I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5430 
To direct the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Home-
land Security, to establish processes for certain aliens located in Iraq, 
Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, or Syria to apply 
for admission to the United States as refugees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 
Mr. VARGAS (for himself and Mr. ROONEY) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, to establish processes 
for certain aliens located in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, 
Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, or Syria to apply for admission 
to the United States as refugees, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Nineveh Plain Refugee 
Act of 2014’’. 
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SEC. 2. IN-COUNTRY PROCESSES FOR CERTAIN ALIENS AP-
PLYING FOR REFUGEE STATUS. 
(a) IN-COUNTRY
PROCESSES.—The Secretary of 
State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity, shall establish or use existing processes in Iraq, 
Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, and 
Syria through which an alien who is located in such a 
country and described in section 3(b) may apply and inter-
view for admission to the United States as a refugee under 
section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1157). Such an alien shall be considered a refugee 
of special humanitarian concern eligible for Priority 2 
processing under the refugee resettlement priority system. 
(b) SUSPENSION OF IN-COUNTRY PROCESSES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, may suspend the processes under subsection (a) 
in a foreign country listed in subsection (a) for a pe-
riod not to exceed 90 days, if the Secretary deter-
mines that such a suspension is appropriate. 
(2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, may extend a suspension under paragraph (1) 
upon notification to the Committee on the Judiciary 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the 
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Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 
(3) REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall sub-
mit to the committees listed in paragraph (2) a re-
port that describes the reason for each suspension 
and extension under this subsection. 
SEC. 3. ALIENS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR ADMISSION TO 
THE UNITED STATES AS A REFUGEE USING 
IN-COUNTRY PROCESSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien who is 
within a category of aliens established under subsection 
(b), the alien may establish, for purposes of admission as 
a refugee under section 207 of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), that the alien has a well- 
founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion by asserting such a fear and asserting a 
credible basis for concern about the possibility of such per-
secution. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT
OF CATEGORIES.—For pur-
poses of subsection (a), the Secretary of State, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall estab-
lish one or more categories of aliens who are or were na-
tionals or residents of a territory controlled by the group 
commonly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Le-
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vant (or any successor name) in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Leb-
anon, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, or Syria and who share 
common characteristics that identify them as targets of 
persecution in that country on account of race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion. 
(c) EXCLUSION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 
Aliens provided Priority 2 processing under the refugee 
resettlement priority system under this section shall not 
be counted against any numerical limitation under section 
207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1157) for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. 
(d) ELIGIBILITY FOR ADMISSION AS REFUGEE.—No 
alien shall be denied the opportunity to apply for admis-
sion under this section solely because such alien qualifies 
as an immediate relative or is eligible for any other immi-
grant classification. 
(e) WRITTEN REASONS FOR DENIALS OF REFUGEE 
STATUS.—Each decision to deny an application for ref-
ugee status of an alien under this section shall be in writ-
ing and shall state, to the maximum extent feasible, the 
reason for the denial. 
(f) PERMITTING CERTAIN ALIENS WITHIN CAT-
EGORIES TO REAPPLY
FOR REFUGEE STATUS.—Each 
alien described in subsection (b) who after, June 1, 2014, 
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and before the date of the enactment of this Act was de-
nied refugee status shall be permitted to reapply for such 
status. Such an application shall be determined taking 
into account the application of this Act. 
(g) PROTECTION OF ALIENS.—In the case that the 
Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, determines that an alien who is lo-
cated in a foreign country listed in section 2(a) and de-
scribed in subsection (b) who has applied for admission 
to the United States as a refugee under section 207 of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) 
using the processes under this Act is in imminent danger, 
the Secretary shall make a reasonable effort to provide 
such alien with protection or the immediate removal from 
that country. 
SEC. 4. REPORTS. 
(a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity, shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Committee 
on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on For-
eign Relations of the Senate a report containing plans to 
expedite the processing of applications for admission to 
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the United States as refugee under section 207 of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) of aliens 
described in section 3(b) who apply for admission using 
the processes under the Act, including information relat-
ing to— 
(1) expediting the processing of such refugees 
for resettlement, including through temporary ex-
pansion of the Refugee Corps of United States Citi-
zenship and Immigration Services; 
(2) increasing the number of personnel of the 
Department of State and the Department of Home-
land Security devoted to the processing of such ap-
plications; 
(3) enhancing existing systems for conducting 
background and security checks of such aliens; and 
(4) the projections of the Secretary for the 
number of refugee interviews that will be conducted 
in each foreign country listed in section 2(a) in each 
month of fiscal years 2015 and 2016. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there-
after through 2016, the Secretary of State, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall submit to 
Congress an unclassified report, with a classified annex 
if necessary, which includes— 
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(1) an assessment of the financial, security, and 
personnel considerations and resources necessary to 
carry out the provisions of this Act; 
(2) the number of aliens described in section 
3(b); 
(3) the number of such aliens who have applied 
for admission to the United States as a refugee 
under section 207 of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) using the processes under 
this Act; and 
(4) in the case of such applications pending for 
longer than 180 days, the reason that refugee status 
has not been granted in each such case. 
Æ 
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