[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2182 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2182

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to treatment 
of aliens who claim asylum after passing through a third country which 
                         could provide asylum.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 3, 1995

  Mr. Franks of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Zimmer, Mr. Hancock, Mr. 
   Cunningham, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Frazer, Mr. LoBiondo, and Mr. 
   Saxton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to treatment 
of aliens who claim asylum after passing through a third country which 
                         could provide asylum.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. LIMITATION ON ASYLUM FOR ALIENS WHO PASS THROUGH THIRD 
              COUNTRIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(f)(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), an alien may not apply 
for asylum in the United States (or be granted asylum) if the alien, 
after departing from the country of the alien's nationality (or, in the 
case of an alien having no nationality, the country in which the alien 
last habitually resided) and before arriving at the United States, 
passed through another country (in this subsection referred to as a 
`country of safe haven') which the Secretary of State has identified as 
providing asylum or safe haven to refugees.
    ``(2) In the case of an alien who is prohibited from applying for 
asylum under paragraph (1) and who is excluded from admission or 
deported, notwithstanding sections 237(a) and 243(a), the removal of 
the alien shall first be to the country of safe haven.
    ``(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an alien if the alien 
establishes to an appropriate immigration officer all of the following:
            ``(A) The alien seeks to apply for asylum after admission 
        to the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor for business or 
        pleasure under section 101(a)(15)(B).
            ``(B) The alien was not a refugee at the time at which the 
        alien passed through the country of safe haven, and
            ``(C) The alien is such a refugee because of material 
        changes in circumstances of the alien's native country since 
        the date of such passage.
    ``(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an alien if the alien 
establishes to an appropriate immigration officer that the alien--
            ``(A) has previously been returned to the country of safe 
        haven and has been denied admission, or
            ``(B) has a clear probability of persecution in that 
        country of safe haven if returned to that country on account of 
        race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
        group, or political opinion.
    ``(5) The Attorney General shall provide a process for the review 
of determinations under paragraphs (3) and (4). During the pendency of 
such review, the alien shall be detained at a detention center of the 
Service and shall not be provided employment authorization by the 
Service.
    ``(6) In this subsection, the term `detention center of the 
Service' includes any detention facility operated by (or under the 
supervision, regulation, or contract of) the Service.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--(1) The Secretary of State shall first publish 
a list of countries providing asylum or safe haven to refugees by not 
later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (2) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to aliens who 
seek to apply for asylum on or after 15 days after the date such list 
is first published.

SEC. 2. NEGOTIATIONS WITH CONVENTION AND PROTOCOL SIGNATORIES REGARDING 
              LIMITATION ON ASYLUM REQUESTS.

    The Secretary of State shall actively engage in negotiations with 
the foreign ministers of countries that are signatories either of the 
Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (done on July 28, 
1951) or of the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (done in 
New York on January 31, 1967) in order to establish uniform 
international procedures limiting asylum requests of individuals 
fleeing persecution in a country to the first country a refugee passes 
through that is such a signatory and that does not persecute such a 
refugee.
                                 <all>