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Us Congress House Bill HB16

Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB16 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 116
55 To close loopholes in the immigration laws that serve as incentives to aliens
66 to attempt to enter the United States unlawfully, and for other purposes.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 JANUARY3, 2025
99 Mr. B
1010 IGGSof Arizona introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
1111 Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on For-
1212 eign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
1313 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
1414 diction of the committee concerned
1515 A BILL
1616 To close loopholes in the immigration laws that serve as
1717 incentives to aliens to attempt to enter the United States
1818 unlawfully, and for other purposes.
1919 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2020 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2121 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
2222 (a) S
2323 HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
2424 ‘‘Stopping Border Surges Act’’. 5
2525 (b) T
2626 ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6
2727 this Act is as follows: 7
2828 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
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3131 •HR 116 IH
3232 TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN
3333 Sec. 101. Repatriation of unaccompanied alien children.
3434 Sec. 102. Clarification of standards for family detention.
3535 Sec. 103. Special immigrant juvenile status for immigrants unable to reunite
3636 with either parent.
3737 TITLE II—ASYLUM REFORM
3838 Sec. 201. Credible fear interviews.
3939 Sec. 202. Jurisdiction of asylum applications.
4040 Sec. 203. Recording expedited removal and credible fear interviews.
4141 Sec. 204. Safe third country.
4242 Sec. 205. Renunciation of asylum status pursuant to return to home country.
4343 Sec. 206. Notice concerning frivolous asylum applications.
4444 Sec. 207. Anti-fraud investigative work product.
4545 Sec. 208. Clarification of asylum eligibility.
4646 Sec. 209. Application timing.
4747 Sec. 210. Clarification of burden of proof.
4848 Sec. 211. Additional exception.
4949 Sec. 212. Clarification regarding employment eligibility.
5050 Sec. 213. Penalties for asylum fraud.
5151 Sec. 214. Statute of limitations for asylum fraud.
5252 Sec. 215. Technical amendments.
5353 TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED 1
5454 ALIEN CHILDREN 2
5555 SEC. 101. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL-3
5656 DREN. 4
5757 (a) I
5858 NGENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil-5
5959 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 6
6060 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 7
6161 (1) in subsection (a)— 8
6262 (A) in paragraph (2)— 9
6363 (i) by amending the heading to read 10
6464 as follows: ‘‘R
6565 ULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED 11
6666 ALIEN CHILDREN.—’’; 12
6767 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 13
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7070 •HR 116 IH
7171 (I) in the matter preceding clause 1
7272 (i), by striking ‘‘who is a national or 2
7373 habitual resident of a country that is 3
7474 contiguous with the United States’’; 4
7575 (II) in clause (i), by inserting 5
7676 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 6
7777 (III) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 7
7878 and’’ and inserting a period; and 8
7979 (IV) by striking clause (iii); 9
8080 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 10
8181 (I) in the matter preceding clause 11
8282 (i), by striking ‘‘(8 U.S.C. 1101 et 12
8383 seq.) may—’’ and inserting ‘‘(8 13
8484 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 14
8585 (II) in clause (i), by inserting be-15
8686 fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 16
8787 the following: ‘‘may’’; and 17
8888 (III) in clause (ii), by inserting 18
8989 before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol-19
9090 lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 20
9191 (iv) in subparagraph (C)— 21
9292 (I) by amending the heading to 22
9393 read as follows: ‘‘A
9494 GREEMENTS WITH 23
9595 FOREIGN COUNTRIES.—’’; and 24
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9898 •HR 116 IH
9999 (II) in the matter preceding 1
100100 clause (i), by striking ‘‘The Secretary 2
101101 of State shall negotiate agreements 3
102102 between the United States and coun-4
103103 tries contiguous to the United States’’ 5
104104 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of State 6
105105 may negotiate agreements between the 7
106106 United States and any foreign country 8
107107 that the Secretary determines appro-9
108108 priate’’; 10
109109 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 11
110110 through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re-12
