II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 742 

To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2019 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Children 

5 Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) the laws of the United States and the poli9 cies of the Department of State aim to prevent and 

10 reduce the risks of child marriages, sex trafficking, 

11 and sexual abuse occurring throughout the world; 


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1 (2) major loopholes in Federal law have allowed 

2 thousands of minors to be subjected to child mar3 riages; 

4 (3) under the Immigration and Nationality Act 

5 (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)— 

6 (A) a United States citizen child may peti7 tion for an immigrant visa for a spouse or 

8 fiance ́ living in another country; and 

9 (B) a United States citizen adult may peti10 tion for an immigrant visa for a minor spouse 

11 or fiance ́ living abroad; 

12 (4) the United States Government has advo13 cated for preventing and reducing the occurrence of 

14 child marriages throughout the world; 

15 (5) Congress passed the Violence Against 

16 Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 

17 113–4), which requires the Secretary of State to es18 tablish and implement a multiyear strategy— 

19 (A) to ‘‘prevent child marriages’’; and 

20 (B) to ‘‘promote the empowerment of girls 

21 at risk of child marriage in developing coun22 tries’’; 

23 (6) acknowledges that although the Federal 

24 Government is limited in its ability to address child 

25 marriage within individual States, establishing a 


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1 minimum age of 18 years for marriage-based and 

2 fiance ́-based immigrant visa petitions is an imme3 diate and viable solution for preventing child mar4 riage through exploitation of the United States im5 migration system; 

6 (7) affirms that child well being is a foremost 

7 priority and consideration when imposing strict age 

8 requirements for visa spousal and fiance ́ petitions 

9 within the United States immigration system; 

10 (8) recognizes that under the current immigra11 tion legal framework, individuals may exploit visa 

12 marriage and fiance ́ petitions for nefarious purposes, 

13 including— 

14 (A) coercing forced marriages; and 

15 (B) the trafficking and abuse of children; 

16 and 

17 (9) acknowledges that between 2007 and 

18 2017— 

19 (A) loopholes in the United States immi20 gration laws resulted in the approval by U.S. 

21 Citizenship and Immigration Services of 8,868 

22 petitions involving minors for spousal or fiance ́

23 entry into the United States; and 

24 (B) girls were the younger party in 95 per25 cent of such petitions. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROTECTING CHILDREN THROUGH ELIMINATING 

2 VISA LOOPHOLES. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (15)(K)— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

7 striking ‘‘(p) of section 214, an alien’’ and in8 serting ‘‘(r) of section 214, an alien who is at 

9 least 18 years of age’’; and 

10 (B) by inserting ‘‘who is at least 18 years 

11 of age’’ after ‘‘a citizen of the United States’’ 

12 each time such term appears; and 

13 (2) in paragraph (35), by adding at the end the 

14 following: ‘‘Such terms do not include any individual 

15 who is younger than 18 years of age or who is mar16 ried to an individual who is younger than 18 years 

17 of age.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

19 (1) K NONIMMIGRANTS.—The amendments 

20 made by subsection (a)(1)— 

21 (A) shall take effect on the date of the en22 actment of this Act; and 

23 (B) shall apply to any petition or applica24 tion seeking nonimmigrant status for any alien 

25 under section 101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration 

26 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(K)) 


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1 that is pending before any agency, officer, or 

2 employee of the United States on or after such 

3 date of enactment. 

4 (2) SPOUSE; WIFE; HUSBAND.—The amend5 ment made by subsection (a)(2)— 

6 (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

7 shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act; 

9 (B) subject to subparagraph (C), shall 

10 apply to marriages entered into before, on, or 

11 after such date of enactment; and 

12 (C) shall apply to any petition or applica13 tion for any status or benefit under the immi14 gration laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) 

15 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

16 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) that is filed or otherwise 

17 submitted on or after such date of enactment, 

18 except for a petition under section 216 of such 

19 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186a) to remove the conditional 

20 basis of lawful permanent residence based upon 

21 a grant of conditional lawful permanent resi22 dent status before such date of enactment. 

23 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment 

24 made by subsection (a)(2)— 


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1 (1) shall apply to the immigration laws (as de2 fined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 

3 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))); 

4 (2) may not be construed to affect or modify 

5 any reference to, or legal effect of, any marriage 

6 under any provision of the immigration laws using 

7 a term not defined by such amendment, including 

8 whether any person is married or has been born in 

9 wedlock or legitimated for purposes of determining 

10 whether such person is a child or is a married or un11 married son or daughter; and 

12 (3) may not be construed to limit or modify the 

13 eligibility of any VAWA self-petitioner (as defined in 

14 section 101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nation15 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(51))) for any available 

16 relief under the immigration laws. 

Æ 


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