I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 194 

To reform the process for admission of refugees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. ROSENDALE (for himself and Mrs. MILLER of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform the process for admission of refugees, 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 ‘‘Safeguards Ensuring 

5 Criminal and Unvetted Refugees don’t Enter America 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘SECURE America Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY TO SET REFUGEE 

8 CAP. 

9 Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1157) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by amending paragraphs (1) and (2) 

2 to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) Before the beginning of a fiscal year and 

4 after appropriate consultation (as defined in sub5 section (e) of this section), the President shall sub6 mit to Congress a recommendation on the number of 

7 refugees who may be admitted under this section in 

8 any fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in subsection (b), no 

10 refugees may be admitted under this section in a fis11 cal year until such time as a joint resolution is en12 acted which sets the number of refugees who may be 

13 admitted under this section in that fiscal year.’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘determination’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘recommendation’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘(beginning with fiscal 

18 year 1992)’’ and inserting ‘‘(beginning 

19 with fiscal year 2023)’’; and 

20 (iii) by striking ‘‘determined’’ and in21 serting ‘‘recommended’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘fix’’ and inserting ‘‘submit 

24 to Congress a recommendation for’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘situation and such’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘situation. Any such’’; 

3 (C) by striking ‘‘determination made by 

4 the President’’ and insert ‘‘recommendation 

5 made by the President’’; and 

6 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘No refugees may be admitted under this sub8 section until such time as a joint resolution is 

9 enacted which sets the number of refugees who 

10 may be admitted under this subsection.’’; 

11 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘Subject to 

12 the numerical limitations established pursuant to 

13 subsections (a) and (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to 

14 the enactment of a joint resolution under subsection 

15 (a) or (b), and the numerical limitations established 

16 pursuant to such a resolution,’’; and 

17 (4) in subsection (d)(3), by striking ‘‘deter18 mination’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘rec19 ommendation’’. 

20 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW. 

21 The Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 

22 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 207 the fol23 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 207A. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF ADMISSION OF 

2 CERTAIN REFUGEES. 

3 ‘‘(a) RULE PROVIDING NOTICE.—Not later than 30 

4 days before an alien or a class of aliens is determined to 

5 be eligible for refugee status, the Secretary of Homeland 

6 Security shall submit to Congress a notice of the deter7 mination of eligibility and the facts supporting such a de8 termination. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—A notice submitted 

10 pursuant to subsection (a) shall be treated in the same 

11 manner as a rule under chapter 8 of title 5, United States 

12 Code (commonly known as the ‘Congressional Review 

13 Act’) and shall be subject to the same procedure for dis14 approval of a rule under such chapter.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. VETTING OF REFUGEES PRIOR TO ADMISSION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 207 of the Immigration 

17 and Nationality Act, as amended by section 3, is further 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g)(1) In addition to the screening conducted by the 

20 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Fed21 eral Bureau of Investigation shall take all actions nec22 essary to ensure that each alien receives a thorough back23 ground investigation, including an assimilation likelihood 

24 screening under section 212(a)(3)(H), prior to admission 

25 as a refugee. An alien may not be admitted as a refugee 

26 until the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 


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1 certifies to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary 

2 of State, and the Director of National Intelligence that 

3 each covered alien has received a background investigation 

4 that is sufficient to determine whether the covered alien 

5 is a threat to the security of the United States. 

6 ‘‘(2) An alien may only be admitted to the United 

7 States after the Secretary of Homeland Security, with the 

8 unanimous concurrence of the Director of the Federal Bu9 reau of Investigation and the Director of National Intel10 ligence, certifies to Congress that the covered alien is not 

11 a threat to the security of the United States. 

12 ‘‘(3) The Inspector General of the Department of 

13 Homeland Security shall conduct a risk-based review of 

14 all certifications made under paragraph (1) each year and 

15 shall provide an annual report detailing the findings to 

16 Congress. 

17 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall sub18 mit to Congress a monthly report on the total number of 

19 applications for admission with regard to which a certifi20 cation under paragraph (1) was made and the number of 

21 aliens with regard to whom such a certification was not 

22 made for the month preceding the date of the report. The 

23 report shall include, for each alien with regard to whom 

24 a certification was not made, the concurrence or non25 concurrence of each person whose concurrence was reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:02 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H194.IH H194

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1 quired under paragraph (1). The report shall also include 