111111 spectively, and inserting after paragraph (2) the 13
112112 following: 14
113113 ‘‘(3) S
114114 PECIAL RULES FOR INTERVIEWING UNAC -15
115115 COMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN .—An unaccompanied 16
116116 alien child shall be interviewed by an immigration 17
117117 officer with specialized training in interviewing child 18
118118 trafficking victims.’’; and 19
119119 (C) in paragraph (6)(D) (as so redesig-20
120120 nated)— 21
121121 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 22
122122 by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 23
123123 alien child from a contiguous country sub-24
124124 ject to exceptions under subsection (a)(2),’’ 25
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127127 •HR 116 IH
128128 and inserting ‘‘who does not meet the cri-1
129129 teria listed in paragraph (2)(A)’’; and 2
130130 (ii) in clause (i), by inserting before 3
131131 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 4
132132 which shall include a hearing before an im-5
133133 migration judge not later than 14 days 6
134134 after being screened under paragraph (4)’’; 7
135135 (2) in subsection (b)— 8
136136 (A) in paragraph (2)— 9
137137 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 10
138138 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘be-11
139139 lieved not to meet the criteria listed in sub-12
140140 section (a)(2)(A)’’; and 13
141141 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 14
142142 before the period the following: ‘‘and does 15
143143 not meet the criteria listed in subsection 16
144144 (a)(2)(A)’’; and 17
145145 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un-18
146146 accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 19
147147 all that follows, and inserting the following: ‘‘an 20
148148 unaccompanied alien child in custody— 21
149149 ‘‘(A) in the case of a child who does not 22
150150 meet the criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), 23
151151 shall transfer the custody of such child to the 24
152152 Secretary of Health and Human Services not 25
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155155 •HR 116 IH
156156 later than 30 days after determining that such 1
157157 child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 2
158158 not meet such criteria; or 3
159159 ‘‘(B) in the case of child who meets the 4
160160 criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), may 5
161161 transfer the custody of such child to the Sec-6
162162 retary of Health and Human Services after de-7
163163 termining that such child is an unaccompanied 8
164164 alien child who meets such criteria.’’; and 9
165165 (3) in subsection (c)— 10
166166 (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the 11
167167 end the following: 12
168168 ‘‘(D) I
169169 NFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS 13
170170 WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED .— 14
171171 ‘‘(i) I
172172 NFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED 15
173173 TO HOMELAND SECURITY .—Before placing 16
174174 a child with an individual, the Secretary of 17
175175 Health and Human Services shall provide 18
176176 to the Secretary of Homeland Security, re-19
177177 garding the individual with whom the child 20
178178 will be placed, the following information: 21
179179 ‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 22
180180 ‘‘(II) The social security number 23
181181 of the individual, if available. 24
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184184 •HR 116 IH
185185 ‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in-1
186186 dividual. 2
187187 ‘‘(IV) The location of the individ-3
188188 ual’s residence where the child will be 4
189189 placed. 5
190190 ‘‘(V) The immigration status of 6
191191 the individual, if known. 7
192192 ‘‘(VI) Contact information for 8
193193 the individual. 9
194194 ‘‘(ii) S
195195 PECIAL RULE.—In the case of a 10
196196 child who was apprehended on or after the 11
197197 effective date of this clause, and before the 12
198198 date of the enactment of this subpara-13
199199 graph, who the Secretary of Health and 14
200200 Human Services placed with an individual, 15
201201 the Secretary shall provide the information 16
202202 listed in clause (i) to the Secretary of 17
203203 Homeland Security not later than 90 days 18
204204 after such date of enactment.’’; and 19
205205 (B) in paragraph (5)— 20
206206 (i) by inserting after ‘‘to the greatest 21
207207 extent practicable’’ the following: ‘‘(at no 22
208208 expense to the Government)’’; and 23
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212212 (ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep-1
213213 resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 2
214214 counsel to represent them’’. 3
215215 (b) E
216216 FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 4
217217 this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 5
218218 apprehended on or after the date of enactment. 6
