3.0.0 1860 2023-01-11T13:30:02Z 2023-01-11T13:30:02Z Senate S 2015-07-23 114 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2015-07-24T00:02:13Z FIRST Freedom Act 114 3194 HR 2015-09-08 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security. Related bill CRS 2015-07-23 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5533-5537) IntroReferral 2015-07-23 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress D000563 Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] Richard Durbin D IL J. N L000174 Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT] Patrick Leahy D VT 2015-07-23 True H001042 Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] Mazie Hirono D HI K. 2015-08-05 False B001230 Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] Tammy Baldwin D WI 2015-10-06 False Immigration Congressional oversight Crime victims Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad Employment discrimination and employee rights Executive agency funding and structure Freedom of information Government studies and investigations Human rights Human trafficking Immigration status and procedures Racial and ethnic relations Refugees, asylum, displaced persons Religion Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination Terrorism U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Violent crime Immigration 00 2015-07-23 Introduced in Senate 2015-11-09T16:48:48Z Further Independence of Religion for Security and Tolerance Freedom Act of 2015 or the FIRST Freedom Act

This bill expresses the sense of Congress that:

  • the protection and promotion of international human rights, including religious freedom, should be an important U.S. priority; and
  • the United States should pursue new strategies to deter and punish the perpetrators of severe violations of religious freedom, including non-state actors, and to protect the victims of such violations.

The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended to authorize the Department of State to designate refugee groups:

  • whose resettlement in the United States is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest; and
  • who share common characteristics that identify them as targets of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, or having been so identified share a common need for resettlement.

The one-year time limit for filing an asylum claim is eliminated. A two-year window is provided for certain aliens to reopen a claim denied because of failure to file within one year.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is authorized to study: (1) whether immigration officers are engaging in improper conduct, and (2) the impact of interview delays on asylum claims.

The International Religious Freedom Act is amended to authorize appropriations for the Commission through FY2017.

Any alien who was responsible for, or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom is inadmissible or deportable. (Current law is limited to foreign government officials who commit such acts.)

The federal criminal code is amended to require that any person who outside the United States commits, or attempts or conspires to commit, religious persecution against a U.S. person: (1) be fined, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both; and (2) if the death of any person results from the violation, be fined and imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

No person may be prosecuted, tried, or punished for such a violation unless the indictment or the information is filed within 10 years after commission of the offense.

]]> FIRST Freedom Act Display Title FIRST Freedom Act Official Title as Introduced A bill to protect and promote international religious freedom. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced FIRST Freedom Act Short Titles as Introduced Further Independence of Religion for Security and Tolerance Freedom Act of 2015 Introduced in Senate 2015-07-23T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s1860is/xml/BILLS-114s1860is.xml 2015-07-23 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5533-5537) text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.