CFRM Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2684 | Sponsor: Rep. Diaz-Balart, Mario (R-FL)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Cuban Family Reunification Modernization Act of 2021 or the CFRM Act of 2021
This bill establishes a program to provide immigration parole to eligible Cuban nationals for family reunification purposes. (Parole is official permission to enter and temporarily remain in the United States.)
To be eligible for parole under this bill, a Cuban national must be a beneficiary of a petition for a family-sponsored immigration visa. A sponsor may apply for parole for the beneficiary before the beneficiary receives an immigration visa.
An eligible beneficiary must meet certain criteria, such as passing a medical examination and background check. An individual who has committed a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights shall not be eligible for parole under this bill.
Parole provided under this bill shall be for two years. An individual who receives parole may apply for work authorization.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall take reasonable measures to prioritize the parole applications where the beneficiary is (1) an individual with a terminal illness, or (2) a qualifying minor child (generally a child with a parent with a soon-to-expire immigration visa).
DHS may operate an immigration processing facility at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if the Department of Defense certifies that such a facility would not hinder the station's operations or pose a threat to national security.

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a Cuban 
      family reunification parole program, 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 ``Cuban Family Reunification 
Modernization Act of 2021'' or the ``CFRM Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) program, 
        initiated by President George W. Bush in 2007, allows United 
        States citizens or lawful permanent residents to apply for 
        their family members in Cuba to join them in the United States.
            (2) The CFRP program has been stalled since September 2017, 
        when the State Department reduced the staff in Havana in 
        response to severe brain injuries suffered by several members 
        of the U.S. diplomatic community and their families.
            (3) The United States embassy website currently states 
        that, ``Due to staff reductions at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, 
        Cuba, USCIS has suspended operations at its field office in 
        Havana.'' Most Cuban nationals who apply for U.S. entry must 
        travel to a third country, with all Cuban applications and 
        interviews for immigrant visas handled by the U.S. Embassy in 
        Georgetown, Guyana, requiring applicants to incur additional 
        costs such as airfare and lodging.
            (4) Cuban diplomats and other high-level Communist Party 
        operatives applying for diplomatic or official visas may remain 
        in Cuba throughout the visa application process.
            (5) According to press reports, the United States Navy 
        housed approximately 50,000 migrants at one time on the naval 
        station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1994.
            (6) The United States State Department hires local Cuban 
        nationals at the United States embassy in Havana, Cuba some of 
        whom have, according to accounts, intimidated those attempting 
        to meet with personnel of the United States. The use of such 
        regime-provided Cuban nationals at the United States embassy in 
        Havana, Cuba should be minimized to the greatest extent 
        possible.
            (7) The regime in Cuba holds an egregious human rights 
        record marred by repression of speech, religious belief, labor 
        rights, as well as arbitrary detentions, inhumane prison 
        conditions, beatings, and other acts of repudiation.
            (8) The regime in Cuba places severe restrictions on basic 
        human rights and liberties resulting in an oppressive 
        environment with widespread fear of reprisal for expressing 
        opposition to the regime.
            (9) According to U.S. State Department Report 004246 of 
        March 2021, ``nearly all Cubans wishing to travel to the United 
        States must apply for their visas outside of Cuba,'' and 
        further that ``the Department recognizes the necessity to leave 
        Cuba to apply for a U.S. visa is a barrier many Cubans are 
        unable or unwilling to surmount.''.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that no 
applicant should be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, 
disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex 
characteristics, and that discrimination based on race, political 
opinion, religious belief, or association with a targeted group and 
hate crimes and other forms of discrimination against vulnerable 
communities, including LGBTQ people, are human rights abuses.

SEC. 3. CUBAN FAMILY REUNIFICATION PAROLE PROGRAM.

    Chapter 2 of title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1181 et. seq.) is amended by inserting after section 214 the 
following new section:

``SEC. 214A. CUBAN FAMILY REUNIFICATION PAROLE PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--Pursuant to the authority established under 
section 212(d)(5), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a 
Cuban family reunification program under which the Secretary may grant 
parole to a qualified beneficiary on whose behalf a petition has been 
approved.
    ``(b) Petition Process.--
            ``(1) In general.--A petitioner may submit an application 
        to the Secretary of Homeland Security for a qualified 
        beneficiary to be paroled into the United States prior to the 
        date on which an immigrant visa is available for such 
        beneficiary.
            ``(2) Interview.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, in 
        consultation with the Department of State, shall conduct an 
        interview of a qualified beneficiary to ensure that such 
        beneficiary--
                    ``(A) is eligible for the Cuban family 
                reunification program;
                    ``(B) is admissible to the United States;
                    ``(C) has passed a medical examination; and
                    ``(D) has passed criminal and national security 
                background checks required by the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security for admission into the United States.
            ``(3) Identity verification.--To be eligible for the Cuban 
        family reunification program, a qualified beneficiary shall 
        provide--
                    ``(A) a passport issued by the government of Cuba, 
                as applicable; and
                    ``(B) other documents required by the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security to demonstrate that the qualified 
                beneficiary is eligible for parole under the Cuban 
                family reunification program.
            ``(4) Exception for human rights violators.--Paragraph (1) 
        shall not apply to a qualified beneficiary who has committed a 
        gross violation of internationally recognized human rights, as 
        described under section 502B(d)(1) of the Foreign Assistance 
        Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)).
    ``(c) Travel Documents.--The Secretary of State shall issue 
necessary travel documents for the qualified beneficiary to travel to 
the United States and seek parole from the Department of Homeland 
Security at a port of entry of the United States.
    ``(d) Duration of Parole.--Parole granted under this section shall 
be for a 2-year period for a qualified beneficiary who is a Cuban 
national.
    ``(e) Work Authorization.--A qualified beneficiary is eligible to 
apply to the Secretary of Homeland Security for work authorization.
    ``(f) Fees.--The Secretary of State may require payment of a 
reasonable fee as a condition of participation in the Cuban family 
reunification program.
    ``(g) Priority Processing.--
            ``(1) Terminal illness.--The Secretary of Homeland 
        Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall 
        take all reasonable measures to prioritize a petition for a 
        qualified beneficiary to be paroled into the United States if 
        the petitioner--
                    ``(A) has a terminal illness; and
                    ``(B) the petitioner can provide documentation of 
                such illness to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
            ``(2) Minor children.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall take all 
        reasonable measures to prioritize a petition for a qualified 
        beneficiary to be paroled into the United States if such 
        qualified beneficiary--
                    ``(A) is a minor child; and
                    ``(B) has a custodial parent who is the beneficiary 
                of an immigrant visa and such visa will expire prior to 
                the date of the interview under subsection (b)(2) for 
                the minor child.
    ``(h) Processing Immigration Petitions and Applications at United 
States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, beginning not later than 120 days after the date of the 
        enactment of the Cuban Family Reunification Modernization Act 
        of 2021 and ending on the date specified in paragraph (7), the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the 
        Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, may operate a 
        facility to process immigration petitions and applications for 
        Cuban nationals, including conducting in-person interviews as 
        necessary for such petitions and applications, at the United 
        States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (hereinafter 
        referred to as the `U.S. Naval Station'). Provided, That the 
        Secretary of Defense certifies that operating consular services 
        at the U.S. Naval Station would not hinder ordinary operations 
        or pose a threat to national security.
            ``(2) Appointment.--A Cuban national shall be permitted to 
        enter the U.S. Naval Station only with an appointment notice 
        from the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of 
        State.
            ``(3) Employment of cuban nationals.--In carrying out the 
        requirement under paragraph (1), the United States Government 
        shall not employ a Cuban national recommended by the Communist 
        regime in Cuba.
            ``(4) Port of entry.--The U.S. Naval Station shall not be 
        considered to be a port of entry into the United States.
            ``(5) Funding.--Beginning on the date that is 60 days after 
        the enactment of this Act, funds authorized for the processing 
        of immigration petitions or applications at the United States 
        Embassy in Havana, Cuba are authorized to fund the processing 
        of immigration petitions or applications at the U.S. Naval 
        Station.
            ``(6) Operation and security of united states naval 
        station, guantanamo bay, cuba.--If the Commander of the U.S. 
        Naval Station finds that the operation and security of the U.S. 
        Naval Station is impaired by a high number of Cuban nationals 
        attempting to access consular services described in paragraph 
        (1), without an appointment, the Commander of the U.S. Naval 
        Station may cease operating a facility to provide consular 
        services until such facility and services may be provided 
        without impairing the operation and security of the U.S. Naval 
        Station.
            ``(7) Date specified.--The date specified in this paragraph 
        is the date that is 60 days after the date which the Secretary 
        of State determines that other accommodations have been made to 
        allow for the regular and timely processing of immigration 
        petitions or applications on the island of Cuba.
    ``(i) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Petitioner.--The term `petitioner' means an 
        individual who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the 
        United States and who has an approved Form I-130, Petition for 
        Alien Relative (or any successor form), for a qualified 
        beneficiary.
            ``(2) Qualified beneficiary.--The term `qualified 
        beneficiary' means an individual--
                    ``(A) who is a Cuban national living in Cuba, or a 
                minor child, who may or may not be living in Cuba, of a 
                Cuban national parent; and
                    ``(B) who is the beneficiary of a petition, filed 
                by the petitioner, for status as a lawful permanent 
                resident by reason of a relationship described in 
                section 203(a).
            ``(3) Minor child.--The term `minor child' means an 
        individual under the age of 21 years old.''.
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