219219 SEC. 102. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR FAMILY DE-7
220220 TENTION. 8
221221 (a) I
222222 NGENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil-9
223223 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 10
224224 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended by adding at 11
225225 the end the following: 12
226226 ‘‘(j) C
227227 ONSTRUCTION.— 13
228228 ‘‘(1) I
229229 N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 14
230230 provision of law, judicial determination, consent de-15
231231 cree, or settlement agreement, the detention of any 16
232232 alien child who is not an unaccompanied alien child 17
233233 shall be governed by sections 217, 235, 236, and 18
234234 241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 19
235235 U.S.C. 1187, 1225, 1226, and 1231). There is no 20
236236 presumption that an alien child who is not an unac-21
237237 companied alien child should not be detained, and all 22
238238 such determinations shall be in the discretion of the 23
239239 Secretary of Homeland Security. 24
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242242 •HR 116 IH
243243 ‘‘(2) RELEASE OF MINORS OTHER THAN UNAC -1
244244 COMPANIED ALIENS.—In no circumstances shall an 2
245245 alien minor who is not an unaccompanied alien child 3
246246 be released by the Secretary of Homeland Security 4
247247 other than to a parent or legal guardian, who is law-5
248248 fully present in the United States. 6
249249 ‘‘(3) F
250250 AMILY DETENTION .—The Secretary of 7
251251 Homeland Security shall— 8
252252 ‘‘(A) maintain the care and custody of an 9
253253 alien, during the period during which the 10
254254 charges described in clause (i) are pending, 11
255255 who— 12
256256 ‘‘(i) is charged only with a mis-13
257257 demeanor offense under section 275(a) of 14
258258 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 15
259259 U.S.C. 1325(a)); and 16
260260 ‘‘(ii) entered the United States with 17
261261 the alien’s child who has not attained 18 18
262262 years of age; and 19
263263 ‘‘(B) detain the alien with the alien’s 20
264264 child.’’. 21
265265 (b) S
266266 ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-22
267267 gress that the amendments in this section to section 235 23
268268 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 24
269269 Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) are intended 25
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272272 •HR 116 IH
273273 to satisfy the requirements of the Settlement Agreement 1
274274 in Flores v. Meese, No. 85–4544 (C.D. Cal) as approved 2
275275 by the court on January 28, 1997, with respect to its in-3
276276 terpretation in Flores v. Johnson, 212 F. Supp. 3d 864 4
277277 (C.D. Cal. 2015), that the agreement applies to accom-5
278278 panied minors. 6
279279 (c) E
280280 FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 7
281281 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-8
282282 ment of this Act and shall apply to all actions that occur 9
283283 before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 10
284284 (d) P
285285 REEMPTION OF STATELICENSINGREQUIRE-11
286286 MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ju-12
287287 dicial determination, consent decree, or settlement agree-13
288288 ment, no State may require that an immigration detention 14
289289 facility used to detain children who have not attained 18 15
290290 years of age, or families consisting of one or more of such 16
291291 children and the parents or legal guardians of such chil-17
292292 dren, that is located in that State, be licensed by the State 18
293293 or any political subdivision thereof. 19
294294 SEC. 103. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IM-20
295295 MIGRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EI-21
296296 THER PARENT. 22
297297 Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Na-23
298298 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— 24
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301301 •HR 116 IH
302302 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and whose reuni-1
303303 fication with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents 2
304304 is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or 3
305305 a similar basis found under State law’’; and 4
306306 (2) in clause (iii)— 5
307307 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-6
308308 clause (I); 7
309309 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-8
310310 clause (II); and 9
311311 (C) by adding at the end the following: 10
312312 ‘‘(III) an alien may not be grant-11
313313 ed special immigrant juvenile status 12
314314 under this subparagraph if his or her 13
315315 reunification with any one parent or 14
316316 legal guardian is not precluded by 15
317317 abuse, neglect, abandonment, or any 16
318318 similar cause under State law;’’. 17
319319 TITLE II—ASYLUM REFORM 18
320320 SEC. 201. CREDIBLE FEAR INTERVIEWS. 19
