I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5988 

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 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 

Mr. COURTNEY (for himself, Mr. WOODALL, and Ms. ESTY) 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 immigration-related of2 fense that the Secretary may designate by regu3 lation, an offense for which the term of impris4 onment imposed on the defendant exceeded 1 

5 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 deported by 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 deported 

4 to such country by the United States; and 

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

6 within its control that could tend to identify the 

7 nationality of such individual; or 

8 (ii) to ensure that a government official ca9 pable of determining that such individual is a 

10 national of such country interviews such indi11 vidual and, if additional evidence is needed, 

12 such individual’s family; or 

13 (2) other factors indicate that the country sys14 tematically and unreasonably refuses or delays the 

15 repatriation of nationals of such country who are de16 scribed in subsection (a) and have been ordered de17 ported to such country by the United States. 

18 (c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Upon deter19 mining that a country systematically and unreasonably re20 fuses or delays repatriation of its citizens— 

21 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

22 notify the Secretary of State of such determination 

23 in writing not later than 5 days after such deter24 mination; and 

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

2 Homeland Security shall— 

3 (A) meet concurrently with representatives 

4 of the foreign government in the United States 

5 and in the foreign country about such deter6 mination; and 

7 (B) notify such representatives that the 

8 United States may deny visas to nationals of 

9 such country. 

10 (d) DISCONTINUANCE OF VISAS.—Except as provided 

11 under subsection (e), if a country described in subsection 

12 (c) continues to systematically and unreasonably refuse or 

13 delay the repatriation of its nationals described in sub14 section (a) after receiving notification under subsection 

15 (c)(2)(B)— 

16 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

17 notify the Secretary of State that the country meets 

18 the criteria described in section 243(d) of the Immi19 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)); and 

20 (2) the Secretary of State shall discontinue the 

21 issuance of visas in accordance with such section. 

22 (e) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary of Homeland Se23 curity determines that it is not in the interests of the 

24 United States to discontinue the issuance of visas to na25 tionals of a country described in subsection (d), the Secmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 retary of Homeland Security shall submit to the appro2 priate committees of Congress a report documenting the 

3 reasons for such determination. 

4 (f) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

5 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

6 State shall list countries that systematically and unreason7 ably refuse or delay repatriation of their citizens described 

8 in subsection (a) on the Web sites of their respective de9 partments. 

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

11 1 of each year, the Secretary of Homeland Security and 

12 the Secretary of State shall jointly submit to the appro13 priate committees of Congress a report that— 

14 (1) identifies the countries that met the criteria 

15 developed pursuant to subsection (a) in the previous 

16 calendar year; 

17 (2) describes the actions taken by the Secretary 

18 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 

19 after determining that a country met the criteria de20 veloped pursuant to subsection (a); 

21 (3) identifies the countries included in the noti22 fications described in subsections (c) and (d) and the 

23 actions taken by the Secretary of State as a result 

24 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 citizens; 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). 

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