Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB348 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 348
5	5	To require asylum officers at United States embassies and consulates to
6	6	conduct credible fear screenings before aliens seeking asylum may be
7	7	permitted to enter the United States to apply for asylum, and for
8	8	other purposes.
9	9	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
10	10	FEBRUARY9, 2023
11	11	Mrs. B
12	12	RITT(for herself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. COTTON, Mr.
13	13	C
14	14	RAPO, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. RISCH, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr.
15	15	T
16	16	HUNE, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill;
17	17	which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To require asylum officers at United States embassies and
20	20	consulates to conduct credible fear screenings before
21	21	aliens seeking asylum may be permitted to enter the
22	22	United States to apply for asylum, and for other pur-
23	23	poses.
24	24	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
25	25	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
26	26	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
27	27	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Asylum Abuse Reduc-4
28	28	tion Act’’. 5
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31	31	•S 348 IS
32	32	SEC. 2. ASYLUM INTERVIEWS. 1
33	33	(a) B
34	34	ORDERCROSSINGS.—Notwithstanding section 2
35	35	235(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 3
36	36	U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)), if an alien who is seeking asylum in 4
37	37	the United States attempts to enter the United States 5
38	38	from Canada or Mexico at a land port of entry without 6
39	39	a valid visa or other appropriate entry document, the im-7
40	40	migration officer who is inspecting the alien— 8
41	41	(1) may not admit or parole the alien into the 9
42	42	United States; and 10
43	43	(2) shall advise the alien to schedule an asylum 11
44	44	hearing with the most convenient United States em-12
45	45	bassy or consulate in Canada or Mexico. 13
46	46	(b) C
47	47	REDIBLEFEARSCREENINGS.—An alien de-14
48	48	scribed in subsection (a) may only be permitted to enter 15
49	49	the United States to apply for asylum if an asylum officer 16
50	50	stationed at a United States embassy or consulate— 17
51	51	(1) has conducted an in-person or telephonic 18
52	52	interview with the alien; and 19
53	53	(2) as a result of such interview, has concluded 20
54	54	that the alien— 21
55	55	(A)(i) has been persecuted in the alien’s 22
56	56	country of nationality on account of the alien’s 23
57	57	race, religion, nationality, membership in a par-24
58	58	ticular social group, or political opinion; 25
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61	61	•S 348 IS
62	62	(ii) has a credible fear of persecution (as 1
63	63	defined in section 235(b)(1)(B) of the Immigra-2
64	64	tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 3
65	65	1225(b)(1)(B))) if the alien returned to such 4
66	66	country; or 5
67	67	(iii) would be subject to torture by a gov-6
68	68	ernment or public official acting under the color 7
69	69	of law if the alien returned to his or her coun-8
70	70	try of nationality; and 9
71	71	(B) is otherwise eligible for asylum under 10
72	72	section 208(a) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)). 11
73	73	SEC. 3. ASYLUM INELIGIBILITY. 12
74	74	Section 208(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality 13
75	75	Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the 14
76	76	end the following: 15
77	77	‘‘(F) T
78	78	RANSIT THROUGH THIRD COUN -16
79	79	TRY.— 17
80	80	‘‘(i) I
81	81	N GENERAL.—Except as pro-18
82	82	vided in clause (ii), paragraph (1) shall not 19
83	83	apply to any alien who, on or after the 20
84	84	date of the enactment of this subpara-21
85	85	graph, enters, attempts to enter, or arrives 22
86	86	in the United States through the Southern 23
87	87	land border after transiting through, on 24
88	88	the way to the United States, one or more 25
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91	91	•S 348 IS
92	92	countries other than the country of citizen-1
93	93	ship, nationality, or last lawful habitual 2
94	94	residence of the alien. 3
95	95	‘‘(ii) E
96	96	XCEPTIONS.—Clause (i) shall 4
97	97	not apply if— 5
98	98	‘‘(I)(aa) the alien demonstrates 6
99	99	that he or she applied for protection 7
100	100	from persecution or torture in one or 8
101	101	more countries (other than the coun-9
102	102	try of citizenship, nationality, or last 10
103	103	lawful habitual residence of the alien) 11
104	104	through which the alien transited on 12
105	105	the way to the United States; and 13
106	106	‘‘(bb) the alien received a final 14
107	107	judgment denying the alien protection 15
108	108	in such country; 16
109	109	‘‘(II) the alien demonstrates that 17
110	110	he or she is or has been subject to a 18
111	111	severe form of trafficking in persons; 19
112	112	or 20
113	113	‘‘(III) the one or more countries 21
114	114	through which the alien transited on 22
115	115	the way to the United States were 23
116	116	not, at the time of the transit, parties 24
117	117	to— 25
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120	120	•S 348 IS
121	121	‘‘(aa) the Convention Relat-1
122	122	ing to the Status of Refugees, 2
123	123	done at Geneva July 28, 1951 3
124	124	(as made applicable by the Pro-4
125	125	tocol Relating to the Status of 5
126	126	Refugees, done at New York 6
127	127	January 31, 1967 (19 UST 7
128	128	6223)); or 8
129	129	‘‘(bb) the Convention 9
130	130	against Torture and Other Cruel, 10
131	131	Inhuman or Degrading Treat-11
132	132	ment or Punishment, done at 12
133	133	New York December 10, 1984. 13
134	134	‘‘(G) I
135	135	NTERNAL RELOCATION .—Paragraph 14
136	136	(1) shall not apply to an alien interviewed by an 15
137	137	asylum officer under section 2(b) of the Asylum 16
138	138	Abuse Reduction Act if the asylum officer 17
139	139	makes a determination that the alien may avoid 18
140	140	purported persecution or torture in the alien’s 19
141	141	country of nationality by relocating to another 20
142	142	part of such country.’’. 21
143	143	SEC. 4. CRIMINAL BENCH WARRANTS. 22
144	144	(a) I
145	145	SSUANCE.—Each Federal judicial district shall 23
146	146	appoint at least 1 magistrate or district court judge who, 24
147	147	upon a showing of probable cause, shall issue a warrant 25
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150	150	•S 348 IS
151	151	of arrest for a violation of section 243(a)(1) of the Immi-1
152	152	gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(a)(1)). 2
153	153	(b) P
154	154	ROBABLECAUSE.—An order of removal issued 3
155	155	under any provision of the Immigration and Nationality 4
156	156	Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) that has been in existence 5
157	157	90 days or more shall constitute prima facie evidence of 6
158	158	probable cause to issue a warrant under subsection (a). 7
159	159	SEC. 5. INAPPLICABILITY OF FLORES SETTLEMENT AGREE-8
160	160	MENT TO ALIENS SUBJECT TO DETENTION. 9
161	161	The stipulated settlement agreement filed in the 10
162	162	United States District Court for the Central District of 11
163	163	California on January 17, 1997 (CV 85–4544–RJK) 12
164	164	(commonly known as the ‘‘Flores settlement agreement’’), 13
165	165	shall not apply to the detention and custody of aliens sub-14
166	166	ject to detention in the United States under the Immigra-15
167	167	tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 16
168	168	Æ
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