321321 Section 235(b)(1)(B)(v) of the Immigration and Na-20
322322 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(B)(v)) is amended by 21
323323 striking ‘‘claim’’ and all that follows, and inserting ‘‘claim, 22
324324 as determined pursuant to section 208(b)(1)(B)(iii), and 23
325325 such other facts as are known to the officer, that the alien 24
326326 could establish eligibility for asylum under section 208, 25
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329329 •HR 116 IH
330330 and it is more probable than not that the statements made 1
331331 by, and on behalf of, the alien in support of the alien’s 2
332332 claim are true.’’. 3
333333 SEC. 202. JURISDICTION OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS. 4
334334 Section 208(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 5
335335 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended by striking subparagraph 6
336336 (C). 7
337337 SEC. 203. RECORDING EXPEDITED REMOVAL AND CRED-8
338338 IBLE FEAR INTERVIEWS. 9
339339 (a) I
340340 NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-10
341341 rity shall establish quality assurance procedures and take 11
342342 steps to effectively ensure that questions by employees of 12
343343 the Department of Homeland Security exercising expe-13
344344 dited removal authority under section 235(b) of the Immi-14
345345 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)) are asked 15
346346 in a uniform manner, to the extent possible, and that both 16
347347 these questions and the answers provided in response to 17
348348 them are recorded in a uniform fashion. 18
349349 (b) C
350350 REDIBLEFEARINTERVIEWCHECKLISTS.—The 19
351351 Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide a checklist 20
352352 of standard questions and concepts to be addressed in all 21
353353 interviews under section 235(b) to immigration officers ex-22
354354 ercising decision-making authority in such interviews. 23
355355 Such checklists shall be routinely updated to include rel-24
356356 evant changes to law and procedures and shall, at a min-25
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359359 •HR 116 IH
360360 imum, require that all immigration officers utilizing such 1
361361 checklists provide concise justifications of their decision 2
362362 regardless of whether credible fear was or was not estab-3
363363 lished. 4
364364 (c) F
365365 ACTORSRELATING TOSWORNSTATEMENTS.— 5
366366 Where practicable, any sworn or signed written statement 6
367367 taken of an alien as part of the record of a proceeding 7
368368 under section 235(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Na-8
369369 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(A)) shall be accom-9
370370 panied by a recording of the interview which served as the 10
371371 basis for that sworn statement. 11
372372 (d) I
373373 NTERPRETERS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 12
374374 a competent interpreter, not affiliated with the govern-13
375375 ment of the country from which the alien may claim asy-14
376376 lum, is used when the interviewing officer does not speak 15
377377 a language understood by the alien. 16
378378 (e) R
379379 ECORDINGS INIMMIGRATIONPROCEEDINGS.— 17
380380 There shall be an audio or audio visual recording of inter-18
381381 views of aliens subject to expedited removal. The recording 19
382382 shall be included in the record of proceeding and shall be 20
383383 considered as evidence in any further proceedings involv-21
384384 ing the alien. 22
385385 (f) N
386386 OPRIVATERIGHT OFACTION.—Nothing in this 23
387387 section shall be construed to create any right, benefit, 24
388388 trust, or responsibility, whether substantive or procedural, 25
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391391 •HR 116 IH
392392 enforceable in law or equity by a party against the United 1
393393 States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, enti-2
394394 ties, officers, employees, or agents, or any person, nor does 3
395395 this section create any right of review in any administra-4
396396 tive, judicial, or other proceeding. 5
397397 SEC. 204. SAFE THIRD COUNTRY. 6
398398 Section 208(a)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nation-7
399399 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 8
400400 (1) by striking ‘‘if the Attorney General deter-9
401401 mines’’ and inserting ‘‘if the Attorney General or the 10
402402 Secretary of Homeland Security determines—’’; 11
403403 (2) by striking ‘‘that the alien may be’’ and in-12
404404 serting: 13
405405 ‘‘(i) that the alien may be’’; 14
406406 (3) by striking ‘‘removed, pursuant to a bilat-15
407407 eral or multilateral agreement, to’’ and inserting 16
408408 ‘‘removed to’’; 17
409409 (4) by inserting ‘‘, on a case by case basis,’’ be-18
410410 fore ‘‘finds that’’; 19
411411 (5) by striking the period at the end and insert-20
412412 ing ‘‘; or’’; and 21
413413 (6) by adding at the end the following: 22
414414 ‘‘(ii) that the alien entered, attempted to enter, 23
