLECAUSE.—An order of removal issued 3
under any provision of the Immigration and Nationality 4
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) that has been in existence 5
90 days or more shall constitute prima facie evidence of 6
probable cause to issue a warrant under subsection (a). 7
SEC. 5. INAPPLICABILITY OF FLORES SETTLEMENT AGREE-8
MENT TO ALIENS SUBJECT TO DETENTION. 9
The stipulated settlement agreement filed in the 10
United States District Court for the Central District of 11
California on January 17, 1997 (CV 85–4544–RJK) 12
(commonly known as the ‘‘Flores settlement agreement’’), 13
shall not apply to the detention and custody of aliens sub-14
ject to detention in the United States under the Immigra-15
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 16
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H469.IH H469
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS