1.Short title; table of contents
(a)This Act may be cited as the
Citizenship Promotion Act of
2007
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Immigration service fees.
Sec. 3. Administration of tests for naturalization.
Sec. 4. Voluntary electronic filing of
applications.
Sec. 5. Timely background checks.
Sec. 6. National citizenship promotion program.
2.
(a)Subsection (m) of section 286 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)) is amended to read as
follows:
(m)
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2) and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, all adjudication fees as are
designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security in regulations shall be
deposited as offsetting receipts into a separate account entitled
Immigration Examinations Fee Account
in the Treasury of the
United States, whether collected directly by the Secretary or through clerks of
courts.
(2)All fees received by the Secretary of
Homeland Security from applicants residing in the Virgin Islands of the United
States, or in Guam, under this subsection shall be paid over to the treasury of
the Virgin Islands or to the treasury of Guam, respectively.
(3)Fees for immigration services
(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary
of Homeland Security may set fees for providing immigration services at a level
that will—
(i)ensure recovery of the full costs of
providing such services, or a portion thereof, including the costs of similar
services provided without charge to asylum applicants or other immigrants;
and
(ii)recover the full cost of administering the
collection of fees under this paragraph, or a portion thereof.
(B)The Secretary of Homeland Security may not
increase any fee under this paragraph above the level of such fee on the day
before the date of the introduction of the Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007,
until—
(i)the Secretary submits to the Committee on
the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives a report that—
(I)identifies the direct and indirect costs
associated with providing immigration services, and distinguishes such costs
from immigration enforcement and national security costs; and
(II)contains information regarding the amount
the fee will be increased; and
(ii)a period of 45 days has expired beginning
on the date that the report in clause (i) is received by the committees
described in such
clause.
.
(b)It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)the Secretary of Homeland Security should
set fees under section 286(m)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1356(m)(3)), as amended by subsection (a) of this section, at a level
that ensures recovery of only the direct costs associated with the services
described in such section 286(m)(3); and
(2)Congress should appropriate to the
Secretary of Homeland Security such funds as may be necessary to cover the
indirect costs associated with the services described in such section
286(m)(3).
(c)Section 286 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356) is amended—
(1)in subsections (d), (e), (f), (h), (i),
(j), (k), (l), (n), (o), (q), (t), and (u), by striking Attorney
General
each place it appears and inserting Secretary of
Homeland Security
;
(2)in subsection (i) of such section, by
striking Attorney General's
and inserting
Secretary's
; and
(3)in subsection (r)—
(A)in paragraph (2), by striking
Department of Justice
and inserting Department of
Homeland Security
; and
(B)in paragraphs (3) and (4), by striking
Attorney General
each place it appears and inserting
Secretary of Homeland Security
.
(d)Authorization of
appropriationsFor each
fiscal year, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of
Homeland Security an amount equal to the difference between the fees collected
under section 286(m)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1356(m)(3)), as amended by subsection (a) of this section, and the cost of
providing the services referred to in such section 286(m)(3).
3.Administration of tests for
naturalization
(a)Subsection (a) of section 312 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423) is amended to read as
follows:
(a)
(1)Except as otherwise provided in this title,
a person may not be naturalized as a citizen of the United States upon the
application of such person if such person cannot demonstrate the
following:
(A)A proficiency in the English
language.
(B)A knowledge and understanding of—
(i)the fundamentals of the history of the
United States; and
(ii)the principles and form of government of
the United States.
(2)
(A)The Secretary of Homeland Security, in
administering any test that the Secretary uses to determine whether an
applicant for naturalization as a citizen of the United States has the
proficiency and knowledge sufficient to meet the requirements of paragraph (1),
shall administer such test uniformly throughout the United States.
(B)In selecting and phrasing items in the
administration of a test described in subparagraph (A) and in evaluating the
performance of an applicant on such test, the Secretary shall consider the
following:
(i)The age of the applicant.
(ii)The education level of the
applicant.
(iii)The amount of time the applicant has
resided in the United States.
(iv)The efforts made by the applicant, and the
opportunities available to the applicant, to acquire the knowledge and
proficiencies required by paragraph (1).
(v)Such other factors as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(C)The requirement in paragraph (1)(A) shall
be satisfactorily met if an applicant can—
(i)speak words in ordinary usage in the
English language; and
(ii)read or write simple words and phrases in
ordinary usage in the English language.
(D)Prohibition on extraordinary and
unreasonable conditionsThe
Secretary may not impose any extraordinary or unreasonable condition on any
applicant seeking to meet the requirements of paragraph
(1).
.
(b)Subsection (b) of such section is
amended—
(1)in paragraph (1), by striking
subsection (a)
and inserting subsection
(a)(1)
;
(2)in paragraph (2), by striking
subsection (a)(1)
and inserting subsection
(a)(1)(A)
; and
(3)in paragraph (3)—
(A)by striking subsection
(a)(2)
and inserting subsection (a)(1)(B)
;
(B)by striking The Attorney
General
and inserting The Secretary of Homeland
Security
; and
(C)by striking determined by the
Attorney General
and inserting determined by the
Secretary
.
