117 HR 7464 IH: Anti-Caravan Act of 2022 U.S. House of Representatives 2022-04-07 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.
I117th CONGRESS2d SessionH. R. 7464IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESApril 7, 2022Ms. Herrell (for herself, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Mooney, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mrs. Boebert, and Mr. Budd) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedA BILLTo place certain limitations on migrant caravans, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Anti-Caravan Act of 2022.
2.
Limitations on migrant caravans
(a)
Controlled flow policy
(1)
Funding
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall make such amounts available in the form of reimbursements to the government of a Central American country or Mexico as may be necessary to cover up to 70 percent of the cost of any flight to return an alien to the alien’s country of origin or nationality if such alien is determined by the appropriate government authorities in the respective country to have unlawfully entered the country in a migrant caravan and be in transit to the United States. The total amount reimbursed to a government of a Central American country of Mexico for this purpose shall not exceed the amount authorized by appropriations for the applicable fiscal year.(2)
Central American country defined
In this subsection, the term Central American country means a country that has implemented a controlled flow policy, including—(A)Guatemala;(B)Panama;(C)El Salvador;(D)Costa Rica;(E)Honduras;(F)Nicaragua; and (G)Belize. (b)
Foreign aid for certain immigration activities
(1)
In general
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall develop a program to provide direct funding to a Western Hemisphere country or other country determined by the Secretary of State to have a policy deterring unlawful travel from a source country of illegal migration to the United States. Such funding may be used to fund immigration detention, processing immigration cases, and repatriation flights for foreign nationals to be returned to their country of nationality. (2)
Funding
The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall make such amounts available in the form of reimbursements to the government of a Western Hemisphere country as may be necessary to cover up to 70 percent of percent of the costs for legal processing, detention, and air transportation, to be derived from amounts appropriated.(c)
Well-Founded fear for certain asylum seekers
Section 208(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (F)
Migrant caravans
(i)
In general
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an alien if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that the alien entered the United States in a group of more than 25 aliens in an hour period within a quarter mile along the United States-Mexico border region unless such alien enters the United States at a port of entry. (ii)
Reporting requirement
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Anti-Caravan Act of 2022, and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate on the number of migrant caravans encountered along the United States-Mexico border region from which country the migrant caravans originated, through which countries they transited, and what actions any Central American country or Mexico took to repatriate, detain, or impede the transit of a migrant caravan..(d)
Criminal and immigration penalties for organizers and participants in a migrant caravan
Chapter 8 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1321 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 276 the following new section:
276A.
Penalties for organizers and participants in a migrant caravan
(a)
In general
(1)
Participant
An alien who participated in a migrant caravan, as determined by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall be ineligible for any immigration benefit or status under this Act for 10 years from the date on which the migrant is encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection with respect to such participation.(2)
Organizer or financier
An alien who organized or financed a migrant caravan, as determined by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall be ineligible for any immigration benefit or status under this Act for 30 years from the date on which such a determination is made.(b)
Criminal penalties
An individual who knowingly organized, financed, or otherwise provided material support a migrant caravan shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not less than 10 years, or both. (c)
Migrant caravan defined
The term migrant caravan means a group of 25 or more individuals moving by land across international borders with the intent to enter the United States without valid entry documents or lawful immigration status, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security and the government of a country of transit, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or any other law.
.(e)
Funds required
The Secretary of State may use $60,000,000 to be derived from the unobligated balances of the amounts appropriated under section 7045(a)(1) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117–103) for the purpose of carrying out this Act.(f)
Definitions
In this section:(1)
Migrant caravan
The term migrant caravan means a group of 25 or more individuals moving by land across international borders with the intent to enter the United States without valid entry documents or lawful immigration status, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security and the government of a country of transit, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or any other law.(2)
Source country
The term source country means a country whose nationals account for more than 1.9 percent of all U.S. Customs and Border Protection encounters, as determined annually by the Secretary of Homeland Security, at the southwest border of the United States.