Prevention of Anti-Immigrant Violence Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2536 | Sponsor: Rep. Takano, Mark (D-CA)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Prevention of Anti-Immigrant Violence Act of 2021
This bill provides protections for noncitizens who are victims of certain crimes.
The bill expands eligibility for U visas, which are for victims of certain serious crimes or individuals who are likely helpful to law enforcement in persecuting such a crime, to include victims of hate crimes.
The bill raises the annual cap on U visas to 12,000 (from 10,000) and designates the additional visas for victims of hate crimes. (Such caps apply only to the primary visa recipient, not to certain family members who may accompany the primary recipient.)
A noncitizen with a pending application for certain immigration benefits, such as for a U visa or a T visa (human trafficking victim), may not be removed from the United States. A noncitizen with such a pending application may only be detained if there is clear and convincing evidence that (1) alternatives to detention would not reasonably ensure the noncitizen's appearance at removal proceedings, or (2) the noncitizen is a threat to the community.
The Department of Justice may award grants to entities to assist noncitizen victims of hate crimes or to train law enforcement to identify and protect victims of anti-immigrant violence.

To provide relief for victims of hate crimes, advance the safety and 
     well-being of immigrants and refugees, and fund improved law 
             enforcement and prosecution official training.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prevention of Anti-Immigrant 
Violence Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Anti-immigrant violence is on the rise, with the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reporting an 0.95-percent 
        increase in hate crimes against individuals for 2019 compared 
        to 2018 and an observed shift in crimes against individuals as 
        opposed to property. The FBI data shows that 57.6 percent of 
        hate crimes reported were motivated by race, ethnicity, or 
        ancestry. In addition, the 51 hate crime murders recorded in 
        2019 are the highest ever reported by the FBI since it began 
        tracking hate crimes in 1991. Since 2014, FBI hate crime 
        statistics have shown an increasing trend in hate crimes, with 
        the highest yearly gains so far reported for 2017 at 17 
        percent.
            (2) The vast majority of the reported hate crimes are 
        related to race, ethnicity, or ancestry. According to the 
        Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), 
        Hispanics experience close to double the rate of hate crime 
        victimization that non-Hispanic Whites (1.3 vs 0.7 per 1,000). 
        The 2019 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data shows 
        that non-U.S. citizens are victimized at a rate of 
        approximately 12.5 victims per 1,000 non-U.S. citizens.
            (3) BJS has shown a precipitous decline in reporting of 
        hate crimes since 2014, with BJS's NCVS data showing that 
        between 2013 and 2017 more than half of all hate crimes 
        (>100,000) went unreported annually. NCVS 2019 statistics show 
        that after declining by more than 60 percent in the past 21 
        years, the number of violent crime victims has steadily 
        increased since 2015; and that the rate of unreported violent 
        crimes continues to rise; increasing from 9.5 to 12.9 per 1,000 
        persons between 2015 and 2018.
            (4) Many immigrant advocates cite fear of deportation as 
        one of the reasons people are not coming forward to report 
        crimes. The threat of being reported to Immigration and Customs 
        Enforcement (ICE) is used by perpetrators of hate crimes to 
        silence both victims and witnesses and to avoid criminal 
        prosecution.
            (5) Detention and removal of victims of hate crimes 
        undermine the rule of law and gives perpetrators the means by 
        which to escape prosecution. The deportation of victims and 
        witnesses denies them the ability to see justice served, 
        prevents law enforcement from keeping communities safe, and 
        exacerbates the problems communities face in the rise of anti-
        immigrant violence.
            (6) Lack of resources has prevented law enforcement, 
        prosecutors, and victimized communities from learning about 
        available tools for their protection and the prosecution of 
        these crimes. Everyone seeking justice for victims and eager to 
        see a reduction in hate crimes must be afforded the resources 
        to learn and educate the public of these available tools.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY FOR WHICH A U VISA MAY BE 
              ISSUED; ADDITIONAL U VISAS MADE AVAILABLE.

    (a) Expansion of Criminal Activity.--Section 101(a)(15)(U)(iii) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(U)) is 
amended by inserting after ``fraud in foreign labor contracting (as 
defined in section 1351 of title 18, United States Code);'' the 
following: ``hate crime acts;''.
    (b) Additional Visas Made Available.--Section 214(p)(2)(A) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(p)(2)(A)) is amended by 
striking ``10,000'' and inserting ``12,000'', thus designating the 
additional 2,000 visas for victims of hate crimes.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF REMOVAL OF NON-CITIZENS WITH PENDING PETITIONS 
              AND APPLICATIONS.

