I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2647 

To provide penalties for countries that systematically and unreasonably refuse 

or delay repatriation of certain nationals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2021 

Mr. COURTNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide penalties for countries that systematically and 

unreasonably refuse or delay repatriation of certain nationals, 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 ‘‘Remedies for Refusal 

5 of Repatriation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

5 the Senate; 

6 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

7 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

8 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

9 Senate; 

10 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

11 the House of Representatives; 

12 (E) the Committee on Homeland Security 

13 of the House of Representatives; and 

14 (F) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

15 House of Representatives. 

16 (2) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 

17 violence’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

18 16 of title 18, United States Code. 

19 (3) VIOLENT FELONY.—The term ‘‘violent fel20 ony’’ means a crime of violence that is classified as 

21 a felony in the convicting jurisdiction, excluding 

22 State or local offenses for which an essential element 

23 was the alien’s immigration status. 


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1 SEC. 3. REMEDIES FOR SYSTEMATIC REFUSAL OF REPATRI2 ATION. 

3 (a) CRITERIA FOR SYSTEMATIC REFUSAL OR

4 DELAY.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the en5 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

6 shall establish procedures for determining whether the 

7 government of a foreign country systematically and unrea8 sonably refuses or delays the repatriation of nationals of 

9 such country who— 

10 (1) have been ordered removed from the United 

11 States; and 

12 (2)(A) have been convicted of a violent felony; 

13 or 

14 (B) are a threat to national security or public 

15 safety. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR INCLUSION ON REFUSAL OR

17 DELAY LIST.—A country shall be deemed to systemati18 cally and unreasonably refuse or delay the repatriation of 

19 its nationals if— 

20 (1) the country refuses— 

21 (A) to repatriate an individual described in 

22 subsection (a) who has been ordered removed 

23 notwithstanding the designation of such country 

24 as the place to which the individual is to be re25 moved by the United States under section 


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1 241(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

2 (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)); and 

3 (B)(i) to secure and analyze all documents 

4 within its control that could tend to identify the 

5 nationality of such individual; or 

6 (ii) to ensure that a government official ca7 pable of determining that such individual is a 

8 national of such country interviews such indi9 vidual and, if additional evidence is needed, 

10 such individual’s family; or 

11 (2) other factors indicate that the country sys12 tematically and unreasonably refuses or delays the 

13 repatriation of nationals of such country who are de14 scribed in subsection (a) and have been ordered re15 moved to such country by the United States. 

16 (c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Upon deter17 mining that a country systematically and unreasonably re18 fuses or delays repatriation of its nationals— 

19 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

20 notify the Secretary of State of such determination 

21 in writing not later than 5 days after such deter22 mination; and 

23 (2) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 

24 Homeland Security shall— 


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1 (A) meet concurrently with representatives 

2 of the foreign government in the United States 

3 and in the foreign country about such deter4 mination; and 

5 (B) notify such representatives that the 

6 United States may discontinue issuance of visas 

7 to nationals of such country under section 

8 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

9 (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)). 

10 (d) DISCONTINUANCE OF VISAS.—In furtherance of 

11 section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

12 U.S.C. 1253) and except as provided under subsection (e), 

13 if a country described in subsection (c) continues to sys14 tematically and unreasonably refuse or delay the repatri15 ation of its nationals described in subsection (a) after re16 ceiving notification under subsection (c)(2)(B)— 

17 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

18 notify the Secretary of State that the country meets 

19 the criteria described in section 243(d) of the Immi20 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)); and 

21 (2) the Secretary of State shall discontinue the 

22 issuance of visas in accordance with such section. 

23 (e) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary of Homeland Se24 curity determines that it is not in the interests of the 

25 United States to discontinue the issuance of visas to naVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2647.IH H2647

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1 tionals of a country described in subsection (d), the Sec2 retary of Homeland Security shall submit to the appro3 priate committees of Congress a report documenting the 

4 reasons for such determination. 

5 (f) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

6 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

7 State shall list countries that systematically and unreason8 ably refuse or delay repatriation of their nationals de9 scribed in subsection (a) on the Web sites of their respec10 tive departments. 

11 (g) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than March 

12 1 of each year, the Secretary of Homeland Security and 

13 the Secretary of State shall jointly submit to the appro14 priate committees of Congress a report that— 

15 (1) identifies the countries that met the criteria 

16 developed pursuant to subsection (a) in the previous 

17 calendar year; 

18 (2) describes the actions taken by the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 

20 after determining that a country met the criteria de21 veloped pursuant to subsection (a); 

22 (3) identifies the countries included in the noti23 fications described in subsections (c) and (d) and the 

24 actions taken by the Secretary of State as a result 

25 of such notifications; 


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1 (4) identifies the countries that do not meet the 

2 criteria described in subsection (b), but have refused 

3 or delayed the repatriation of their nationals; and 

4 (5) describes the actions taken by the Secretary 

5 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 

6 with respect to the countries described in paragraph 

7 (4). 

Æ 


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