Protect Americans from Foreign Criminals Act of 2021

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct criminal history background checks on aliens who unlawfully entered the United States prior to releasing such aliens from custody, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect Americans from Foreign Criminals Act of 2021 2. Background checks required on aliens unlawfully entering the United States (a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall detain and may not release from custody any alien who is inadmissible under section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) (b) Background check requirements The Secretary of Homeland Security shall conduct a criminal history background check of the alien using— (1) appropriate criminal history databases in the United States; and (2) appropriate criminal history databases in the alien’s country of origin, and each country of transit. (c) Results of background check If the Secretary determines, based on a criminal history background check required to be conducted under this section, that an alien— (1) has been convicted of or has pending charges for an aggravated felony (as such term is defined in section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43) (2) is a member of a criminal street gang (as such term is defined in section 521 of title 18, United States Code); or (3) is described in section 236(c)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1226(c)(1) the Secretary may not release the alien from custody pending removal proceedings. (d) Foreign background check systems (1) In general The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, shall immediately conduct a worldwide review to determine whether the Secretary of Homeland Security has the ability to access the databases of criminal history databases of any country to perform the background checks described in subsection (b)(2). (2) Standards The review described in paragraph (1) shall consider whether the databases of a country are up to date, digitized, searchable, and otherwise meet the standards of the Federal Bureau of Investigations for criminal history databases maintained by State and local governments. (3) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide a report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Comittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, on results of the review conducted under paragraph (1). (4) Failure to meet standards When the Secretary of Homeland Security finds that the criminal history databases of a country described in subsection (b)(2) are not up to date, digitized, searchable, or otherwise fail to meet the standards of the Federal Bureau of Investigations for criminal history databases maintained by State and local governments, as determined applicable by the Secretary, the Secretary may not release from custody an alien who originated from or transited through such country. (e) Certification On an annual basis, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, a certification that each database described in subsection (b)(2), which the Secretary accessed or sought to access pursuant to this section, met the standards described in subsection (d). Prior to submission, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security shall review each certification under this subsection.

Summary: Protect Americans from Foreign Criminals Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct background checks before releasing from custody an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States. Specifically, before releasing such an individual from detention while removal proceedings are pending, DHS must conduct a background check using criminal history databases covering the United States, the individual's country of origin, and any country that the individual transited through. DHS may not release the individual if the individual is (1) facing charges for (or convicted of) an aggravated felony, (2) a member of a criminal street gang, or (3) subject to mandatory detention on various crime- or security-related grounds. Furthermore, DHS must review and determine whether the criminal history databases of countries around the world meet standards for accessibility, accuracy, and other factors. DHS may not release a detained individual if a background check for that individual is required from a country with databases that fail to meet the relevant standards.