I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7415 

To designate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 

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

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2020 

Mr. CURTIS (for himself, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. SHERMAN, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. YOHO, Mr. STEWART, Mr. MCADAMS, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. KINZINGER, 

and Mr. MALINOWSKI) 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 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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF HONG 

2 KONG AS PRIORITY 2 REFUGEES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 

5 designate as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian 

6 concern the following categories of aliens: 

7 (1) Individuals who are residents of the Hong 

8 Kong Special Administrative Region who suffered 

9 persecution, or have a well-founded fear of persecu10 tion, on account of their peaceful expression of polit11 ical opinions or peaceful participation in political ac12 tivities or associations. 

13 (2) Individuals who have been formally charged, 

14 detained, or convicted on account of their peaceful 

15 actions as described in section 206(b)(2) of the 

16 United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 

17 U.S.C. 5726). 

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

19 terms are defined in subsections (a) and (b) of sec20 tion 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

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

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

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

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

25 processing of individuals described in subsection (a) for 


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1 classification as refugees may occur in Hong Kong or in 

2 a third country. 

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

4 alien may not be denied the opportunity to apply for ad5 mission as a refugee under this section primarily because 

6 such alien— 

7 (1) qualifies as an immediate relative of a cit8 izen of the United States; or 

9 (2) is eligible for admission to the United 

10 States under any other immigrant classification. 

11 (d) FACILITATION OF ADMISSIONS.—An applicant 

12 for admission to the United States from the Hong Kong 

13 Special Administrative Region may not be denied pri14 marily on the basis of a politically motivated arrest, deten15 tion, or other adverse government action taken against 

16 such applicant as a result of the participation by such ap17 plicant in protest activities. 

18 (e) EXCLUSION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 

19 Aliens provided refugee status under this section shall not 

20 be counted against any numerical limitation under section 

21 201, 202, 203, or 207 of the Immigration and Nationality 

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

23 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

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


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1 every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of State and 

2 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 

3 report on the matters described in paragraph (2) 

4 to— 

5 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

6 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen7 ate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

9 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

10 of Representatives. 

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

12 required by paragraph (1) shall include— 

13 (A) the total number of applications that 

14 are pending at the end of the reporting period; 

15 (B) the average wait-times for all appli16 cants who are currently pending— 

17 (i) employment verification; 

18 (ii) a prescreening interview with a re19 settlement support center; 

20 (iii) an interview with U.S. Citizen21 ship and Immigration Services; and 

22 (iv) the completion of security checks; 

23 and 


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1 (C) the number of denials of applications 

2 for refugee status, disaggregated by the reason 

3 for each such denial. 

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

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

6 include a classified annex. 

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

8 shall make each report submitted under this sub9 section available to the public on the internet website 

10 of the Department of State. 

11 (g) SATISFACTION OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 Aliens granted status under this section as Priority 2 refu13 gees of special humanitarian concern under the refugee 

14 resettlement priority system shall be considered to satisfy 

15 the requirements under section 207 of the Immigration 

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

17 United States. 

18 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF IMMIGRANT STATUS PRESUMPTION. 

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

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

21 alien is an immigrant until the alien establishes that the 

22 alien is entitled to nonimmigrant status shall not apply 

23 to an alien described in subsection (b). 

24 (b) ALIEN DESCRIBED.— 


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

2 paragraph is an alien who— 

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

4 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; 

5 (B) is seeking entry to the United States 

6 to apply for asylum under section 208 of the 

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

8 1158); and 

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

10 organizations supportive of the protests in 2019 

11 and 2020 relating to the Hong Kong extra12 dition bill and the encroachment on the auton13 omy of Hong Kong by the People’s Republic of 

14 China; 

15 (ii) had an organizing role for such pro16 tests; 

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

18 protests; 

19 (iv) suffered harm while covering such pro20 tests as a journalist; 

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

22 to 1 or more individuals arrested for partici23 pating in such protests; or 

24 (vi) during the period beginning on June 

25 9, 2019, and ending on June 30, 2020, was forVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7415.IH H7415

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1 mally charged, detained, or convicted for his or 

2 her participation in such protests. 

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

4 paragraph does not include any alien who is a citizen 

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

6 China. 

7 SEC. 4. REFUGEE AND ASYLUM DETERMINATIONS UNDER 

8 THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT. 

9 (a) PERSECUTION ON ACCOUNT OF POLITICAL OPIN10 ION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of refugee de12 terminations under this Act in accordance with sec13 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

14 U.S.C. 1157), an individual whose citizenship, na15 tionality, or residency is revoked for having sub16 mitted to any United States Government agency a 

17 nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, 

18 or any other immigration benefit under the immigra19 tion laws (as defined in section 101(a) of that Act 

20 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) shall be considered to have suf21 fered persecution on account of political opinion. 

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

23 CHINA.—For purposes of refugee determinations 

24 under this Act in accordance with section 207 of the 

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


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1 national of the People’s Republic of China whose 

2 residency in the Hong Kong Special Administrative 

3 region, or any other area within the jurisdiction of 

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

5 Secretary of State, is revoked for having submitted 

6 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivo7 lous application for refugee status, asylum, or any 

8 other immigration benefit under the immigration 

9 laws shall be considered to have suffered persecution 

10 on account of political opinion. 

11 (b) CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES.—For purposes of 

12 asylum determinations under this Act in accordance with 

13 section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

14 U.S.C. 1158), the revocation of the citizenship, nation15 ality, or residency of an individual for having submitted 

16 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous 

17 application for refugee status, asylum, or any other immi18 gration benefit under the immigration laws shall be con19 sidered to be a changed circumstance under subsection 

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

21 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON ENCOURAGING ALLIES 

22 AND PARTNERS TO MAKE SIMILAR ACCOM23 MODATIONS. 

24 It is the policy of the United States to encourage al25 lies and partners of the United States to make accomVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7415.IH H7415

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1 modations similar to the accommodations made in this Act 

2 for residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Re3 gion who are fleeing oppression by the Government of the 

4 People’s Republic of China. 

5 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 

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

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

8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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