2 the country of origin of each alien and the grounds for 

3 which each alien is seeking refuge in the United States.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. ASSIMILATION LIKELIHOOD SCREENING. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 212(a)(3) of the Immi6 gration and Nationality Act is amended— 

7 (1) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as 

8 follows: 

9 ‘‘(C) FOREIGN POLICY.—An alien whose 

10 entry or proposed activities in the United States 

11 the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to 

12 believe would have potentially serious adverse 

13 foreign policy consequences for the United 

14 States is inadmissible.’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(H) ASSIMILATION LIKELIHOOD SCREEN17 ING.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any alien who has 

19 expressed or, based on a screening, has 

20 been determined to hold any views incom21 patible with the principles of the United 

22 States, as described in clause (ii) is inad23 missible. 

24 ‘‘(ii) VIEWS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE

25 PRINCIPLES OF UNITED STATES DEVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:02 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H194.IH H194

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1 SCRIBED.—The following are view incom2 patible with the principles of the United 

3 States: 

4 ‘‘(I) The belief that a system of 

5 religious law should be implemented 

6 in the United States. 

7 ‘‘(II) The belief that a system of 

8 religious law should operate in parallel 

9 to or supersede the laws of the United 

10 States, a State, territory, or munici11 pality thereof. 

12 ‘‘(III) The belief that violence 

13 based on religious teachings is justi14 fied under any circumstances. 

15 ‘‘(IV) The belief that individuals 

16 should not be entitled to any right 

17 guaranteed to them in the Constitu18 tion of the United States, or any 

19 amendment thereto. 

20 ‘‘(V) The belief that the Con21 stitution of the United States, and all 

22 amendments thereto are not the su23 preme law of the land. 


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1 ‘‘(VI) The belief that authori2 tarian forms of government are supe3 rior to representative democracy. 

4 ‘‘(VII) The belief that the alien 

5 does not need to learn how to speak 

6 and understand the English language, 

7 if the alien is not already fluent in 

8 English. 

9 ‘‘(VIII) Any other belief that the 

10 Secretary of State, in coordination 

11 with the Secretary of Homeland Secu12 rity, determines to be incompatible 

13 with the principles of the United 

14 States.’’. 

15 (b) REMOVAL OF ALIENS INADMISSIBLE ON SECU16 RITY AND RELATED GROUNDS.—Section 235(c) of the 

17 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(c)) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

20 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or (C)’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘(C), or (H)’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘or (C)’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘(C), or (H)’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. RESCIND AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF 

2 HOMELAND SECURITY TO PAROLE ALIENS 

3 INTO THE UNITED STATES. 

4 Section 212(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)) is amended by striking paragraph 

6 (5) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

8 law, the Secretary of Homeland Security may not 

9 parole into the United States any alien who has not 

10 been granted status under the immigration laws of 

11 the United States.’’. 

12 SEC. 7. PROVIDES STATES AUTHORITY TO REJECT TO REF13 UGEES. 

14 Section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

15 (8 U.S.C. 1522) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON RESETTLEMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days before 

19 the date on which a refugee is to resettled in a 

20 State, the Director or Federal agency administering 

21 subsection (b)(1) shall submit to the chief executive 

22 of the State in which resettlement is to take place 

23 a notice of the intention to resettle aliens in such 

24 State. 

25 ‘‘(2) DISAPPROVAL.—Notwithstanding any 

26 other provision of this section, the Director or the 


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1 Federal agency administering subsection (b)(1) may 

2 not resettle any refugee or coordinate placement of 

3 any refugee in a State if the chief executive of the 

4 State communicates to the Director that the State 

5 does not accede to the resettlement or placement of 

6 refugees in that State.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. REMOVAL OF REFUGEES WHO COMMIT CRIMES OF 

8 VIOLENCE. 

9 Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 

10 as amended by sections 3 and 4, is further amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(h)(1) An alien who commits a crime of violence (as 

13 such term is defined in section 16(a) of title 18, United 

14 States Code) shall be ineligible for admission as a refugee 

15 and shall be ordered removed. 

16 ‘‘(2) In the case of a refugee whose status is adjusted 

17 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi18 dence and who commits a crime of violence (as such term 

19 is defined in section 16(a) of title 18, United States Code), 

20 such status shall be rescinded.’’. 

Æ 


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