I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1687 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to add membership in a 
significant transnational criminal organization to the list of grounds 
of inadmissibility and to prohibit the provision of material support or 
resources to such organizations. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 9, 2021 
Mr. GALLAGHER (for himself, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 
CRAWFORD, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. BUDD, Mr. HILL, and Mr. NORMAN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and 
Rules, 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 amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to add mem-
bership in a significant transnational criminal organiza-
tion to the list of grounds of inadmissibility and to 
prohibit the provision of material support or resources 
to such organizations. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Significant 
Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. INADMISSIBILITY OF MEMBERS OF SIGNIFICANT 
TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 212(a)(2)(F) of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(F)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(F) MEMBERSHIP
IN
A
SIGNIFICANT 
TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION .— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any alien who— 
‘‘(I) is a member of a significant 
transnational criminal organization; or 
‘‘(II) is the spouse or child of an 
alien described in subclause (I), 
is inadmissible. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i)(II) shall 
not apply to a spouse or child— 
‘‘(I) who did not know, or should 
not reasonably have known, that his 
or her spouse or parent was a member 
of a significant transnational criminal 
organization; or 
‘‘(II) whom the consular officer 
or Attorney General has reasonable 
grounds to believe has renounced the 
significant transnational criminal or-
ganization to which his or her spouse 
or parent belongs.’’. 
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(b) DESIGNATION OF SIGNIFICANT TRANSNATIONAL 
CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title II of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 
219A. 
DESIGNATION 
OF 
SIGNIFICANT 
TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS. 
‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is 
authorized to designate an organization as a signifi-
cant transnational criminal organization in accord-
ance with this subsection if the Attorney General, 
after consultation with the Secretary of State, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, determines that— 
‘‘(A) the organization is a foreign organi-
zation; 
‘‘(B) the organization— 
‘‘(i) engages in criminal activity that 
involves or affects commerce in the United 
States; or 
‘‘(ii) retains the ability and intent to 
engage in such criminal activity; and 
‘‘(C) the criminal activity of the organiza-
tion threatens the security of United States na-
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