415415 or arrived in the United States after transiting 24
416416 through at least one country outside the alien’s 25
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419419 •HR 116 IH
420420 country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful ha-1
421421 bitual residence en route to the United States, un-2
422422 less— 3
423423 ‘‘(I) the alien demonstrates that he or she 4
424424 applied for protection from persecution or tor-5
425425 ture in at least one country outside the alien’s 6
426426 country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful 7
427427 habitual residence through which the alien 8
428428 transited en route to the United States, and the 9
429429 alien received a final judgement denying the 10
430430 alien protection in each country; 11
431431 ‘‘(II) the alien demonstrates that he or she 12
432432 was a victim of a severe form of trafficking in 13
433433 which a commercial sex act was induced by 14
434434 force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person 15
435435 induced to perform such act was under the age 16
436436 of 18 years; or in which the trafficking included 17
437437 the recruitment, harboring, transportation, pro-18
438438 vision, or obtaining of a person for labor or 19
439439 services through the use of force, fraud, or coer-20
440440 cion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary 21
441441 servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery, 22
442442 and was unable to apply for protection from 23
443443 persecution in all countries that alien transited 24
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446446 •HR 116 IH
447447 en route to the United States as a result of 1
448448 such severe form of trafficking; or 2
449449 ‘‘(III) the only countries through which the 3
450450 alien transited en route to the United States 4
451451 were, at the time of the transit, not parties to 5
452452 the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to 6
453453 the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Re-7
454454 lating to the Status of Refugees, or the United 8
455455 Nations Convention against Torture and Other 9
456456 Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 10
457457 Punishment.’’. 11
458458 SEC. 205. RENUNCIATION OF ASYLUM STATUS PURSUANT 12
459459 TO RETURN TO HOME COUNTRY. 13
460460 (a) I
461461 NGENERAL.—Section 208(c) of the Immigration 14
462462 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(c)) is amended by 15
463463 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 16
464464 ‘‘(4) R
465465 ENUNCIATION OF STATUS PURSUANT TO 17
466466 RETURN TO HOME COUNTRY .— 18
467467 ‘‘(A) I
468468 N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 19
469469 subparagraph (B), any alien who is granted 20
470470 asylum status under this Act, who, absent 21
471471 changed country conditions, subsequently re-22
472472 turns to the country of such alien’s nationality 23
473473 or, in the case of an alien having no nationality, 24
474474 returns to any country in which such alien last 25
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477477 •HR 116 IH
478478 habitually resided, and who applied for such 1
479479 status because of persecution or a well-founded 2
480480 fear of persecution in that country on account 3
481481 of race, religion, nationality, membership in a 4
482482 particular social group, or political opinion, 5
483483 shall have his or her status terminated. 6
484484 ‘‘(B) W
485485 AIVER.—The Secretary has discre-7
486486 tion to waive subparagraph (A) if it is estab-8
487487 lished to the satisfaction of the Secretary that 9
488488 the alien had a compelling reason for the re-10
489489 turn. The waiver may be sought prior to depar-11
490490 ture from the United States or upon return.’’. 12
491491 (b) C
492492 ONFORMINGAMENDMENT.—Section 208(c)(3) 13
493493 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 14
494494 1158(c)(3)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘paragraph 15
495495 (2)’’ the following: ‘‘or (4)’’. 16
496496 SEC. 206. NOTICE CONCERNING FRIVOLOUS ASYLUM AP-17
497497 PLICATIONS. 18
498498 (a) I
499499 NGENERAL.—Section 208(d)(4) of the Immi-19
500500 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(d)(4)) is 20
501501 amended— 21
502502 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 22
503503 by inserting ‘‘the Secretary of Homeland Security 23
504504 or’’ before ‘‘the Attorney General’’; 24
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507507 •HR 116 IH
508508 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and of 1
509509 the consequences, under paragraph (6), of knowingly 2
510510 filing a frivolous application for asylum; and’’ and 3
511511 inserting a semicolon; 4
512512 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 5
513513 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 6
514514 (4) by adding at the end the following: 7
515515 ‘‘(C) ensure that a written warning ap-8
516516 pears on the asylum application advising the 9
