Title: Global Migration Agreement Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Global Migration Agreement Act
This bill directs the Department of State and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States in both bilateral relationships and multilateral organizations to promote the adoption of a binding Global Migration Agreement.
Such agreement should, among other things, address the root causes of migration, centralize the human rights of migrants, and provide global funding for crisis response involving at-risk migrants.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5878 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5878

 To promote the adoption of a binding Global Migration Agreement, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2020

   Ms. Omar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To promote the adoption of a binding Global Migration Agreement, 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 ``Global Migration Agreement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the United Nations High Commissioner on 
        Refugees, there are more than 70 million displaced people 
        worldwide, which is the highest figure in recorded history.
            (2) Among those displaced people are approximately 41 
        million internally displaced people (IDPs), approximately 26 
        million refugees, and another 3.5 million asylum seekers.
            (3) In addition, there are entire classes of vulnerable 
        migrants who are not accounted for by traditional definitions 
        of refugees, IDPs, and asylum seekers, including people forced 
        to flee a broader set of factors, including generational 
        poverty, climate change, or some combination of these factors.
            (4) As a consequence of the insufficient categorizations of 
        vulnerable migrants in domestic and international laws and 
        norms, the actual number of forced migrants is not known and 
        has not been tracked.
            (5) According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring 
        Center, more than 60 percent of the internal displacements in 
        the world in 2017 resulted from disasters as opposed to 
        conflict.
            (6) In 2018, the World Bank estimated that Latin America, 
        sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia will generate 143 
        million more climate migrants by 2050.
            (7) The gender, sex, gender identity, and sexual 
        orientation of migrants shape every stage of the migration 
        process. Women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community are 
        disproportionately vulnerable to--
                    (A) gender-based violence and impunity for gender-
                based violence that serve as root causes of migration;
                    (B) legal discrimination that serves as a root 
                cause for forced migration;
                    (C) gender-based and sexual violence during 
                migration;
                    (D) human trafficking during migration;
                    (E) the denial of the right to health as a root 
                cause of forced migration, during migration, and upon 
                arrival;
                    (F) the denial of the right to work and to 
                education as a root cause of forced migration, during 
                migration, and upon arrival; and
                    (G) the denial of other human rights as root causes 
                of forced migration, during migration, and upon 
                arrival.
            (8) Identifying the trigger for a given migrant often does 
        not adequately explain the root causes. Root causes of forced 
        migration are often complex and multifaceted, and may include--
                    (A) human rights violations;
                    (B) systematic impunity and corruption;
                    (C) climate change;
                    (D) widespread community violence;
                    (E) gender-based violence; and
                    (F) institutional discrimination.
            (9) Migrants are particularly vulnerable to--
                    (A) human trafficking;
                    (B) violence and extortion from organized crime;
                    (C) violations of the rights to health, education, 
                and work; and
                    (D) violations of the particular human rights of 
                women, the LGBTQIA+ community, racial minorities, 
                ethnic minorities, indigenous people, religious 
                minorities, and other vulnerable populations.
            (10) Migrants who have arrived in either a host country or, 
        in the case of those internally displaced, a host city or 
        community, are particularly vulnerable to--
                    (A) violations of the right to due process;
                    (B) the rights to health, education, and work; and
                    (C) violations of the particular human rights of 
                women, the LGBTQIA+ community, racial minorities, 
                ethnic minorities, indigenous people, religious 
                minorities, and other vulnerable populations.
            (11) In the case of internal displacement, there are 
        inadequate resources for the cities, communities, and other 
        localities that take on a disproportionate burden of forced 
        migration.
            (12) In the case of cross-border migration, there are 
        inadequate resources for the countries that take on a 
        disproportionate burden of forced migration.
            (13) On September 19, 2016, the United Nations General 
        Assembly unanimously adopted the New York Declaration for 
        Refugees and Migrants.
            (14) Among the provisions of the New York Declaration for 
        Refugees and Migrants was a commitment to the creation of a 
        Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.
            (15) On December 19, 2018, the United Nations General 
        Assembly adopted the Global Compact for Migration that emerged 
        from a two-year process, with 152 countries voting in favor, 12 
        abstaining, 24 not voting, and 5 voting against.
            (16) The United States was among the countries that voted 
        against the Global Migration Compact, issuing a statement that 
        said the Compact was ``an effort by the United Nations to 
        advance global governance at the expense of the sovereign right 
        of States''.
            (17) The United States has demonstrated its commitment to 
        maintaining its historic leadership in the field of global 
        migration by remaining the top funder of the United Nations 
        High Commission on Refugees and the International Organization 
        for Migration.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the leadership of the United States is paramount to 
        addressing the global forced displacement crisis;
            (2) in order for the United States to restore its global 
        leadership on the issue of migration, it must reaffirm its 
        commitments in both the domestic and international arena, 
        including by restoring refugee resettlement to adequate levels, 
        affirming and codifying the rights of asylum seekers, and 
        adequately funding the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and 
        Migration of the Department of State;
            (3) as a first step in taking leadership on the issue of 
        global migration, the United States should sign the existing 
        Global Compact for Migration;
            (4) as an additional measure to restore American leadership 
        on global migration issues, the United States should work in 
        bilateral and multilateral relationships with North American, 
        Central American, and Caribbean Governments to develop a 
        regional migration agreement rooted in the principles outlined 
        in the Global Compact for Migration to be used as a model for 
        the Agreement required by section 4 of this Act;
            (5) the effects of climate change on displacement, 
        including both displacement from ``sudden onset'' natural 
        disasters as well as the increasing scarcity of resources, 
        represent an urgent concern for the United States;
            (6) countries with less capacity but greater proximity to 
        countries of origin for refugees and asylum seekers, such as 
        Lebanon, Jordan, Niger, and Colombia, have taken on a 
        disproportionate burden of the global forced displacement 
        crisis; and
            (7) a global migration system with substantial multilateral 
        buy-in is necessary to adequately address the increasing levels 
        of forced migration, and significant institution-building is 
        needed in order to provide adequate protection for migrants at 
        risk.

SEC. 4. GLOBAL MIGRATION AGREEMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State, the United States 
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and other officials of 
the Department of State shall use the voice, vote, and influence of 
United States in bilateral relationships and multilateral organizations 
to promote the adoption of a binding Global Migration Agreement that 
should--
            (1) address the root causes of migration, the 
        vulnerabilities faced by migrants, and integration of migrants 
        into their new countries;
            (2) centralize the human rights of migrants, including 
        their rights to health;
            (3) recognize the particular vulnerabilities of 
        marginalized groups; including women; members of the LGBTQIA+ 
        community; racial, ethnic, and religious minorities; and 
        indigenous people;
            (4) establish clear, ambitious quantitative and qualitative 
        benchmarks according to each country's capacity and need;
            (5) provide global funding for crisis response involving 
        migrants at risk, whether their migration is internal or cross-
        border;
            (6) establish clear reporting requirements for countries on 
        their progress in achieving the benchmarks specified in this 
        subsection;
            (7) establish mechanisms for support, including funding, 
        for countries and localities taking on a disproportionate 
        burden of forced migration;
            (8) expand and revise existing categorizations and 
        definitions of migrants to incorporate classes of vulnerable 
        migrants who are currently unprotected by international norms 
        and laws; and
            (9) establish clear consensus on the due process rights of 
        migrants, regardless of their motivations for migrating.
    (b) Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of 
State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a 
report on progress made toward adopting the Global Migration Agreement 
described in subsection (a).
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