III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2020 

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 

RESOLUTION 

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. 

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; 


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•SRES 484 IS 

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; 


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•SRES 484 IS 

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; 


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•SRES 484 IS 

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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the United States proud history of 

3 refugee resettlement and protection of asylum seek4 ers; 

5 (2) recognizes January 27, 2020, as the anni6 versary of the first refugee and Muslim ban; 

7 (3) reaffirms the strong bipartisan commitment 

8 of the United States to promote the safety, health, 

9 and well-being of refugees, including through reset10 tlement and the asylum seeking process to the 

11 United States for those who cannot return home; 

12 (4) underscores the importance of the United 

13 States Refugee Admissions Program and a robust 

14 asylum system as critical tools for United States 

15 global leadership; 


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•SRES 484 IS 

1 (5) recognizes the profound consequences faced 

2 by refugees, asylum seekers, and their families who 

3 have been stranded, separated, and scarred by cur4 rent United States policies, leaving thousands mid5 process and more with little hope of protection in the 

6 United States; and 

7 (6) calls upon the United States Government— 

8 (A) to resettle a robust number of refugees 

9 to meet global need in fiscal years 2020 and 

10 2021 with an emphasis on rebuilding the reset11 tlement program and returning to historic 

12 norms; 

13 (B) to operate the program in good faith 

14 in an attempt to meet their own stated objec15 tives, restore historic refugee arrivals, improve 

16 consultation with Congress, and adhere to the 

17 clear congressional intent within the Refugee 

18 Act of 1980 (Public Law 96–212); 

19 (C) to ensure that no funds be made avail20 able by any Act to implement or enforce the Mi21 grant Protection Protocols announced by the 

22 Secretary of Homeland Security on December 

23 20, 2018, or any subsequent revisions to those 

24 protocols; 


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•SRES 484 IS 

1 (D) to enact the National Origin-Based 

2 Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act, in3 troduced in the Senate as S. 1123 (116th Con4 gress) and in the House of Representatives as 

5 H.R. 2214 (116th Congress), which would ter6 minate the Muslim, refugee, and asylum bans; 

7 and 

8 (E) to recommit to offering freedom to in9 dividuals fleeing from persecution and oppres10 sion regardless of their country of origin or reli11 gious beliefs. 

Æ 


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