II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4874 

To improve the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland 

Security Investigations’ Visa Security Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. JOHNSON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

Homeland Security Investigations’ Visa Security Program, 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 ‘‘Visa Security Expan5 sion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. VISA SECURITY. 

7 (a) VISA SECURITY PRESENCE AT HIGH-RISK

8 POSTS.—Section 428 of the Homeland Security Act of 

9 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) CONSULAR OFFICER.—The term ‘consular 

5 officer’ has the meaning given such term under sec6 tion 101(a)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality 

7 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(9)). 

8 ‘‘(2) RISK-BASED ASSIGNMENT.—The term 

9 ‘risk-based assignment’ means the assignment of 

10 visa security presence at a diplomatic or consular 

11 post based on relative need, according to the site se12 lection criteria described in subsection (e)(1)(B)(iii). 

13 ‘‘(3) VISA SECURITY PRESENCE.—The term 

14 ‘visa security presence’ means enhanced security at 

15 a diplomatic or consular post using any method de16 scribed in subsection (e)(1)(B)(iv).’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (e)(1)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in19 serting the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary’’; 

21 and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) RISK-BASED ASSIGNMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—During the 10- 

25 year period beginning on the date of the 


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1 enactment of the Visa Security Expansion 

2 Act, the Secretary shall make annual risk3 based assignments to provide visa security 

4 presence at not fewer than 2 additional 

5 diplomatic and consular posts at which 

6 visas are issued. 

7 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The total number 

8 of embassies or consulates with visa secu9 rity presence during the period specified in 

10 clause (i) may not exceed 75, unless the 

11 Secretary certifies that exceeding this limit 

12 is necessary to respond to an imminent na13 tional security threat. 

14 ‘‘(iii) SITE SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

15 The criteria for site selection described in 

16 this clause are— 

17 ‘‘(I) the number of nationals of a 

18 country in which any of the diplomatic 

19 and consular posts referred to in 

20 clause (i) are located who were identi21 fied during the previous year as a 

22 known or suspected terrorist in a 

23 United States Government database; 

24 ‘‘(II) the level of cooperation 

25 given by the government of such counVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:07 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4874.IS S4874

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1 try to assist with the counterterrorism 

2 efforts of the United States; 

3 ‘‘(III) information analyzing the 

4 presence, activity, or movement of ter5 rorist organizations (as defined in sec6 tion 212(a)(3)(B)(vi) of the Immigra7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi))) within or through 

9 such country; 

10 ‘‘(IV) information analyzing Se11 curity Advisory Opinions issued by the 

12 Security Advisory Opinion Unit re13 garding nationals of a country in 

14 which any of the diplomatic and con15 sular posts referred to in clause (i) 

16 are located; 

17 ‘‘(V) information analyzing the 

18 adequacy of the border and immigra19 tion controls of such country; and 

20 ‘‘(VI) any other criteria the Sec21 retary determines appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(iv) VISA SECURITY PRESENCE.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The visa se24 curity presence required under clause 

25 (i) may be achieved primarily by asVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:07 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4874.IS S4874

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1 signing trained Department visa secu2 rity agents to a selected embassy or 

3 consulate, provided that the Depart4 ment issues a report to Congress ex5 plaining why the placement of visa se6 curity agents is the most cost effective 

7 means for achieving a visa security 

8 presence at the embassy or consulate. 

9 ‘‘(II) ALTERNATE VISA SECURITY

10 PRESENCE.—If the Secretary is un11 able to justify the placement of visa 

12 security agents under subclause (I), 

13 the visa security presence required 

14 under clause (i) may be achieved by 

15 assigning a regional visa security 

16 agent from the Department who will 

17 travel to conduct in-person vetting for 

18 high priority applications.’’. 

19 (b) COUNTERTERRORISM VETTING AND SCREEN20 ING.—Section 428(e)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 

21 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236(e)(2)) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub23 paragraph (D); and 

24 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(C) Screen any such applications against 

2 the appropriate criminal, national security, and 

3 terrorism databases maintained by the Federal 

4 Government.’’. 

5 (c) TRAINING AND HIRING.—Section 428(e)(6)(A) of 

6 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

7 236(e)(6)(A)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall ensure, to 

9 the extent possible, that any employees’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘The Secretary, acting through the appropriate 

11 official, shall provide training to any employees’’; 

12 and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘shall be provided the necessary 

14 training’’. 

15 (d) INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.— 

16 (1) SPACE AND RESOURCES.—Upon the selec17 tion of a post by the Secretary of Homeland Secu18 rity to provide visa security presence (as defined in 

19 section 428(a)(3) of the Homeland Security Act of 

20 2002, as added by subsection (a)(1)), the Secretary 

21 of State shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that 

22 visa security units are provided with sufficient space 

23 and resources within the post to carry out the func24 tions described in section 428(e) of such Act (6 

25 U.S.C. 236(e)). 


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1 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If the Secretary of 

2 State is unable to provide sufficient space and re3 sources for a post selected by the Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security in accordance with paragraph 

5 (1), the Secretary of State shall submit a report to 

6 Congress that details the reasons it would be im7 practicable to provide such space and resources. 

8 SEC. 3. METRICS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home11 land Security shall submit a report to Congress and to 

12 the Comptroller General of the United States that outlines 

13 the performance measurement process established pursu14 ant to subsection (b) by which the Department of Home15 land Security shall evaluate the performance of the visa 

16 security units. 

17 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURE18 MENT PROCESS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 

19 shall establish and continue to use a performance meas20 urement process for the Visa Security Program, which 

21 shall include— 

22 (1) using objective and quantifiable perform23 ance metrics and targets; 


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1 (2) collecting and analyzing data to determine 

2 whether targeted levels of performance have been 

3 achieved; 

4 (3) taking actions to address gaps between de5 sired and actual performance; and 

6 (4) updating or revising performance metrics, 

7 as necessary. 

8 (c) GAO REVIEW.—Not later than 120 days after the 

9 receipt of the report required under subsection (a), the 

10 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a 

11 report to Congress containing the results of its review of 

12 the validity and reliability of the performance measure13 ment process established by the Department of Homeland 

14 Security to evaluate the performance of the visa security 

15 units. 

16 SEC. 4. VISA SECURITY FEE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—After submitting the report re18 quired under section 3(a), the Secretary of State, in co19 ordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

20 shall— 

21 (1) establish a security fee to be paid with all 

22 nonimmigrant visas applications; and 

23 (2) use the security fee established pursuant to 

24 paragraph (1) to offset the operating costs of— 


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1 (A) expanding the establishment of visa se2 curity presence at additional posts; and 

3 (B) at the discretion of the Secretaries, ex4 isting visa security units. 

5 (b) FEE ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of State, 

6 in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

7 shall— 

8 (1) charge the fee required under subsection (a) 

9 in support of the Immigration and Customs Enforce10 ment Visa Security Program; 

11 (2) initially deposit such fees into the Consular 

12 Border Security Program Account or into another 

13 account of the Department of State; and 

14 (3) regularly transfer the amounts deposited 

15 pursuant to paragraph (2) into the Immigration Ex16 aminations Fee Account established under section 

17 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1356(m)). 

19 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 

22 until December 31, 2030, the Secretary of Homeland Se23 curity, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall 

24 submit a law enforcement sensitive report to Congress on 

25 the security of the nonimmigrant visa screening process 


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1 for each post at which Department of Homeland Security 

2 visa security personnel are not assigned. 

3 (b) CONTENTS.—The report submitted pursuant to 

4 subsection (a) shall include— 

5 (1) the identification by the consular or diplo6 matic post of the methods most commonly used by 

7 criminals, terrorist, and others to attempt to exploit 

8 the nonimmigrant visa process to enter the United 

9 States; 

10 (2) the process used by the post to interdict 

11 criminals, terrorists, and others who would exploit 

12 the nonimmigrant visa process to enter the United 

13 States; 

14 (3) a description of the counterterrorism and 

15 counterfraud training provided by the consular and 

16 diplomatic post to visa adjudication officers; 

17 (4) the number of personnel at the post trained 

18 as immigration law enforcement officers who regu19 larly conduct in person interviews with visa appli20 cants; 

21 (5) the annual number of nominations to the 

22 terrorism watch list or modifications to terrorism 

23 watch list entries made by personnel at the post in 

24 charge of nonimmigrant visa adjudications; 


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1 (6) the number of nonimmigrant visas refused 

2 in the past year on the basis of derogatory informa3 tion that indicates the applicant is a potential ter4 rorist threat; and 

5 (7) the steps the post will take to improve non6 immigrant visa adjudication and visa screening dur7 ing the following 5 years. 

Æ 


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