Title: Kleptocrat Exposure Act
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Kleptocrat Exposure Act
This bill authorizes the Department of State to make publicly available certain records related to a visa denial based on an alien's involvement in gross violations of human rights or significant acts of corruption, such as extrajudicial killings or expropriating public assets for personal gain. (Records related to visa applications are generally confidential unless they fall within certain exceptions.)

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3441 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3441

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow the Secretary of 
State to make available to the public records pertaining to the refusal 
 of a visa or permit based on an alien's involvement in a violation of 
human rights or acts of significant corruption, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2019

 Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Wilson of South 
Carolina, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Mr. Curtis) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow the Secretary of 
State to make available to the public records pertaining to the refusal 
 of a visa or permit based on an alien's involvement in a violation of 
human rights or acts of significant corruption, 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 ``Kleptocrat Exposure Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITING CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS.

    (a) In General.--Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting the following: ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) records pertaining to the refusal of a visa or permit 
        of an individual alien, or any member of the individual alien's 
        immediate family who has attained 18 years of age, may be made 
        available to the public at the discretion of the Secretary of 
        State in the case that such refusal is based on credible 
        evidence that--
                    ``(A) the individual alien is responsible for 
                extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross 
                violations of internationally recognized human rights 
                (as such term is defined in section 502B(d) of the 
                Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) committed against 
                individuals in any foreign country who seek--
                            ``(i) to expose illegal activity carried 
                        out by government officials; or
                            ``(ii) to obtain, exercise, defend, or 
                        promote internationally recognized human rights 
                        and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, 
                        expression, association, and assembly, and the 
                        rights to a fair trial and democratic 
                        elections;
                    ``(B) the individual alien acted as an agent of or 
                on behalf of a foreign person in a matter relating to 
                an activity described in subparagraph (A);
                    ``(C) the individual alien is a government 
                official, or a senior associate of such an official, 
                that is responsible for, or complicit in, ordering, 
                controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of 
                significant corruption, including the expropriation of 
                private or public assets for personal gain, corruption 
                related to government contracts or the extraction of 
                natural resources, bribery, or the facilitation or 
                transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign 
                jurisdictions;
                    ``(D) the individual alien has materially assisted, 
                sponsored, or provided financial, material, or 
                technological support for, or goods or services in 
                support of, an activity described in subparagraph (C); 
                or
                    ``(E) the individual alien's entry or proposed 
                activities in the United States would have potentially 
                serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the 
                United States as determined by the Secretary pursuant 
                to subparagraph (C) of section 212(a)(3).''.
    (b) Application.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act 
shall apply with respect to any application for a visa or permit filed 
before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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