I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5285

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent human rights

abusers from being eligible for admission into the United States and

other forms of immigration relief, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 25, 2000

Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself and Mr. FOLEY) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent

human rights abusers from being eligible for admission

into the United States and other forms of immigration

relief, 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 ‘‘Serious Human Rights

5 Abusers Accountability Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSER DEFINED.

2 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 101(a) of the Immigration

3 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended by

4 adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(50)(A) The term ‘serious human rights abuser’

6 means any alien who—

7 ‘‘(i) ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise par8 ticipated in the persecution of any person on account

9 of race, religion, nationality, membership in a par10 ticular social group, or political opinion;

11 ‘‘(ii) while serving as a foreign government offi12 cial, was responsible for, or directly carried out, par13 ticularly severe violations of religious freedom (as

14 defined in section 3 of the International Religious

15 Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6402));

16 ‘‘(iii) during an armed conflict, ordered, incited,

17 assisted, or otherwise participated in a war crime (as

18 defined in section 2441(c) of title 18, United States

19 Code);

20 ‘‘(iv) ordered, incited, assisted, otherwise par21 ticipated in, attempted to commit, or conspired to

22 commit conduct that would constitute genocide (as

23 defined in section 1091(a) of title 18, United States

24 Code), if the conduct were committed in the United

25 States or by a United States national;
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1 ‘‘(v) ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise par2 ticipated in any act of torture (as defined in the

3 United Nations Convention Against Torture and

4 Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

5 Treatment or Punishment, done at New York on

6 December 10, 1984, subject to any reservations, un7 derstandings, declarations, and provisos contained in

8 the United States Senate resolution of ratification of

9 the Convention); or

10 ‘‘(vi) ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise

11 participated in a crime against humanity (including

12 the commission of murder, extermination, enslave13 ment, deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape, sex14 ual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy,

15 forced abortion, forced sterilization, or acts of a

16 similar character), when committed as part of a

17 widespread or systematic attack, whether inter18 national or internal in character, and directed

19 against any civilian population, with actual or con20 structive knowledge of the attack.

21 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an alien

22 who demonstrates that—

23 ‘‘(i) the conduct was committed under extreme

24 duress; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the harm reasonably feared by the alien

2 substantially exceeded the harm attributable to the

3 alien’s conduct.

4 SEC. 3. SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS INADMISSIBLE

5 AND DEPORTABLE.

6 (a) INADMISSIBILITY OF SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS

7 ABUSERS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 212(a)(2)(G) of the

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

10 1182(a)(2)(G)) is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(G) SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.—

12 Any serious human rights abuser is inadmis13 sible.’’.

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

15 212(a)(3)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality

16 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(E)) is amended to read as

17 follows:

18 ‘‘(E) PARTICIPANTS IN NAZI PERSECU19 TIONS.—Any alien who, during the period be20 ginning on March 23, 1933, and ending on May

21 8, 1945, under the direction of, or in associa22 tion with—

23 ‘‘(i) the Nazi government of Germany,
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1 ‘‘(ii) any government in any area oc2 cupied by the military forces of the Nazi

3 government of Germany,

4 ‘‘(iii) any government established with

5 the assistance or cooperation of the Nazi

6 government of Germany, or

7 ‘‘(iv) any government which was an

8 ally of the Nazi government of Germany,

9 ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise partici10 pated in the persecution of any person because

11 of race, religion, national origin, or political

12 opinion is inadmissible.’’.

13 (b) DEPORTABLE ALIENS TO INCLUDE SERIOUS

14 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 237(a) of the Immi16 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)) is

17 amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(7) SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.— Any

19 serious human rights abuser is deportable.’’.

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

21 237(a)(4)(D) of the Immigration and Nationality

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)(D)) is amended to read as

23 follows:
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1 ‘‘(D) ASSISTED IN NAZI PERSECUTION.—

2 Any alien described in section 212(a)(3)(E) is

3 deportable.’’.

4 SEC. 4. BARS TO REFUGEE STATUS AND ASYLUM FOR SERI5 OUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.

6 (a) REFUGEE DEFINED.—Section 101(a)(42) of the

7 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42))

8 is amended by striking the second sentence and inserting

9 the following:

10 ‘‘The term ‘refugee’ does not include any person who is

11 a serious human rights abuser.’’.

12 (b) NO WAIVER OF GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY

13 FOR REFUGE SEEKERS.—Section 207(c)(3) of the Immi14 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(c)(3)) is

15 amended by inserting ‘‘or (2)(G)’’ after ‘‘(2)(C)’’.

16 (c) EXCEPTIONS TO GRANTING ASYLUM.—Section

17 208(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

18 (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)(i)) is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(i) the alien is a serious human

20 rights abuser;’’.

