IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1221 
Urging the United States to uphold its commitments under international 
treaties related to refugees and asylum-seekers and halt deportations 
of Cameroonian citizens. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 
Ms. BASS (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. WATERS, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, 
Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of 
Illinois, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CLAY, Mr. DAVID SCOTT 
of Georgia, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. 
MOORE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CAR-
SON of Indiana, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, 
Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. 
VEASEY, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. 
PLASKETT, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. EVANS, Ms. BLUNT ROCH-
ESTER, Mr. BROWN
of Maryland, Mr. LAWSON
of Florida, Mr. 
MCEACHIN, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. OMAR, Ms. 
PRESSLEY, Mr. MFUME, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. CICILLINE, 
Mr. KIND, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Ms. JUDY CHU of 
California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on For-
eign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Urging the United States to uphold its commitments under 
international treaties related to refugees and asylum- 
seekers and halt deportations of Cameroonian citizens. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:03 Nov 17, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\HR1221.IH
HR1221
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1221 IH 
Whereas every year people come to the United States seeking 
protection because they have suffered persecution or fear 
that they will suffer persecution due to race, religion, na-
tionality, or membership in a particular social group or 
political opinion; 
Whereas, in 2018, for the first time since the 1980 adoption 
of the Refugee Act, the United States did not lead the 
world in refugee resettlement; 
Whereas the Trump administration has steadily lowered the 
refugee admission ceiling, beginning with a temporary 
freeze shortly after taking office in 2017; 
Whereas, on October 2020, the United States Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed over 60 
Cameroonian asylum-seekers and 28 other African na-
tionals despite recent allegations that many of these indi-
viduals were coerced into signing travel documents effec-
tuating their removal; 
Whereas advocacy groups have raised concerns following re-
ports that officials at Adams County Correctional, Winn 
Correctional, and Jackson Correctional Facilities in the 
New Orleans ICE Field Office Region, used coercive tac-
tics such as physical violence, pressure, and threats to ob-
tain Cameroonian individuals’ signatures on deportation 
documents; 
Whereas the number of sub-Saharan African migrants, in-
cluding Cameroonians, entering the United States 
through Mexico has doubled from 2,700 in 2018 to 5,800 
in 2019 and according to the United Nations Refugee 
Agency (UNHCR) data, the number of Cameroonian asy-
lum-seekers in Mexico increased from 23 in 2016 to 105 
in 2017; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:03 Nov 17, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1221.IH
HR1221
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1221 IH 
Whereas, from 2012 to 2016, the number of Cameroonians 
applying for asylum in the United States has also in-
creased from less than 600 to more than 1,300; 
Whereas the 2019 Department of State Cameroon Human 
Rights Report documented human rights abuses, includ-
ing unlawful or arbitrary killings, disappearances by se-
curity forces, torture, and armed detention by nonstate 
armed groups, including Anglophone separatists, Boko 
Haram, and ISIS-West Africa (ISIS–WA) fighters; 
Whereas Cameroon’s Anglophone population have long been 
marginalized by official actions and policies of the Gov-
ernment; 
Whereas, in 2016, instability gave way to violence and in 
2017 the conflict escalated when Cameroonian security 
forces brutally cracked down on Anglophone civilians 
peacefully demonstrating and displaced large numbers of 
people; 
Whereas nearly 700,000 people have been displaced in the 
northwest and southwest regions alone, with over 
3,900,000 currently in need of humanitarian support, 
thousands have been killed, and the United Nations esti-
mates that there are more than 58,000 refugees seeking 
safety outside of Cameroon; 
Whereas due to the continuing conflict in Cameroon, violence 
against and abuse of the civilian population are the most 
pressing concerns; 
Whereas the UNHCR has documented widespread protection 
issues and human rights violations, including the burning 
of property, kidnapping, rape and sexual assault, child 
labor and abuse, and illegal arrests; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:03 Nov 17, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1221.IH
HR1221
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1221 IH 
Whereas human rights groups have also documented cases of 
extrajudicial executions and torture committed by the 
Cameroonian security forces and by armed separatist 
groups; 
Whereas women, children, and people with disabilities are 
particularly vulnerable to and easy prey for rights abus-
ers; 
Whereas the United States has openly commented on the se-
verity of the crisis in Cameroon and following reports of 
rights violations by the Cameroonian military; 
Whereas the United States halted some of its military assist-
ance yet the number of Cameroonians who are granted 
asylum in the United States has dropped steadily since 
2007; 
Whereas many African countries have shut their borders to 
fight the COVID–19 pandemic and ICE has deported at 
least 189 African nationals to their countries of origin 
since the start of the outbreak; 
Whereas according to the International Rescue Committee, 
more than 20 percent of the ICE detainee population is 
testing positive for COVID–19 and given the high num-
bers of COVID–19, it is likely that some of the African 
deportees were coronavirus-positive and transported the 
virus back to their country of origin; 
Whereas human rights groups have indicated that those de-
ported face the risk of being arbitrarily arrested, tor-
tured, and even killed upon their return to Cameroon; 
and 
Whereas, in October 2020, members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus and the Committee on Homeland Security 
sent multiple letters to ICE demanding it stop its plans 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:03 Nov 17, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1221.IH
HR1221
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1221 IH 
to deport over 200 Cameroonian asylum-seekers and sev-
eral Senators sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of the 
Department urging the administration to halt deporta-
tions of Cameroonian asylum-seekers: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) acknowledges and respects the responsibility 
of the United States to refugees, asylum-seekers, im-
migrants, and naturalized United States citizens; 
(2) urges the United States to uphold its com-
mitments under the Immigration and Nationality 
Act and international treaties related to asylum- 
seekers; 
(3) urges the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity to— 
(A) stop deportations, of legitimate asy-
lum-seekers, including Cameroonians, fleeing 
state oppression and mass atrocity crimes due 
to widespread violence; 
(B) immediately provide for alternatives to 
detention for these asylum-seekers, except in 
cases where a determination is made that such 
individuals pose a significant risk to public safe-
ty; and 
(C) ensure that asylum-seekers and other 
immigrants have access to clear information on 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:03 Nov 17, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR1221.IH
HR1221
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1221 IH 
their rights and obligations regarding their on-
going legal proceedings, case management, and 
health services (including testing) in a time of 
COVID–19; 
(4) urges the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity Office of the Inspector General, to— 
(A) immediately investigate allegations of 
civil and human rights violations committed 
against Cameroonian individuals in the custody 
of ICE at the Adams County, Winn, and Jack-
son Parish Correctional Facilities; and 
(B) immediately pause the removals of all 
potential victims or cooperating witnesses of al-
leged civil and human rights violations until 
such an investigation is complete; 
(5) urges the Government of Cameroon to re-
spect the fundamental rights of all Cameroonian citi-
zens, including those removed from the United 
States under orders of deportation, political activ-
ists, and journalists; and 
(6) calls on the international community to use 
diplomatic tools to address the root causes of con-
flict and displacement, including by pursuing ac-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:03 Nov 17, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR1221.IH
HR1221
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1221 IH 
countability for war crimes and investing in peace- 
building initiatives. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:03 Nov 17, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR1221.IH
HR1221
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS