I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 241 
To provide for sanctions on countries that have refused or unreasonably 
delayed repatriation of an alien who is a national of that country, 
or that have an excessive repatriation failure rate, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2017 
Mr. POE of Texas (for himself, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia, 
Mr. GOSAR, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. FRANKS 
of Arizona, Mr. FARENTHOLD, and Mrs. BLACK) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for sanctions on countries that have refused or 
unreasonably delayed repatriation of an alien who is a 
national of that country, or that have an excessive repa-
triation failure rate, 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 ‘‘Timely Repatriation 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TIMELY REPATRIATION. 
(a) LISTING OF COUNTRIES.—Beginning on the date 
that is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
and every 6 months thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall publish a report including the following: 
(1) A list of the following: 
(A) Countries that have refused or unrea-
sonably delayed repatriation of an alien who is 
a national of that country since the date of en-
actment of this Act and the total number of 
such aliens, disaggregated by nationality. 
(B) Countries that have an excessive repa-
triation failure rate. 
(2) A list of each country that was included 
under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (1) in 
both the report preceding the current report and the 
current report. 
(b) SANCTIONS.—Beginning on the date that a coun-
try is included in a list under subsection (a)(2) and ending 
on the date that that country is not included in such list, 
that country shall be subject to the following: 
(1) The Secretary of State may not issue visas 
under section 101(a)(15)(A)(iii) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(A)(iii)) 
to attendants, servants, personal employees, and 
members of their immediate families, of the officials 
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and employees of that country who receive non-
immigrant status under clause (i) or (ii) of section 
101(a)(15)(A) of such Act. 
(2) Each 6 months thereafter that the country 
is included in that list, the Secretary of State shall 
reduce the number of visas available under clause (i) 
or (ii) of section 101(a)(15)(A) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act in a fiscal year to nationals of 
that country by an amount equal to 10 percent of 
the baseline visa number for that country. Except as 
provided under section 243(d) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253), the Secretary 
may not reduce the number to a level below 20 per-
cent of the baseline visa number. 
(c) WAIVERS.— 
(1) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—If the Sec-
retary of State submits to Congress a written deter-
mination that significant national security interests 
of the United States require a waiver of the sanc-
tions under subsection (b), the Secretary may waive 
any reduction below 80 percent of the baseline visa 
number. The Secretary of Homeland Security may 
not delegate the authority under this subsection. 
(2) TEMPORARY EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES.—If 
the Secretary of State submits to Congress a written 
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determination that temporary exigent circumstances 
require a waiver of the sanctions under subsection 
(b), the Secretary may waive any reduction below 80 
percent of the baseline visa number during 6-month 
renewable periods. The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity may not delegate the authority under this sub-
section. 
(d) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may ex-
empt a country from inclusion in a list under subsection 
(a)(2) if the total number of nonrepatriations outstanding 
is less than 10 for the preceding 3-year period. 
(e) UNAUTHORIZED
VISA
ISSUANCE.—Any visa 
issued in violation of this section shall be void. 
(f) NOTICE.—If an alien who has been convicted of 
a criminal offense before a Federal or State court whose 
repatriation was refused or unreasonably delayed is to be 
released from detention by the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity, the Secretary shall provide notice to the State and 
local law enforcement agency for the jurisdictions in which 
the alien is required to report or is to be released. When 
possible, and particularly in the case of violent crime, the 
Secretary shall make a reasonable effort to provide notice 
of such release to any crime victims and their immediate 
family members. 
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(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) REFUSED OR UNREASONABLY DELAYED.— 
A country is deemed to have refused or unreasonably 
delayed the acceptance of an alien who is a citizen, 
subject, national, or resident of that country if, not 
later than 90 days after receiving a request to repa-
triate such alien from an official of the United 
States who is authorized to make such a request, the 
country does not accept the alien or issue valid trav-
el documents. 
(2) FAILURE RATE.—The term ‘‘failure rate’’ 
for a period means the percentage determined by di-
viding the total number of repatriation requests for 
aliens who are citizens, subjects, nationals, or resi-
dents of a country that that country refused or un-
reasonably delayed during that period by the total 
number of such requests during that period. 
(3) 
EXCESSIVE
REPATRIATION
FAILURE 
RATE.—The term ‘‘excessive repatriation failure 
rate’’ means, with respect to a report under sub-
section (a), a failure rate greater than 10 percent 
for any of the following: 
(A) The period of the 3 full fiscal years 
preceding the date of publication of the report. 
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(B) The period of 1 year preceding the 
date of publication of the report. 
(4) NUMBER
OF
NON-REPATRIATIONS
OUT-
STANDING.—The term ‘‘number of non-repatriations 
outstanding’’ means, for a period, the number of 
unique aliens whose repatriation a country has re-
fused or unreasonably delayed and whose repatri-
ation has not occurred during that period. 
(5) BASELINE VISA NUMBER.—The term ‘‘base-
line visa number’’ means, with respect to a country, 
the average number of visas issued each fiscal year 
to nationals of that country under clauses (i) and 
(ii) of section 101(a)(15)(A) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(A)) for the 3 
full fiscal years immediately preceding the first re-
port under subsection (a) in which that country is 
included in the list under subsection (a)(2). 
(h) GAO REPORT.—On the date that is 1 day after 
the date that the President submits a budget under sec-
tion 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 
2017, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit a report to Congress regarding the progress of the 
Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 
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State in implementation of this section and in making re-
quests to repatriate aliens as appropriate. 
Æ 
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