I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 375
To provide for asylum reform, prohibition of Federal benefits to certain
aliens, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 4, 1995
Mr. STUMP (for himself and Mr. CALLAHAN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and, in addition,
to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Banking and Finan-
cial Services, and Commerce 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 provide for asylum reform, prohibition of Federal benefits
to certain aliens, 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 ‘‘Immigration Account-
ability Act of 1995’’.
TITLE I—ASYLUM
SEC. 101. EXAMINATION AND EXCLUSION.
(a) EXAMINATIONS.—Section 235(b) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(b) EXAMINATION AND EXCLUSION BY IMMIGRA-
TION OFFICERS.—
‘‘(1) An immigration officer shall examine every
person seeking to come into the United States from
a foreign port or place, and every such person shall
present himself for examination by an immigration
officer upon arrival at a port of entry or land border
of the United States.
‘‘(2)(A) If an examining immigration officer de-
termines that an alien seeking entry—
‘‘(i) does not present any document re-
quired by this Act or by regulations prescribed
thereunder to obtain entry to the United States;
and
‘‘(ii) does not express either an intention to
apply for asylum or a fear of persecution if ex-
cluded,
the officer shall order the alien excluded from the
United States without further hearing or review.
‘‘(B) An examining immigration officer shall
refer for immediate examination by an asylum offi-
cer any alien who has expressed an intention to
apply for asylum or a fear of persecution if excluded.
‘‘(C) The asylum officer to whom an alien is re-
ferred under subparagraph (B) shall determine
whether the alien has a credible fear of persecution
if excluded. If the officer determines that the alien
has a credible fear of persecution if excluded, the
alien shall be permitted to apply for asylum under
section 208. If the officer determines that the alien
does not have a credible fear of persecution if ex-
cluded, the officer shall order the alien excluded
from the United States without further hearing or
review.
‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph
(B) and subsection (c), if an examining immigration
officer determines that an alien seeking entry is not
clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to enter, the
alien shall be detained for further inquiry by a spe-
cial inquiry officer.
‘‘(B) The provisions of subparagraph (A) shall
not apply—
‘‘(i) to an alien crewman, or
‘‘(ii) to an alien described in paragraph
(2)(A) or paragraph (2)(B).
‘‘(4) The decision of an examining immigration
officer to admit any alien shall be subject to chal-
lenge by any other immigration officer, and such
challenge shall operate to take the alien before a
special inquiry officer for further inquiry.
‘‘(5)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), an alien
has not entered the United States for purposes of
this Act unless and until such alien has been exam-
ined and admitted by an immigration officer pursu-
ant to this subsection.
‘‘(B) An alien who has not been examined and
admitted by an immigration officer shall, upon the
completion of 365 days of continuous physical pres-
ence in the United States, be deemed to have en-
tered the United States without inspection on the
first day of such presence.
‘‘(6) INTERIOR REPATRIATION.—The Secretary
of State shall undertake to enter into, on behalf of
the United States, arrangements with the govern-
ments of countries contiguous to the United States
that any excludable or deportable alien who is to de-
part the United States to such country under an
order of deportation, under a grant of voluntary de-
parture with safeguards, or at a time when the alien
is in Federal custody shall be transported to a point
in the contiguous country that, to the extent prac-
ticable, is not less than 500 kilometers from the bor-
der of the United States.
‘‘(7) PERSECUTION DEFINED.—For purposes of
this subsection, the term ‘persecution’ shall have the
same meaning as under section 208 of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act.’’.
(b) GROUNDS FOR EXCLUSION.—Section 212(a)(6)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(6)) is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing:
‘‘(G) Any alien who, in seeking entry to the
United States or boarding a common carrier for the
purpose of coming to the United States, presents
any document that is forged, counterfeit, altered,
falsely made, stolen, or inapplicable to the alien pre-
senting the document, or otherwise contains a mis-
representation of material fact, is excludable.
