[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 484--RECOGNIZING JANUARY 27, 2020, AS THE ANNIVERSARY 
OF THE FIRST REFUGEE AND MUSLIM BAN, CALLING ON CONGRESS TO DEFUND THE 
   MIGRANT PROTECTION PROTOCOLS, AND URGING THE PRESIDENT TO RESTORE 
                 REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT TO HISTORIC NORMS

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Feinstein, 
Ms. Harris, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. 
Gillibrand, Ms. Warren, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Cardin, Mr. 
Merkley, Mr. Booker, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Coons) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 484

       Whereas the world is in the midst of the worst global 
     displacement crisis in history, with more than 25,900,000 
     refugees worldwide, according to United Nations High 
     Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates;
       Whereas UNHCR reports that global resettlement needs have 
     doubled in recent years, reaching over 1,440,000 refugees in 
     2020;
       Whereas the United States Refugee Admissions Program 
     (USRAP) is a life-saving solution critical to global 
     humanitarian efforts, which serves to strengthen global 
     security, leverage United States foreign policy goals, and 
     support regional host countries while serving individuals and 
     families in need;
       Whereas the United States has been a global leader in 
     responding to displacement crises around the world and 
     promoting the safety, health, and well-being of refugees and 
     displaced persons;
       Whereas refugees are the most vetted travelers to enter the 
     United States and are subject to extensive screening checks, 
     including in-person interviews, biometric data checks, and 
     multiple interagency checks;
       Whereas the United States Government leverages resettlement 
     to encourage other countries to keep their doors open to 
     refugees, allow refugee children to attend school, and allow 
     adults to work;
       Whereas the USRAP emphasizes early self-sufficiency through 
     employment, and most adult refugees are employed within their 
     first six months of arriving to the United States;
       Whereas refugees contribute to their communities by 
     starting businesses, paying taxes, sharing their cultural 
     traditions, and being involved in their neighborhoods, and 
     reports have found that refugees contribute more than they 
     consume in State-funded services--including for schooling and 
     health care;
       Whereas, for over 40 years, the United States has resettled 
     up to 200,000 refugees per year, with an average admissions 
     goal of 95,000 refugees per year;
       Whereas the United States Government has abdicated its 
     leadership by setting a record-low refugee admissions goal in 
     fiscal year 2020 at 18,000;
       Whereas, on January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump 
     released an executive order banning individuals from seven 
     Muslim-majority countries and all refugees from entering the 
     country;
       Whereas, since that time, the President has taken further 
     executive and administrative actions to ban people from 
     Muslim-majority countries and to dismantle the United States 
     refugee program, resulting in significantly lowered capacity 
     and loss of institutional memory and experience in the 
     historically successful USRAP;
       Whereas the President issued a Proclamation on November 9, 
     2018, that wrongfully and illegally blocks people who cross 
     between ports of entry from applying for asylum, and since 
     then has taken further aggressive steps to dismantle the 
     United States asylum system;
       Whereas the Department of Homeland Security started 
     implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols on January 
     29, 2019, and it has exposed tens of thousands of asylum 
     seekers to torture, kidnapping, trafficking, and exploitation 
     by returning them to dangerous border cities in Mexico;
       Whereas the 2018 Department of State country report for 
     Mexico acknowledges serious and targeted risks faced by 
     migrants and asylum seekers in, and transiting through, 
     Mexico, such that it remains an unsafe place for many;
       Whereas the United States has returned more than 24,000 
     asylum seekers alone to Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros, widely 
     recognized as among the most violent cities in the world, 
     located in the state of Tamaulipas, which is the subject of a 
     Department of State ``Level 4: Do Not Travel'' advisory;
       Whereas sending asylum seekers to another country limits 
     and may completely eliminate their opportunity to identify 
     and meet with counsel, thereby lowering their chances of 
     obtaining relief; and
       Whereas all individuals seeking asylum in the United States 
     are entitled to due process and access to an attorney: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms the United States' proud history of refugee 
     resettlement and protection of asylum seekers;
       (2) recognizes January 27, 2020, as the anniversary of the 
     first refugee and Muslim ban;
       (3) reaffirms the strong bipartisan commitment of the 
     United States to promote the safety, health, and well-being 
     of refugees, including through resettlement and the asylum 
     seeking process to the United States for those who cannot 
     return home;
       (4) underscores the importance of the United States Refugee 
     Admissions Program and a robust asylum system as critical 
     tools for United States global leadership;
       (5) recognizes the profound consequences faced by refugees, 
     asylum seekers, and their families who have been stranded, 
     separated, and scarred by current United States policies, 
     leaving thousands mid-process and more with little hope of 
     protection in the United States; and
       (6) calls upon the United States Government--
       (A) to resettle a robust number of refugees to meet global 
     need in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 with an emphasis on 
     rebuilding the resettlement program and returning to historic 
     norms;
       (B) to operate the program in good faith in an attempt to 
     meet their own stated objectives, restore historic refugee 
     arrivals, improve consultation with Congress, and adhere to 
     the clear congressional intent within the Refugee Act of 1980 
     (Public Law 96-212);
       (C) to ensure that no funds be made available by any Act to 
     implement or enforce the Migrant Protection Protocols 
     announced by the Secretary of Homeland Security on December 
     20, 2018, or any subsequent revisions to those protocols;
       (D) to enact the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination 
     for Nonimmigrants Act, introduced in the Senate as S.1123 
     (116th Congress) and in the House of Representatives as 
     H.R.2214 (116th Congress), which would terminate the Muslim, 
     refugee, and asylum bans; and
       (E) to recommit to offering freedom to individuals fleeing 
     from persecution and oppression regardless of their country 
     of origin or religious beliefs.

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