II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3714 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the President 

to set a minimum annual goal for the number of refugees to be admitted, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2024 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. COONS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

MURPHY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

MERKLEY, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require 

the President to set a minimum annual goal for the 

number of refugees to be admitted, 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 ‘‘Guaranteed Refugee 

5 Admission Ceiling Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘GRACE 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF REFUGEES. 

2 Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

3 (8 U.S.C. 1157) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and 

6 inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub8 section (b), the number of refugees who may be ad9 mitted under this section in any fiscal year shall be 

10 such number as the President determines is— 

11 ‘‘(A) justified by humanitarian concerns or 

12 otherwise in the national interest; and 

13 ‘‘(B) not fewer than 125,000. 

14 ‘‘(2) ABSENCE OF DETERMINATION.—If the 

15 President does not issue a determination under 

16 paragraph (1) before the beginning of a fiscal year, 

17 the number of refugees who may be admitted under 

18 this section shall be 125,000.’’; 

19 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

20 (4) as paragraphs (4) and (7), respectively; 

21 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(3) NUMERICAL GOALS.—Each officer of the 

24 Federal Government responsible for refugee admis25 sions or refugee resettlement shall treat as the nuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Feb 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3714.IS S3714

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1 merical goals for refugee admissions under this sec2 tion for the applicable fiscal year— 

3 ‘‘(A)(i) a determination under paragraph 

4 (1); or 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the absence of a determination 

6 under paragraph (1), the number under para7 graph (2); and 

8 ‘‘(B) a determination under subsection 

9 (b).’’; and 

10 (D) by inserting after paragraph (4), as 

11 redesignated, the following: 

12 ‘‘(5) CONSIDERATION OF RESETTLEMENT

13 NEEDS.—In making a determination under para14 graph (1), the President shall consider the number 

15 of refugees who, during the calendar year beginning 

16 immediately after the beginning of the applicable fis17 cal year, are in need of resettlement in a third coun18 try, as determined by the United Nations High 

19 Commissioner for Refugees in the most recently 

20 published projected global resettlement needs report. 

21 ‘‘(6) REGIONAL ALLOCATIONS.—The President 

22 shall determine regional allocations for admissions 

23 under this subsection, which shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) consider the projected needs identi25 fied by the United Nations High Commissioner 


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1 for Refugees in the projected global resettle2 ment needs report for the calendar year begin3 ning immediately after the beginning of the ap4 plicable fiscal year; and 

5 ‘‘(B) include an unallocated reserve that 

6 the Secretary of State, after notifying the Com7 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

8 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

9 Representatives, may use for 1 or more regions 

10 in which the need for additional refugee admis11 sions arises.’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(g) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON ADMISSIONS.—Not 

14 later than 15 days after the last day of each quarter, the 

15 President shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 

16 of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

17 House of Representatives a report that includes the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(1) REFUGEES ADMITTED.— 

20 ‘‘(A) The number of refugees admitted to 

21 the United States during the preceding quarter. 

22 ‘‘(B) The number of refugees admitted to 

23 the United States during the preceding quarter, 

24 expressed as a percentage of the number of ref25 ugees authorized to be admitted in accordance 


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1 with the determinations under subsections (a) 

2 and (b) for the applicable fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(C) The cumulative number of refugees 

4 admitted to the United States during the appli5 cable fiscal year, as of the last day of the pre6 ceding quarter. 

7 ‘‘(D) The number of refugees to be admit8 ted to the United States during the remainder 

9 of the applicable fiscal year so as to achieve the 

10 numerical goals set forth in the determinations 

11 under subsections (a) and (b) for such fiscal 

12 year. 

13 ‘‘(E) The number of refugees from each 

14 region admitted to the United States during the 

15 preceding quarter, expressed as a percentage of 

16 the allocation for each region under subsection 

17 (a)(6) for the applicable fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(2) ALIENS WITH SECURITY ADVISORY OPIN19 IONS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) The number of aliens, by nationality, 

21 for whom a Security Advisory Opinion has been 

22 requested who were security-cleared during the 

23 preceding quarter, expressed as a percentage of 

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1 tor of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

2 Services in the applicable fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(B) The number of aliens, by nationality, 

4 for whom a Security Advisory Opinion has been 

5 requested who were admitted to the United 

6 States during the preceding quarter. 

7 ‘‘(3) CIRCUIT RIDES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) For the preceding quarter— 

9 ‘‘(i) the number of Refugee Corps of10 ficers deployed on circuit rides, expressed 

11 as a percentage of the overall number of 

12 Refugee Corps officers; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the number of individuals inter14 viewed— 

15 ‘‘(I) on each circuit ride; and 

16 ‘‘(II) at each circuit ride location; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the number of circuit rides; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) for each circuit ride— 

19 ‘‘(I) the duration of the circuit 

20 ride; 

21 ‘‘(II) the average number of 

22 interviews conducted daily on the cir23 cuit ride; and 

24 ‘‘(III) the percentages of inter25 views conducted for— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) individuals who re2 quire Security Advisory Opinions; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(bb) individuals who do not 

5 require Security Advisory Opin6 ions. 

7 ‘‘(B) For the subsequent quarter— 

8 ‘‘(i) the number of circuit rides sched9 uled; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the number of circuit rides 

11 planned. 

12 ‘‘(4) PROCESSING.—For the preceding quar13 ter— 

14 ‘‘(A) the average number of days be15 tween— 

16 ‘‘(i) the date on which an individual is 

17 identified by the United States Govern18 ment as a refugee; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the date on which such individual 

20 is interviewed by the Secretary of Home21 land Security; 

22 ‘‘(B) the average number of days be23 tween— 

24 ‘‘(i) the date on which an individual 

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1 ment as a refugee is interviewed by the 

2 Secretary of Homeland Security; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the date on which such individual 

4 is admitted to the United States; and 

5 ‘‘(C) with respect to individuals identified 

6 by the United States Government as refugees 

7 who have been interviewed by the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security, the approval, denial, and 

9 hold rates for the applications for admission of 

10 such individuals, by nationality. 

11 ‘‘(5) PLAN AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) A plan that describes the procedural 

13 or personnel changes necessary to ensure the 

14 admission of the number of refugees authorized 

15 to be admitted to the United States in accord16 ance with determinations under subsections (a) 

17 and (b), including a projection of the number of 

18 refugees to be admitted to the United States 

19 each month so as to achieve the numerical goals 

20 set forth in such determinations. 

21 ‘‘(B) Additional information relating to the 

22 pace of refugee admissions, as determined by 

23 the President. 

24 ‘‘(h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec25 tion may be construed— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to inhibit the expeditious processing of ref2 ugee and asylum applications; or 

3 ‘‘(2) to restrict the authority of the Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security to admit aliens to the United 

5 States under any other Act.’’. 

Æ 


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