I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1499 

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 

MARCH 10, 2017 

Mr. COURTNEY (for himself and Mr. WOODALL) 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) FELONY.—The term ‘‘felony’’ means— 

20 (A) a crime classified as a felony in the 

21 convicting jurisdiction, excluding State or local 

22 offenses for which an essential element was the 

23 alien’s immigration status; or 

24 (B) in the case of an offense under section 

25 276 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 


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1 U.S.C. 1326), or other Federal immigration-re2 lated offense that the Secretary may designate 

3 by regulation, an offense for which the term of 

4 imprisonment imposed on the defendant exceed5 ed 1 year. 

6 SEC. 3. REMEDIES FOR SYSTEMATIC REFUSAL OF REPATRI7 ATION. 

8 (a) CRITERIA FOR SYSTEMATIC REFUSAL OR

9 DELAY.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the en10 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 shall establish procedures for determining whether the 

12 government of a foreign country systematically and unrea13 sonably refuses or delays the repatriation of nationals of 

14 such country who— 

15 (1) have been ordered removed from the United 

16 States; and 

17 (2)(A) have been convicted of a felony; 

18 (B) have been convicted of a crime of violence; 

19 or 

20 (C) are a threat to national security or public 

21 safety. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR INCLUSION ON REFUSAL OR

23 DELAY LIST.—A country shall be deemed to systemati24 cally and unreasonably refuse or delay the repatriation of 

25 its nationals if— 


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1 (1) the country refuses— 

2 (A) to repatriate an individual described in 

3 subsection (a) who has been ordered removed 

4 notwithstanding the designation of such country 

5 as the place to which the individual is to be re6 moved by the United States under section 

7 241(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

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

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

10 within its control that could tend to identify the 

11 nationality of such individual; or 

12 (ii) to ensure that a government official ca13 pable of determining that such individual is a 

14 national of such country interviews such indi15 vidual and, if additional evidence is needed, 

16 such individual’s family; or 

17 (2) other factors indicate that the country sys18 tematically and unreasonably refuses or delays the 

19 repatriation of nationals of such country who are de20 scribed in subsection (a) and have been ordered re21 moved to such country by the United States. 

22 (c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Upon deter23 mining that a country systematically and unreasonably re24 fuses or delays repatriation of its nationals— 


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1 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

2 notify the Secretary of State of such determination 

3 in writing not later than 5 days after such deter4 mination; and 

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

6 Homeland Security shall— 

7 (A) meet concurrently with representatives 

8 of the foreign government in the United States 

9 and in the foreign country about such deter10 mination; and 

11 (B) notify such representatives that the 

12 United States may discontinue issuance of visas 

13 to nationals of such country under section 

14 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

15 (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)). 

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

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

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

19 if a country described in subsection (c) continues to sys20 tematically and unreasonably refuse or delay the repatri21 ation of its nationals described in subsection (a) after re22 ceiving notification under subsection (c)(2)(B)— 

23 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

24 notify the Secretary of State that the country meets 


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1 the criteria described in section 243(d) of the Immi2 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)); and 

3 (2) the Secretary of State shall discontinue the 

4 issuance of visas in accordance with such section. 

5 (e) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary of Homeland Se6 curity determines that it is not in the interests of the 

7 United States to discontinue the issuance of visas to na8 tionals of a country described in subsection (d), the Sec9 retary of Homeland Security shall submit to the appro10 priate committees of Congress a report documenting the 

11 reasons for such determination. 

12 (f) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

14 State shall list countries that systematically and unreason15 ably refuse or delay repatriation of their nationals de16 scribed in subsection (a) on the Web sites of their respec17 tive departments. 

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

19 1 of each year, the Secretary of Homeland Security and 

20 the Secretary of State shall jointly submit to the appro21 priate committees of Congress a report that— 

22 (1) identifies the countries that met the criteria 

23 developed pursuant to subsection (a) in the previous 

24 calendar year; 


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1 (2) describes the actions taken by the Secretary 

2 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 

3 after determining that a country met the criteria de4 veloped pursuant to subsection (a); 

5 (3) identifies the countries included in the noti6 fications described in subsections (c) and (d) and the 

7 actions taken by the Secretary of State as a result 

8 of such notifications; 

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

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

11 or delayed the repatriation of their nationals; and 

12 (5) describes the actions taken by the Secretary 

13 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 

14 with respect to the countries described in paragraph 

15 (4). 

Æ 


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