4.Voluntary electronic filing of
applicationsThe Secretary of
Homeland Security may not require that an applicant or petitioner for permanent
residence or citizenship of the United States use an electronic method to file
any application to, or access a customer account.
5.
(a)
(1)The Comptroller General of the United
States shall conduct a study on the process used by the Department of Justice
on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act to conduct a background
check on an applicant for citizenship of the United States.
(2)Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall report to Congress on the findings of the study required by
paragraph (1).
(3)The report required by paragraph (2) shall
include the following information with respect to the calendar year preceding
the date on which the report is filed:
(A)The number of background checks conducted
by the Department of Justice on applicants for citizenship of the United
States.
(B)The types of such background checks
conducted.
(C)The average time spent on each such type of
background check.
(D)A description of the obstacles that impede
the timely completion of such background checks.
(b)Timely completion of background
checks
(1)With respect to a request submitted to the
Attorney General by the Secretary of Homeland Security for a background check
on an applicant for temporary or permanent residence or citizenship of the
United States, the Attorney General shall make a reasonable effort to complete
a background check on such applicant not later than 90 days after the Attorney
General receives such request from the Secretary of Homeland Security.
(2)Delays on background checksIf a background check described in
paragraph (1) is not completed by the Attorney General before the date that is
91 days after the date that the Attorney General receives a request described
in paragraph (1)—
(A)the Attorney General shall document the
reason why such background check was not completed before such date; and
(B)if such background check is not completed
before the date that is 181 days after the date of such receipt, then the
Attorney General shall, not later than 210 days after the date of such receipt,
submit to the appropriate congressional committees and the Secretary of
Homeland Security a report that describes—
(i)the reason that such background check was
not completed within 180 days; and
(ii)the earliest date on which the Attorney
General is certain the background check will be completed.
(3)Annual report on delayed background
checksNot later than the end
of each fiscal year, the Attorney General shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report containing, with respect to that fiscal
year—
(A)the number of background checks described
in subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2);
(B)the time taken to complete each such
background check;
(C)a statistical analysis of the causes of the
delays in completing such background checks; and
(D)a description of the efforts being made by
the Attorney General to address each such cause.
(4)Notification to applicantIf, with respect to a background check on
an applicant described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security
receives a report under paragraph (2)(C), then the Secretary shall provide to
such applicant a copy of such report, redacted to remove any classified
information contained therein.
(5)Appropriate congressional
committeesIn this
subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means
the following:
(A)The Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate.
(B)The Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
(C)The Committee on the Judiciary of the House
of Representatives.
(D)The Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives.
(6)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General such funds as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
6.National citizenship promotion
program
(a)
(1)Not later than January 1, 2008, the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a program to assist aliens who
have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence in becoming citizens of the
United States.
(2)The program required by paragraph (1) shall
be known as the New Americans Initiative
(in this section
referred to as the Program
).
(b)As part of the Program required by
subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall—
(1)award grants in accordance with subsection
(c); and
(2)carry out outreach activities in accordance
with subsection (d).
(c)
(1)The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
award grants to eligible entities to assist aliens who have been lawfully
admitted for permanent residence in becoming citizens of the United
States.
(2)In this subsection, the term eligible
entity means a not-for-profit organization that has experience working
with immigrant communities.
(3)Grants awarded under this subsection shall
be used for activities to assist aliens who have been lawfully admitted for
permanent residence in becoming citizens of the United States,
including—
(A)conducting English language and citizenship
classes for such aliens;
(B)providing legal assistance, by attorneys or
entities accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals, to such aliens to
assist such aliens in becoming citizens of the United States;
(C)carrying out outreach activities and
providing education to immigrant communities to assist such aliens in becoming
citizens of the United States; and
(D)assisting such aliens with applications to
become citizens of the United States, as allowed by Federal and State
law.
(4)
(A)Each eligible entity seeking a grant under
this subsection shall submit an application to the Secretary of Homeland
Security at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as
the Secretary shall require.
(B)Each application submitted pursuant to
subparagraph (A) shall include a description of—
(i)the activities for which a grant under this
section is sought;
(ii)the manner in which the entity plans to
leverage available private and State and local government resources to assist
aliens who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence in becoming
citizens of the United States;
(iii)the experience of the entity in carrying
out the activities for which a grant under this section is sought, including
the number of aliens and geographic regions served by such entity; and
(iv)the manner in which the entity plans to
employ best practices developed by adult educators, State and local
governments, and community organizations—
(I)to promote citizenship and civic
participation by such aliens; and
(II)to provide assistance to such aliens with
the process of becoming citizens of the United States.
(d)The Secretary of Homeland Security
shall—
(1)develop outreach materials targeted to
aliens who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence to encourage
such aliens to apply to become citizens of the United States; and
(2)make such outreach materials available
through—
(A)public service announcements;
(B)advertisements; and
(C)such other media as the Secretary
determines is appropriate.
(e)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Homeland Security,
$80,000,000 to carry out this section.