21 (d) EXTENSION TO SPOUSES AND CHILDREN OF EX22 CEPTIONS TO GRANTING ASYLUM.—Section 208(b)(3) of

23 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

24 1158(b)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘such alien.’’ and in25 serting ‘‘such alien, unless the Attorney General deter-
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1 mines that one of the exceptions in clauses (i) through

2 (v) of paragraph (2)(A) applies to the spouse or child.’’.

3 SEC. 5. BAR TO ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF REFUGEES

4 FOR SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.

5 Section 209(c) of the Immigration and Nationality

6 Act (8 U.S.C. 1159(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or

7 (2)(G)’’ after ‘‘(2)(C)’’.

8 SEC. 6. EXCEPTION TO RESTRICTION ON REMOVAL FOR SE9 RIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS AND TER10 RORISTS.

11 Section 241(b)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nation12 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(B)) is amended—

13 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik14 ing ‘‘section 237(a)(4)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara15 graph (B) or (D) of section 237(a)(4)’’; and

16 (2) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:

17 ‘‘(i) the alien is a serious human

18 rights abuser;’’.

19 SEC. 7. BAR TO FINDING OF GOOD MORAL CHARACTER FOR

20 SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.

21 Section 101(f) of the Immigration and Nationality

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(f)) is amended by inserting after para23 graph (1) the following:

24 ‘‘(2) a serious human rights abuser;’’.
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1 SEC. 8. BAR TO CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL FOR SERIOUS

2 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.

3 Section 240A(c)(4) of the Immigration and Nation4 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 2339b(c)(4)) is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘section 212(a)(3)’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘paragraph (2)(G) or (3) of section 212(a)’’;

7 and

8 (2) by striking ‘‘section 237(a)(4).’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘paragraph (4) or (7) of section 237(a).’’.

10 SEC. 9. BAR TO ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS WITH RESPECT

11 TO CERTAIN SPECIAL IMMIGRANTS.

12 Section 245(h)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nation13 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(h)(2)(B)) is amended by insert14 ing ‘‘(2)(G),’’ before ‘‘(3)(A)’’.

15 SEC. 10. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR REENTRY FOR RE16 MOVED SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS.

17 Section 276(b) of the Immigration and Nationality

18 Act (8 U.S.C. 1326(b)) is amended—

19 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘sentence. or’’

20 and inserting ‘‘sentence;’’;

21 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at

22 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol24 lowing:

25 ‘‘(5) who was removed from the United States

26 pursuant to section 212(a)(2)(G) or 237(a)(7), and
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1 who thereafter, without the permission of the Attor2 ney General, enters, attempts to enter, or is at any

3 time found in, the United States shall be fined

4 under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not

5 more than 10 years, or both.’’.

6 SEC. 11. AIDING OR ASSISTING SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS

7 ABUSERS TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES.

8 Section 277 of the Immigration and Nationality Act

9 (8 U.S.C. 1327) is amended by striking ‘‘felony)’’ and in10 serting ‘‘felony or is a serious human rights abuser)’’.

11 SEC. 12. REVISION OF REGULATIONS WITH RESPECT TO

12 THE INVOLUNTARY RETURN OF PERSONS IN

13 DANGER OF SUBJECTION TO TORTURE.

14 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen16 eral shall revise the regulations prescribed by the Attorney

17 General to implement the Convention. Such revision shall

18 render ineligible for withholding or deferral of removal

19 under the Convention aliens to whom the relief described

20 in subparagraph (A) of section 241(b)(3) of the Immigra21 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)) does not

22 apply by reason of subparagraph (B) of such section (as

23 amended by section 6 of this Act). Such revision shall also

24 ensure that the burden of proof is on the applicant for

25 withholding or deferral of removal under the Convention
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1 to establish by clear and convincing evidence that he or

2 she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country

3 of removal.

4 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other

5 provision of law, no court shall have jurisdiction to review

6 the regulations adopted to implement this section, and

7 nothing in this section shall be construed as providing any

8 court jurisdiction to consider or review claims raised under

9 the Convention or this section, except as part of the review

10 of a final order of removal pursuant to section 242 of the

11 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1252).

12 (c) AUTHORITY TO DETAIN.—Nothing in this section

13 shall be construed as limiting the authority of the Attor14 ney General to detain any person under any provision of

15 law, including, but not limited to, any provision of the Im16 migration and Nationality Act.

17 (d) CONVENTION DEFINED.—In this section, the

18 term ‘‘Convention’’ means the United Nations Convention

19 Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or

20 Degrading Treatment or Punishment, done at New York

21 on December 10, 1984.

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