II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4110 

To designate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 

as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 30, 2020 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. 

MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To designate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Hong Kong Safe Har5 bor Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF HONG 

7 KONG AS PRIORITY 2 REFUGEES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con9 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 


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1 designate as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian 

2 concern the following categories of aliens: 

3 (1) Individuals who are residents of the Hong 

4 Kong Special Administrative Region who suffered 

5 persecution, or have a well-founded fear of persecu6 tion, on account of their peaceful expression of polit7 ical opinions or peaceful participation in political ac8 tivities or associations. 

9 (2) Individuals who have been formally charged, 

10 detained, or convicted on account of their peaceful 

11 actions as described in section 206(b)(2) the United 

12 States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 

13 5726). 

14 (3) The spouses, children, and parents (as such 

15 terms are defined in subsections (a) and (b) of sec16 tion 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

17 U.S.C. 1101)) of individuals described in paragraph 

18 (1) or (2), except such parents who are citizens of 

19 a country other than the People’s Republic of China. 

20 (b) PROCESSING OF HONG KONG REFUGEES.—The 

21 processing of individuals described in subsection (a) for 

22 classification as refugees may occur in Hong Kong or in 

23 a third country. 

24 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR ADMISSION AS REFUGEES.—An 

25 alien may not be denied the opportunity to apply for adVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4110.IS S4110

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1 mission as a refugee under this section primarily because 

2 such alien— 

3 (1) qualifies as an immediate relative of a cit4 izen of the United States; or 

5 (2) is eligible for admission to the United 

6 States under any other immigrant classification. 

7 (d) FACILITATION OF ADMISSIONS.—An applicant 

8 for admission to the United States from the Hong Kong 

9 Special Administrative Region may not be denied pri10 marily on the basis of a politically motivated arrest, deten11 tion, or other adverse government action taken against 

12 such applicant as a result of the participation by such ap13 plicant in protest activities. 

14 (e) EXCLUSION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 

15 Aliens provided refugee status under this section shall not 

16 be counted against any numerical limitation under section 

17 201, 202, 203, or 207 of the Immigration and Nationality 

18 Act (8 U.S.C. 1151, 1152, 1153, or 1157). 

19 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

22 every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of State and 

23 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 

24 report on the matters described in paragraph (2) 

25 to— 


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1 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

2 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen3 ate; and 

4 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

5 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

6 of Representatives. 

7 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report 

8 required by paragraph (1) shall include— 

9 (A) the total number of applications that 

10 are pending at the end of the reporting period; 

11 (B) the average wait-times for all appli12 cants who are currently pending— 

13 (i) employment verification; 

14 (ii) a prescreening interview with a re15 settlement support center; 

16 (iii) an interview with U.S. Citizen17 ship and Immigration Services; and 

18 (iv) the completion of security checks; 

19 and 

20 (C) the number of denials of applications 

21 for refugee status, disaggregated by the reason 

22 for each such denial. 

23 (3) FORM.—Each report required by paragraph 

24 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 

25 include a classified annex. 


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1 (4) PUBLIC REPORTS.—The Secretary of State 

2 shall make each report submitted under this sub3 section available to the public on the internet website 

4 of the Department of State. 

5 (g) SATISFACTION OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 Aliens granted status under this section as Priority 2 refu7 gees of special humanitarian concern under the refugee 

8 resettlement priority system shall be considered to satisfy 

9 the requirements under section 207 of the Immigration 

10 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) for admission to the 

11 United States. 

12 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF IMMIGRANT STATUS PRESUMPTION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The presumption under the first 

14 sentence of section 214(b) (8 U.S.C. 1184(b)) that every 

15 alien is an immigrant until the alien establishes that the 

16 alien is entitled to nonimmigrant status shall not apply 

17 to an alien described in subsection (b). 

18 (b) ALIEN DESCRIBED.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien described in this 

20 paragraph is an alien who— 

21 (A) on June 30, 2020, is a resident of the 

22 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; 

23 (B) is seeking entry to the United States 

24 to apply for asylum under section 208 of the 


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1 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

2 1158); and 

3 (C)(i) had a leadership role in civil society 

4 organizations supportive of the protests in 2019 

5 and 2020 relating to the Hong Kong extra6 dition bill and the encroachment on the auton7 omy of Hong Kong by the People’s Republic of 

8 China; 

9 (ii) had an organizing role for such pro10 tests; 

11 (iii) acted as a first aid responder for such 

12 protests; 

13 (iv) suffered harm while covering such pro14 tests as a journalist; 

15 (v) provided paid or pro-bono legal services 

16 to 1 or more individuals arrested for partici17 pating in such protests; or 

18 (vi) during the period beginning on June 

19 9, 2019, and ending on June 30, 2020, was for20 mally charged, detained, or convicted for his or 

21 her participation in such protests. 

22 (2) EXCLUSION.—An alien described in this 

23 paragraph does not include any alien who is a citizen 

24 of a country other than the People’s Republic of 

25 China. 


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1 SEC. 4. REFUGEE AND ASYLUM DETERMINATIONS UNDER 

2 THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT. 

3 (a) PERSECUTION ON ACCOUNT OF POLITICAL OPIN4 ION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of refugee de6 terminations under this Act in accordance with sec7 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

8 U.S.C. 1157), an individual whose citizenship, na9 tionality, or residency is revoked for having sub10 mitted to any United States Government agency a 

11 nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, 

12 or any other immigration benefit under the immigra13 tion laws (as defined in section 101(a) of that Act 

14 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) shall be considered to have suf15 fered persecution on account of political opinion. 

16 (2) NATIONALS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF

17 CHINA.—For purposes of refugee determinations 

18 under this Act in accordance with section 207 of the 

19 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), a 

20 national of the People’s Republic of China whose 

21 residency in the Hong Kong Special Administrative 

22 region, or any other area within the jurisdiction of 

23 the People’s Republic of China, as determined by the 

24 Secretary of State, is revoked for having submitted 

25 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivo26 lous application for refugee status, asylum, or any 


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1 other immigration benefit under the immigration 

2 laws shall be considered to have suffered persecution 

3 on account of political opinion. 

4 (b) CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES.—For purposes of 

5 asylum determinations under this Act in accordance with 

6 section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

7 U.S.C. 1158), the revocation of the citizenship, nation8 ality, or residency of an individual for having submitted 

9 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous 

10 application for refugee status, asylum, or any other immi11 gration benefit under the immigration laws shall be con12 sidered to be a changed circumstance under subsection 

13 (a)(2)(D) of that section. 

14 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON ENCOURAGING ALLIES 

15 AND PARTNERS TO MAKE SIMILAR ACCOM16 MODATIONS. 

17 It is the policy of the United States to encourage al18 lies and partners of the United States to make accom19 modations similar to the accommodations made in this Act 

20 for residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Re21 gion who are fleeing oppression by the Government of the 

22 People’s Republic of China. 


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1 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 

2 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

3 shall cease to have effect on the date that is 5 years after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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