    (a) In General.--A non-citizen described in subsection (b) shall 
not be removed from the United States under section 240 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a) or any other provision 
of law until there is a final denial of the non-citizen's application 
for status after the exhaustion of administrative and judicial review.
    (b) Non-Citizens Described.--A non-citizen is described in this 
subsection if the non-citizen--
            (1) has a pending application under section 101(a)(15)(T), 
        101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(27)(J), 106, 240A(b)(2), or 244(a)(3) (as 
        in effect on March 31, 1997) of the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act (8 U.S.C. 1101, 1229a, 1254a); or
            (2) is a VAWA self-petitioner, as defined in section 
        101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, with a 
        pending application for relief.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON DETENTION OF CERTAIN VICTIMS WITH PENDING 
              PETITIONS AND APPLICATIONS.

    Section 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(a) Prohibition on Detention of Certain Victims With Pending 
Petitions and Applications.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this Act, there shall be a presumption that the non-citizen 
        described in paragraph (2) should be released from detention. 
        The Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the duty of 
        rebutting this presumption, which may only be shown based on 
        clear and convincing evidence, including credible and 
        individualized information, that the use of alternatives to 
        detention will not reasonably ensure the appearance of the non-
        citizen at removal proceedings, or that the non-citizen is a 
        threat to another person or the community. The fact that a non-
        citizen has a criminal charge pending against the non-citizen 
        may not be the sole factor to justify the continued detention 
        of the non-citizen.
            ``(2) Non-citizen described.--A non-citizen is described in 
        this paragraph if the non-citizen--
                    ``(A) has a pending application under section 
                101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(27)(J), 106, 
                240A(b)(2), or 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 
                1997); or
                    ``(B) is a VAWA self-petitioner, as defined in 
                section 101(a)(51), with a pending application for 
                relief.''.

SEC. 6. GRANTS TO IDENTIFY, ASSIST, AND PROTECT VICTIMS OF HATE CRIME 
              VIOLENCE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        State, a local government, or non-governmental organizations.
            (2) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, 
        and any other territory or possession of the United States.
    (b) Grants Authorized.--The Attorney General may award grants to 
eligible entities to assist non-citizen victims of hate crimes and/or 
provide training to State and local law enforcement personnel or 
prosecution officials to identify and protect victims of anti-immigrant 
driven hate crime violence, criminal activities and harms covered by 
section 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 101(a)(27)(J), 106, 240A(b)(2), 
or 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 1997); or is a VAWA self-
petitioner, as defined in section 101(a)(51), with a pending 
application for relief.
    (c) Use of Funds.--
            (1) Partnership or collaboration.--An eligible entity 
        receiving a grant under this section shall carry out or possess 
        at least one of the following activities or expertise described 
        in paragraph (2) in partnership or collaboration with--
                    (A) National, State, local, or Federal law 
                enforcement or prosecution officials dedicated to 
                reducing anti-immigrant hate crimes and which possess 
                personnel who have more than 2-year expertise in and 
                have received U Visa Law Enforcement Certification and/
                or T visa declarations training; or
                    (B) National, State, or local non-governmental 
                organizations with more than 2 years expertise in the 
                identification and prosecution of hate crime, dedicated 
                to the reduction of anti-immigrant biased violence or 
                expertise training on and/or assisting non-citizens 
                navigate the process of applying for the U visa and any 
                of the forms of immigration relief listed in section 
                4(b) of this Act; or
                    (C) a non-governmental organization working in 
                partnership or collaboration with a group in 
                subparagraph (A) or (B).
            (2) Activities and expertise.--The activities and 
        expertises referred to in paragraph (1) are as follows:
                    (A) To provide funding to community-based, legal or 
                victim services organizations, law enforcement or 
                prosecution programs with a documented history of 
                effective work in identification of hate crimes and 
                anti-immigrant violence, to perform outreach in 
                communities that have experienced an increase in anti-
                immigrant violence since 2014.
                    (B) To provide funding to community-based, legal or 
                victim services organizations, law enforcement or 
                prosecution programs with a documented history of 
                effective work in the training of law enforcement and/
                or prosecution agency personnel to protect victims of 
                crimes who are non-citizens without lawful immigration 
                status, including training such personnel to utilize 
                Federal, State, or local resources to assist such 
                victims and their families.
                    (C) To provide funding to community-based, legal or 
                victim services organizations, law enforcement or 
                prosecution programs with a documented history of 
                effective work in the training of law enforcement or 
                State or local prosecutors to utilize Federal laws that 
                protect such non-citizens and their families.
    (d) Restrictions.--
            (1) Supplement not supplant.--A grant awarded under this 
        section shall be used to supplement and not supplant other 
        Federal, State, and local public funds available to carry out 
        the training described in subsection (c).
            (2) Administrative expenses.--An eligible entity that 
        receives a grant under this section may use not more than 5 
        percent of the total amount of such grant for administrative 
        expenses.
            (3) Nonexclusivity.--Nothing in this section may be 
        construed to restrict the ability of an eligible entity to 
        apply for or obtain funding from any other source to carry out 
        the training described in subsection (c).
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2032 to 
carry out this section.
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