109 HR 4352 IH: Nicaragua Political Prisoner Support Act U.S. House of Representatives 2023-06-23 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.

I118th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 4352IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJune 23, 2023Ms. Salazar (for herself, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Diaz-Balart, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, 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 provide Nicaraguan political prisoners who arrived in the United States on February 9, 2023, and their immediate family members with certain benefits available to refugees.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Nicaragua Political Prisoner Support Act.

2.

Defined term

In this section, the term eligible Nicaraguan national means an alien—(1)(A)(i)who is a citizen or national of Nicaragua; or(ii)in the case of an alien having no nationality, whose former or last habitual residence was in Nicaragua; and(B)who arrived in the United States on February 9, 2023, as part of a political prisoner release, and was granted a 2-year humanitarian parole by the United States Government; or(2)who is the parent, spouse, or child of an individual described in paragraph (1).

3.

Eligibility requirements

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an eligible Nicaraguan national is eligible for the benefits described in section 4 if—(1)such individual has completed security and law enforcement background checks to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Homeland Security; and(2)such individual’s parole—(A)has not been terminated by the Secretary of Homeland Security; or(B)was terminated while a renewal application was pending for such parole and the sole reason for such termination was that the renewal application had not yet been processed.

4.

Benefits

An individual described in section 3 is eligible for—(1)resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and other benefits that are available to refugees admitted under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) to the same extent as such refugees; (2)child welfare services described in section 412(d)(2) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(d)(2)); and(3)a driver’s license or identification card under section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (division B of Public Law 109–13; 49 U.S.C. 30301 note), notwithstanding subsection (c)(2)(B) of such Act.

5.

Rules of construction

(a)

In general

Nothing in this Act may be construed—(1)to preclude an eligible Nicaraguan national from applying for or receiving any immigration benefits to which such individual is otherwise eligible; or(2)to entitle an eligible Nicaraguan national to lawful permanent resident status.

6.

Exemption from the Paperwork Reduction Act

The requirements under chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Paperwork Reduction Act) shall not apply to any action taken to implement this section involving the translation of an approved collection of information into a new language.