517517 alien of the consequences of filing a frivolous 10
518518 application and serving as notice to the alien of 11
519519 the consequence of filing a frivolous applica-12
520520 tion.’’. 13
521521 (b) C
522522 ONFORMINGAMENDMENT.—Section 208(d)(6) 14
523523 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 15
524524 1158(d)(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘If the’’ and all that 16
525525 follows and inserting: 17
526526 ‘‘(A) If the Secretary of Homeland Secu-18
527527 rity or the Attorney General determines that an 19
528528 alien has knowingly made a frivolous applica-20
529529 tion for asylum and the alien has received the 21
530530 notice under paragraph (4)(C), the alien shall 22
531531 be permanently ineligible for any benefits under 23
532532 this chapter, effective as the date of the final 24
533533 determination of such an application. 25
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536536 •HR 116 IH
537537 ‘‘(B) An application is frivolous if the Sec-1
538538 retary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 2
539539 General determines, consistent with subpara-3
540540 graph (C), that— 4
541541 ‘‘(i) it is so insufficient in substance 5
542542 that it is clear that the applicant know-6
543543 ingly filed the application solely or in part 7
544544 to delay removal from the United States, 8
545545 to seek employment authorization as an 9
546546 applicant for asylum pursuant to regula-10
547547 tions issued pursuant to paragraph (2), or 11
548548 to seek issuance of a Notice to Appear in 12
549549 order to pursue Cancellation of Removal 13
550550 under section 240A(b); or 14
551551 ‘‘(ii) any of the material elements are 15
552552 knowingly fabricated. 16
553553 ‘‘(C) In determining that an application is 17
554554 frivolous, the Secretary or the Attorney Gen-18
555555 eral, must be satisfied that the applicant, dur-19
556556 ing the course of the proceedings, has had suffi-20
557557 cient opportunity to clarify any discrepancies or 21
558558 implausible aspects of the claim. 22
559559 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, a find-23
560560 ing that an alien filed a frivolous asylum appli-24
561561 cation shall not preclude the alien from seeking 25
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564564 •HR 116 IH
565565 withholding of removal under section 241(b)(3) 1
566566 or protection pursuant to the Convention 2
567567 Against Torture.’’. 3
568568 SEC. 207. ANTI-FRAUD INVESTIGATIVE WORK PRODUCT. 4
569569 (a) A
570570 SYLUMCREDIBILITYDETERMINATIONS.—Sec-5
571571 tion 208(b)(1)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality 6
572572 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii)) is amended by inserting 7
573573 after ‘‘all relevant factors’’ the following: ‘‘, including 8
574574 statements made to, and investigative reports prepared by, 9
575575 immigration authorities and other government officials’’. 10
576576 (b) R
577577 ELIEF FORREMOVALCREDIBILITYDETER-11
578578 MINATIONS.—Section 240(c)(4)(C) of the Immigration 12
579579 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(4)(C)) is amended 13
580580 by inserting after ‘‘all relevant factors’’ the following: ‘‘, 14
581581 including statements made to, and investigative reports 15
582582 prepared by, immigration authorities and other govern-16
583583 ment officials’’. 17
584584 SEC. 208. CLARIFICATION OF ASYLUM ELIGIBILITY. 18
585585 (a) I
586586 NGENERAL.—Section 208(b)(1)(A) of the Im-19
587587 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1)(A)) 20
588588 is amended by inserting after ‘‘section 101(a)(42)(A)’’ the 21
589589 following: ‘‘and is eligible to apply for asylum under sub-22
590590 section (a)’’. 23
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593593 •HR 116 IH
594594 (b) PLACE OFARRIVAL.—Section 208(a)(1) of the 1
595595 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(1)) 2
596596 is amended— 3
597597 (1) by striking ‘‘or who arrives in the United 4
598598 States (whether or not at a designated port of ar-5
599599 rival and including an alien who is brought to the 6
600600 United States after having been interdicted in inter-7
601601 national or United States waters),’’; and 8
602602 (2) by inserting after ‘‘United States’’ the fol-9
603603 lowing: ‘‘and has arrived in the United States at a 10
604604 port of entry,’’. 11
605605 SEC. 209. APPLICATION TIMING. 12
606606 Section 208(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nation-13
607607 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)(B)) is amended by striking 14
608608 ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘6 months’’. 15
609609 SEC. 210. CLARIFICATION OF BURDEN OF PROOF. 16
610610 Section 208(b)(1)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Na-17
611611 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1)(B)(i)) is amended by 18
612612 striking ‘‘at least one’’ and inserting ‘‘the’’. 19
613613 SEC. 211. ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION. 20
