Title: A resolution recognizing January 27, 2020, as the anniversary of the first refugee and Muslim ban, calling on Congress to defund the Migrant Protection Protocols, and urging the President to restore refugee resettlement to historic norms.
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
This resolution reaffirms the United States' proud history of refugee resettlement, recognizes January 27, 2020, as the anniversary of the first refugee and Muslim ban, and calls on the United States to resettle a robust number of refugees to meet global needs in FY2020 and FY2021.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 484 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 484

 Recognizing January 27, 2020, as the anniversary of the first refugee 
 and Muslim ban, calling on Congress to defund the Migrant Protection 
Protocols, and urging the President to restore refugee resettlement to 
                            historic norms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 28, 2020

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Feinstein, 
     Ms. Harris, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. 
    Gillibrand, Ms. Warren, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Cardin, Mr. 
   Merkley, Mr. Booker, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Coons) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing January 27, 2020, as the anniversary of the first refugee 
 and Muslim ban, calling on Congress to defund the Migrant Protection 
Protocols, and urging the President to restore refugee resettlement to 
                            historic norms.

Whereas the world is in the midst of the worst global displacement crisis in 
        history, with more than 25,900,000 refugees worldwide, according to 
        United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates;
Whereas UNHCR reports that global resettlement needs have doubled in recent 
        years, reaching over 1,440,000 refugees in 2020;
Whereas the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is a life-saving 
        solution critical to global humanitarian efforts, which serves to 
        strengthen global security, leverage United States foreign policy goals, 
        and support regional host countries while serving individuals and 
        families in need;
Whereas the United States has been a global leader in responding to displacement 
        crises around the world and promoting the safety, health, and well-being 
        of refugees and displaced persons;
Whereas refugees are the most vetted travelers to enter the United States and 
        are subject to extensive screening checks, including in-person 
        interviews, biometric data checks, and multiple interagency checks;
Whereas the United States Government leverages resettlement to encourage other 
        countries to keep their doors open to refugees, allow refugee children 
        to attend school, and allow adults to work;
Whereas the USRAP emphasizes early self-sufficiency through employment, and most 
        adult refugees are employed within their first six months of arriving to 
        the United States;
Whereas refugees contribute to their communities by starting businesses, paying 
        taxes, sharing their cultural traditions, and being involved in their 
        neighborhoods, and reports have found that refugees contribute more than 
        they consume in State-funded services--including for schooling and 
        health care;
Whereas, for over 40 years, the United States has resettled up to 200,000 
        refugees per year, with an average admissions goal of 95,000 refugees 
        per year;
Whereas the United States Government has abdicated its leadership by setting a 
        record-low refugee admissions goal in fiscal year 2020 at 18,000;
Whereas, on January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump released an Executive 
        order banning individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries and all 
        refugees from entering the country;
Whereas, since that time, the President has taken further executive and 
        administrative actions to ban people from Muslim-majority countries and 
        to dismantle the United States refugee program, resulting in 
        significantly lowered capacity and loss of institutional memory and 
        experience in the historically successful USRAP;
Whereas the President issued a Proclamation on November 9, 2018, that wrongfully 
        and illegally blocks people who cross between ports of entry from 
        applying for asylum, and since then has taken further aggressive steps 
        to dismantle the United States asylum system;
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security started implementation of the 
        Migrant Protection Protocols on January 29, 2019, and it has exposed 
        tens of thousands of asylum seekers to torture, kidnapping, trafficking, 
        and exploitation by returning them to dangerous border cities in Mexico;
Whereas the 2018 Department of State country report for Mexico acknowledges 
        serious and targeted risks faced by migrants and asylum seekers in, and 
        transiting through, Mexico, such that it remains an unsafe place for 
        many;
Whereas the United States has returned more than 24,000 asylum seekers alone to 
        Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros, widely recognized as among the most violent 
        cities in the world, located in the state of Tamaulipas, which is the 
        subject of a Department of State ``Level 4: Do Not Travel'' advisory;
Whereas sending asylum seekers to another country limits and may completely 
        eliminate their opportunity to identify and meet with counsel, thereby 
        lowering their chances of obtaining relief; and
Whereas all individuals seeking asylum in the United States are entitled to due 
        process and access to an attorney: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reaffirms the United States proud history of refugee 
        resettlement and protection of asylum seekers;
            (2) recognizes January 27, 2020, as the anniversary of the 
        first refugee and Muslim ban;
            (3) reaffirms the strong bipartisan commitment of the 
        United States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of 
        refugees, including through resettlement and the asylum seeking 
        process to the United States for those who cannot return home;
            (4) underscores the importance of the United States Refugee 
        Admissions Program and a robust asylum system as critical tools 
        for United States global leadership;
            (5) recognizes the profound consequences faced by refugees, 
        asylum seekers, and their families who have been stranded, 
        separated, and scarred by current United States policies, 
        leaving thousands mid-process and more with little hope of 
        protection in the United States; and
            (6) calls upon the United States Government--
                    (A) to resettle a robust number of refugees to meet 
                global need in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 with an 
                emphasis on rebuilding the resettlement program and 
                returning to historic norms;
                    (B) to operate the program in good faith in an 
                attempt to meet their own stated objectives, restore 
                historic refugee arrivals, improve consultation with 
                Congress, and adhere to the clear congressional intent 
                within the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212);
                    (C) to ensure that no funds be made available by 
                any Act to implement or enforce the Migrant Protection 
                Protocols announced by the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security on December 20, 2018, or any subsequent 
                revisions to those protocols;
                    (D) to enact the National Origin-Based 
                Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act, introduced in 
                the Senate as S. 1123 (116th Congress) and in the House 
                of Representatives as H.R. 2214 (116th Congress), which 
                would terminate the Muslim, refugee, and asylum bans; 
                and
                    (E) to recommit to offering freedom to individuals 
                fleeing from persecution and oppression regardless of 
                their country of origin or religious beliefs.
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