[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 24 (Friday, February 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S654-S655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1495. Mr. TUBERVILLE submitted an amendment intended to be 
submitted by him to the bill H.R. 815, to amend title 38, United States 
Code, to make certain improvements relating to the eligibility of 
veterans to receive reimbursement for emergency treatment furnished 
through the Veterans Community Care program, and for other purposes; 
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. NEGOTIATIONS BY SECRETARY OF STATE.

       (a) Authorization To Negotiate.--The Secretary of State 
     shall seek to negotiate agreements, accords, and memoranda of 
     understanding between the United States, Mexico, Honduras, El 
     Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries in the Western 
     Hemisphere with respect to cooperation and burden sharing 
     required for effective regional immigration enforcement, 
     expediting legal claims by aliens for asylum, and the 
     processing, detention, and repatriation of foreign nationals 
     seeking to enter the United States unlawfully.
       (b) Minimum Requirements.--The agreements required to be 
     negotiated under subsection (a) shall--
       (1) be designed to facilitate a regional approach to 
     immigration enforcement; and
       (2) provide that--
       (A) the Government of Mexico authorize and accept the rapid 
     entrance into Mexico of nationals of countries other than 
     Mexico who seek asylum in Mexico, and process the asylum 
     claims of such nationals inside Mexico, in accordance with 
     both domestic law and international treaties and conventions 
     governing the processing of asylum claims;
       (B) the Government of Mexico authorize and accept both the 
     rapid entrance into Mexico of all nationals of countries 
     other than Mexico who are ineligible for asylum in Mexico and 
     wish to apply for asylum in the United States, whether or not 
     at a port of entry, and the continued presence of such 
     nationals in Mexico while they wait for the adjudication of 
     their asylum claims to conclude in the United States;
       (C) the Government of Mexico commit to provide the 
     individuals described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) with 
     appropriate humanitarian protections;
       (D) the Government of Honduras, the Government of El 
     Salvador, and the Government of Guatemala each authorize and 
     accept the entrance into the respective countries of 
     nationals of other countries seeking asylum in the applicable 
     such country and process such claims in accordance with 
     applicable domestic law and international treaties and 
     conventions governing the processing of asylum claims;
       (E) the Government of the United States commit to work to 
     accelerate the adjudication of asylum claims and to conclude 
     removal proceedings in the wake of asylum adjudications as 
     expeditiously as possible;
       (F) the Government of the United States commit to continue 
     to assist the governments of countries in the Western 
     Hemisphere, such as the Government of Honduras, the 
     Government of El Salvador, and the Government of Guatemala, 
     by supporting the enhancement of asylum capacity in those 
     countries; and
       (G) the Government of the United States commit to 
     monitoring developments in hemispheric immigration trends and 
     regional asylum capabilities to determine whether additional 
     asylum cooperation agreements are warranted.
       (c) Notification in Accordance With Case-Zablocki Act.--Not 
     later than 48 hours after any agreement described in 
     subsection

[[Page S655]]

     (a) is signed, the Secretary of State, in accordance with 
     section 112b of title 1, United States Code, shall inform the 
     relevant congressional committees of such agreement.
       (d) Alien Defined.--In this section, the term ``alien'' has 
     the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
                                 ______