614614 Section 208(b)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nation-21
615615 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)) is amended— 22
616616 (1) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 23
617617 (2) in clause (vi), by striking the period and in-24
618618 serting ‘‘; or’’; and 25
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621621 •HR 116 IH
622622 (3) by adding at the end the following: 1
623623 ‘‘(vii) there are reasonable grounds for 2
624624 concluding the alien could avoid persecu-3
625625 tion by relocating to another part of the 4
626626 alien’s country of nationality or, if state-5
627627 less, another part of the alien’s country of 6
628628 last habitual residence.’’. 7
629629 SEC. 212. CLARIFICATION REGARDING EMPLOYMENT ELI-8
630630 GIBILITY. 9
631631 Section 208(d)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality 10
632632 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(d)(2)) is amended— 11
633633 (1) by striking ‘‘180 days’’’’ and inserting ‘‘1 12
634634 year’’; and 13
635635 (2) by inserting ‘‘and the authorization shall ex-14
636636 pire 6 months after the date of issuance’’ before the 15
637637 period at the end. 16
638638 SEC. 213. PENALTIES FOR ASYLUM FRAUD. 17
639639 Section 1001 of title 18, United States Code, is 18
640640 amended by inserting at the end of the paragraph— 19
641641 ‘‘(d) Whoever, in any matter before the Secretary of 20
642642 Homeland Security or the Attorney General pertaining to 21
643643 asylum under section 208 of the Immigration and Nation-22
644644 ality Act or withholding of removal under section 23
645645 241(b)(3) of such Act, knowingly and willfully— 24
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648648 •HR 116 IH
649649 ‘‘(1) makes any materially false, fictitious, or 1
650650 fraudulent statement or representation; or 2
651651 ‘‘(2) makes or uses any false writings or docu-3
652652 ment knowing the same to contain any materially 4
653653 false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, 5
654654 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 6
655655 10 years, or both.’’. 7
656656 SEC. 214. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR ASYLUM FRAUD. 8
657657 Section 3291 of title 18, United States Code, is 9
658658 amended— 10
659659 (1) by striking ‘‘1544,’’ and inserting ‘‘1544, 11
660660 and section 1546,’’; and 12
661661 (2) by striking ‘‘offense.’’ and inserting ‘‘of-13
662662 fense or within 10 years after the fraud is discov-14
663663 ered.’’. 15
664664 SEC. 215. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 16
665665 Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 17
666666 (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended— 18
667667 (1) in subsection (a)— 19
668668 (A) in paragraph (2)(D), by inserting 20
669669 ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 21
670670 ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 22
671671 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘Sec-23
672672 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 24
673673 ‘‘Attorney General’’; 25
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677677 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ‘‘Secretary 1
678678 of Homeland Security or the’’ before ‘‘Attorney Gen-2
679679 eral’’ each place such term appears; 3
680680 (3) in subsection (c)— 4
681681 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Attor-5
682682 ney General’’ each place such term appears and 6
683683 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; 7
684684 (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre-8
685685 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘Sec-9
686686 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 10
687687 ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 11
688688 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘Sec-12
689689 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 13
690690 ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 14
691691 (4) in subsection (d)— 15
692692 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘Sec-16
693693 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 17
694694 ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place such term ap-18
695695 pears; 19
696696 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Attor-20
697697 ney General’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 21
698698 Homeland Security’’; and 22
699699 (C) in paragraph (5)— 23
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702702 •HR 116 IH
703703 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1
704704 ‘‘Attorney General’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec-2
705705 retary of Homeland Security’’; and 3
706706 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 4
707707 ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security or the’’ 5
708708 before ‘‘Attorney General’’. 6
709709 Æ
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