Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act
Bill: S.295 | Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco (R-FL)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act
This bill designates certain Hong Kong residents with priority status for refugee consideration and contains other related provisions.
An individual and certain family members shall have such priority status if the individual (1) is a Hong Kong resident who suffered persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution as a result of peaceful political activity; or (2) has been formally charged, detained, or convicted for certain peaceful actions. An individual receiving refugee status under this bill shall not be counted against various numerical limitations.
When determining whether an individual shall be admitted as a refugee, an individual whose citizenship, nationality, or residency was revoked for submitting a nonfrivolous application for a U.S. immigration benefit shall be considered to have suffered persecution on account of political opinion.
The general presumption that an alien is seeking immigrant status shall not apply to certain Hong Kong residents seeking asylum into the United States. (Typically, an alien seeking admission as a nonimmigrant must establish that the alien does not intend to immigrate to the United States.) This exception to the presumption shall apply to certain individuals involved in the 2019 and 2020 protests against China's encroachment into Hong Kong's autonomy (Hong Kong is a part of China but has a separate legal and economic system).
An individual from Hong Kong may not be denied admission into the United States if the primary reason for the denial is a politically motivated government action against the individual's involvement in protests.

To designate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 
 as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF HONG KONG AS PRIORITY 2 
              REFUGEES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, shall designate, as Priority 2 refugees 
of special humanitarian concern, the following categories of aliens:
            (1) Individuals who are residents of the Hong Kong Special 
        Administrative Region who suffered persecution, or have a well-
        founded fear of persecution, on account of their peaceful 
        expression of political opinions or peaceful participation in 
        political activities or associations.
            (2) Individuals who have been formally charged, detained, 
        or convicted on account of their peaceful actions as described 
        in section 206(b)(2) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act 
        of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 5726).
            (3) The spouses, children, and parents (as such terms are 
        defined in subsections (a) and (b) of section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)) of individuals 
        described in paragraph (1) or (2), except such parents who are 
        citizens of a country other than the People's Republic of 
        China.
    (b) Processing of Hong Kong Refugees.--The processing of 
individuals described in subsection (a) for classification as refugees 
may occur in Hong Kong or in a third country.
    (c) Eligibility for Admission as Refugees.--An alien may not be 
denied the opportunity to apply for admission as a refugee under this 
section primarily because such alien--
            (1) qualifies as an immediate relative of a citizen of the 
        United States; or
            (2) is eligible for admission to the United States under 
        any other immigrant classification.
    (d) Facilitation of Admissions.--An applicant for admission to the 
United States from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may not 
be denied primarily on the basis of a politically motivated arrest, 
detention, or other adverse government action taken against such 
applicant as a result of the participation by such applicant in protest 
activities.
    (e) Exclusion From Numerical Limitations.--Aliens provided refugee 
status under this section shall not be counted against any numerical 
limitation under section 201, 202, 203, or 207 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151, 1152, 1153, and 1157).
    (f) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the 
        Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
        submit a report regarding the matters described in paragraph 
        (2) to--
                    (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives.
            (2) Matters to be included.--Each report required under 
        paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) the total number of applications that are 
                pending at the end of the reporting period;
                    (B) the average wait-times for all applicants who 
                are currently pending--
                            (i) employment verification;
                            (ii) a prescreening interview with a 
                        resettlement support center;
                            (iii) an interview with U.S. Citizenship 
                        and Immigration Services; or
                            (iv) the completion of security checks; and
                    (C) the number of denials of applications for 
                refugee status, disaggregated by the reason for each 
                such denial.
            (3) Form.--Each report required under paragraph (1) shall 
        be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
        annex.
            (4) Public reports.--The Secretary of State shall make each 
        report submitted under this subsection available to the public 
        on the internet website of the Department of State.
    (g) Satisfaction of Other Requirements.--Aliens granted status 
under this section as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian 
concern under the refugee resettlement priority system shall be 
considered to satisfy the requirements under section 207 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) for admission to the 
United States.

SEC. 3. WAIVER OF IMMIGRANT STATUS PRESUMPTION.

    (a) In General.--The presumption under the first sentence of 
section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(b)) that every alien is an immigrant until the alien establishes 
that the alien is entitled to nonimmigrant status shall not apply to an 
alien described in subsection (b).
    (b) Alien Described.--
            (1) In general.--An alien described in this paragraph is an 
        alien who--
                    (A) is a resident of the Hong Kong Special 
                Administrative Region on February 8, 2021;
                    (B) is seeking entry to the United States to apply 
                for asylum under section 208 of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158); and
                    (C)(i) had a leadership role in civil society 
                organizations supportive of the protests in 2019 and 
                2020 relating to the Hong Kong extradition bill and the 
                encroachment on the autonomy of Hong Kong by the 
                People's Republic of China;
                    (ii) had an organizing role for such protests;
                    (iii) acted as a first aid responder for such 
                protests;
                    (iv) suffered harm while covering such protests as 
                a journalist;
                    (v) provided paid or pro-bono legal services to 1 
                or more individuals arrested for participating in such 
                protests; or
                    (vi) during the period beginning on June 9, 2019, 
                and ending on February 8, 2021, was formally charged, 
                detained, or convicted for his or her participation in 
                such protests.
            (2) Exclusion.--An alien described in this paragraph does 
        not include any alien who is a citizen of a country other than 
        the People's Republic of China.

SEC. 4. REFUGEE AND ASYLUM DETERMINATIONS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND 
              NATIONALITY ACT.

    (a) Persecution on Account of Political Opinion.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of refugee determinations 
        under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
        U.S.C. 1157), an individual whose citizenship, nationality, or 
        residency is revoked for having submitted to any United States 
        Government agency a nonfrivolous application for refugee 
        status, asylum, or any other immigration benefit under the 
        immigration laws (as defined in section 101(a) of such Act (8 
        U.S.C. 1101(a))) shall be considered to have suffered 
        persecution on account of political opinion.
            (2) Nationals of the people's republic of china.--For 
        purposes of refugee determinations under section 207 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), a national of 
        the People's Republic of China whose residency in the Hong Kong 
        Special Administrative Region, or any other area within the 
        jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, as determined 
        by the Secretary of State, is revoked for having submitted to 
        any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous application 
        for refugee status, asylum, or any other immigration benefit 
        under the immigration laws shall be considered to have suffered 
        persecution on account of political opinion.
    (b) Changed Circumstances.--For purposes of asylum determinations 
under section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1158), the revocation of the citizenship, nationality, or residency of 
an individual for having submitted to any United States Government 
agency a nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, or any 
other immigration benefit under the immigration laws shall be 
considered to be a changed circumstance under subsection (a)(2)(D) of 
such section.

SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON ENCOURAGING ALLIES AND PARTNERS TO MAKE 
              SIMILAR ACCOMMODATIONS.

    It is the policy of the United States to encourage allies and 
partners of the United States to make accommodations similar to the 
accommodations made under this Act for residents of the Hong Kong 
Special Administrative Region who are fleeing oppression by the 
Government of the People's Republic of China.

SEC. 6. TERMINATION.

    This Act shall cease to have effect on the date that is 5 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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