‘‘(H) Any alien who, in boarding a common car-
rier for the purpose of coming to the United States,
presents a document that relates or purports to re-
late to the alien’s eligibility to enter the United
States, and fails to present such document to an im-
migration officer upon arrival at a port of entry or
land border of the United States, is excludable.’’.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 235(a) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225a) is
amended by striking the second sentence.
SEC. 102. ASYLUM.
(a) ASYLUM OFFICER DEFINED.—Section 101(a) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))
is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
‘‘(47) The term ‘asylum officer’ means an offi-
cer of the Service who has been designated by the
Commissioner as having special training in the ap-
plication of the provisions of this Act pertaining to
asylum and special knowledge of pertinent conditions
outside the United States.’’.
(b) GRANTING AND TERMINATION OF ASYLUM.—
Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1158) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘ASYLUM
‘‘SEC. 208. (a) GRANTING AND TERMINATING ASY-
LUM.—
‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An alien physically present
in the United States or at a land border or port of
entry may apply for asylum in accordance with this
section.
‘‘(2) CONDITION FOR GRANTING.—
‘‘(A) GRANTS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—
The Attorney General may in the sole discretion
of the Attorney General grant asylum to an
alien if the alien applies for asylum in accord-
ance with this section and the alien establishes,
as a condition of being granted asylum, that it
is more probable than not that the government
of the country in which the alien last resided
before his arrival in the United States would
persecute the alien on account of the alien’s
race, religion, nationality, or political opinion if
the alien came into that government’s custody.
‘‘(B) 
EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph 
(A)
shall not apply to an alien if the Attorney Gen-
eral determines that—
‘‘(i) the alien ordered, incited, as-
sisted, or otherwise participated in the per-
secution of any person on account of race,
religion, nationality, or political opinion;
‘‘(ii) the alien was convicted of a fel-
ony in the United States or of an equiva-
lent nonpolitical crime outside the United
States;
‘‘(iii) the alien poses a danger to the
security of the United States; or
‘‘(iv) there is a country to which the
alien can be deported or returned and the
alien does not establish that it is more
probable than not that the government of
that country would persecute the alien on
account of the alien’s race, religion, nation-
ality, or political opinion if the alien came
into that government’s custody.
‘‘(3) ASYLUM STATUS.—If an alien has been
granted asylum under paragraph (2) and such asy-
lum has not been terminated under paragraph (4),
the Attorney General—
‘‘(A) shall not deport or return the alien;
‘‘(B) may authorize the alien to engage in
employment in the United States; and
‘‘(C) may permit the alien to depart the
United States for a purpose not inconsistent
with the grant of asylum and to enter the Unit-
ed States when the purpose for the departure
has been served.
‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The Attorney General
shall monitor the conditions outside the United
States that are the basis of outstanding grants of
asylum. Asylum granted to an alien under this sec-
tion shall be terminated if the Attorney General de-
termines in the sole discretion of the Attorney Gen-
eral that—
‘‘(A) the condition described in paragraph
(2)(A) no longer exists with respect to the alien;
or
‘‘(B) one of the exceptions described in
paragraph (2)(B) applies to the alien.
‘‘(5) 
ANNUAL
AFFIRMATION.—Each 
alien
granted asylum shall submit, not less than annually,
and in accordance with regulations prescribed by the
Attorney General, an affirmation under penalty of
perjury whether the conditions upon which asylum
was granted still exist. The Attorney General shall
establish a procedure for review of such affirmations
and shall terminate asylum for any alien that has
failed to submit such affirmation. An affirmation
that the condition on which asylum was granted no
longer exists, but that a present condition warrants
a continuation of asylum, shall be regarded as a new
application for asylum, and asylum shall not be ter-
minated on the basis of such an affirmation until a
determination is reached on such new application.
‘‘(6) PERSECUTION DEFINED.—For purposes of
this section, the term ‘persecution’ refers exclusively
to physical torture, maiming, the taking of life, in-