[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2708 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2708

   To provide for the admission to the United States of up to 10,000 
Syrian religious minorities as refugees of special humanitarian concern 
             in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2020.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 2016

  Mr. Cotton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the admission to the United States of up to 10,000 
Syrian religious minorities as refugees of special humanitarian concern 
             in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2020.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Religious Persecution Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES REFUGEE PROGRAM PROCESSING PRIORITIES.

    (a) Classification of Syrian Religious Minorities.--Syrian 
nationals who are religious minorities in their country of origin (as 
described in section 599D(b)(1)(D) of the Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990) (Public Law 
101-167; 8 U.S.C. 1157 note)--
            (1) shall be classified as refugees of special humanitarian 
        concern;
            (2) shall be eligible for Priority 2 processing under the 
        refugee resettlement priority system; and
            (3) may apply directly to the United States Refugee 
        Admissions Program for admission to the United States.
    (b) Processing Mechanisms.--The Secretary of State, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish or use 
existing refugee processing mechanisms in countries in which 
individuals described in subsection (a) are residing to provide such 
individuals with the opportunity to apply and interview for admission 
to the United States as refugees.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT QUOTA.

    Section 207(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1157(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``If the President'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(1) In general.--If the President''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Syrian religious minorities.--In addition to the 
        number of refugees authorized to be admitted to the United 
        States under paragraph (1) and subsection (a), there are 
        authorized to be admitted up to 10,000 aliens described in 
        section 599D(b)(1)(D) of the Foreign Operations, Export 
        Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 
        (Public Law 101-167; 8 U.S.C. 1157 note) for each of the fiscal 
        years 2016 through 2020.''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW CATEGORY OF REFUGEE OF SPECIAL 
              HUMANITARIAN CONCERN.

    Section 599D of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and 
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 (Public Law 101-167; 8 U.S.C. 
1157 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) one or more categories of aliens who--
                            ``(i) are or were nationals and residents 
                        of the Syrian Arab Republic;
                            ``(ii) as members of a religious minority 
                        in Syria, share common characteristics that 
                        identify them as targets of persecution in that 
                        state on account of religion, creed, or 
                        ethnicity; and
                            ``(iii) have been underrepresented in the 
                        United States refugee resettlement program 
                        during the 5-year period ending on September 
                        30, 2015, when compared to their representation 
                        in the Syrian population as a whole.''; and
            (2) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Subsections (a) 
                and (b)'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
                paragraph (4), subsections (a) and (b)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) An alien described in subsection (b)(1)(D) may 
        establish a well-founded fear of persecution under subsection 
        (a) by asserting such fear in an application for admission as a 
        refugee under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) that is filed during the period beginning 
        on the date of the enactment of this section and ending on 
        September 30, 2020.''.
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