Title: Urging the United States to uphold its commitments under international treaties related to refugees and asylum-seekers and halt deportations of Cameroonian citizens.
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
This resolution urges the United States to uphold its commitments under U.S. law and international treaties related to asylum seekers and also urges the Department of Homeland Security to stop detentions for legitimate asylum seekers. The resolution also calls on the government of Cameroon to respect the fundamental rights of its citizens.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1221 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1221

Urging the United States to uphold its commitments under international 
 treaties related to refugees and asylum-seekers and halt deportations 
                        of Cameroonian citizens.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2020

 Ms. Bass (for herself, Ms. Norton, Ms. Waters, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, 
Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Rush, Mr. Thompson 
 of Mississippi, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. 
Meeks, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Clay, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. 
Butterfield, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Moore, Ms. Clarke of 
New York, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Fudge, Mr. 
Richmond, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Payne, Mrs. 
  Beatty, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Adams, 
Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Plaskett, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Evans, Ms. Blunt 
Rochester, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. McEachin, 
   Mr. Horsford, Mr. Allred, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Omar, Ms. Pressley, Mr. 
 Mfume, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Speier, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Kind, Mr. Raskin, 
  Mr. Castro of Texas, and Ms. Judy Chu of California) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Urging the United States to uphold its commitments under international 
 treaties related to refugees and asylum-seekers and halt deportations 
                        of Cameroonian citizens.

Whereas every year people come to the United States seeking protection because 
        they have suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution 
        due to race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social 
        group or political opinion;
Whereas, in 2018, for the first time since the 1980 adoption of the Refugee Act, 
        the United States did not lead the world in refugee resettlement;
Whereas the Trump administration has steadily lowered the refugee admission 
        ceiling, beginning with a temporary freeze shortly after taking office 
        in 2017;
Whereas, on October 2020, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
        (ICE) removed over 60 Cameroonian asylum-seekers and 28 other African 
        nationals despite recent allegations that many of these individuals were 
        coerced into signing travel documents effectuating their removal;
Whereas advocacy groups have raised concerns following reports that officials at 
        Adams County Correctional, Winn Correctional, and Jackson Correctional 
        Facilities in the New Orleans ICE Field Office Region, used coercive 
        tactics such as physical violence, pressure, and threats to obtain 
        Cameroonian individuals' signatures on deportation documents;
Whereas the number of sub-Saharan African migrants, including Cameroonians, 
        entering the United States through Mexico has doubled from 2,700 in 2018 
        to 5,800 in 2019 and according to the United Nations Refugee Agency 
        (UNHCR) data, the number of Cameroonian asylum-seekers in Mexico 
        increased from 23 in 2016 to 105 in 2017;
Whereas, from 2012 to 2016, the number of Cameroonians applying for asylum in 
        the United States has also increased from less than 600 to more than 
        1,300;
Whereas the 2019 Department of State Cameroon Human Rights Report documented 
        human rights abuses, including unlawful or arbitrary killings, 
        disappearances by security forces, torture, and armed detention by 
        nonstate armed groups, including Anglophone separatists, Boko Haram, and 
        ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA) fighters;
Whereas Cameroon's Anglophone population have long been marginalized by official 
        actions and policies of the Government;
Whereas, in 2016, instability gave way to violence and in 2017 the conflict 
        escalated when Cameroonian security forces brutally cracked down on 
        Anglophone civilians peacefully demonstrating and displaced large 
        numbers of people;
Whereas nearly 700,000 people have been displaced in the northwest and southwest 
        regions alone, with over 3,900,000 currently in need of humanitarian 
        support, thousands have been killed, and the United Nations estimates 
        that there are more than 58,000 refugees seeking safety outside of 
        Cameroon;
Whereas due to the continuing conflict in Cameroon, violence against and abuse 
        of the civilian population are the most pressing concerns;
Whereas the UNHCR has documented widespread protection issues and human rights 
        violations, including the burning of property, kidnapping, rape and 
        sexual assault, child labor and abuse, and illegal arrests;
Whereas human rights groups have also documented cases of extrajudicial 
        executions and torture committed by the Cameroonian security forces and 
        by armed separatist groups;
Whereas women, children, and people with disabilities are particularly 
        vulnerable to and easy prey for rights abusers;
Whereas the United States has openly commented on the severity of the crisis in 
        Cameroon and following reports of rights violations by the Cameroonian 
        military;
Whereas the United States halted some of its military assistance yet the number 
        of Cameroonians who are granted asylum in the United States has dropped 
        steadily since 2007;
Whereas many African countries have shut their borders to fight the COVID-19 
        pandemic and ICE has deported at least 189 African nationals to their 
        countries of origin since the start of the outbreak;
Whereas according to the International Rescue Committee, more than 20 percent of 
        the ICE detainee population is testing positive for COVID-19 and given 
        the high numbers of COVID-19, it is likely that some of the African 
        deportees were coronavirus-positive and transported the virus back to 
        their country of origin;
Whereas human rights groups have indicated that those deported face the risk of 
        being arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and even killed upon their return 
        to Cameroon; and
Whereas, in October 2020, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the 
        Committee on Homeland Security sent multiple letters to ICE demanding it 
        stop its plans to deport over 200 Cameroonian asylum-seekers and several 
        Senators sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of the Department urging 
        the administration to halt deportations of Cameroonian asylum-seekers: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) acknowledges and respects the responsibility of the 
        United States to refugees, asylum-seekers, immigrants, and 
        naturalized United States citizens;
            (2) urges the United States to uphold its commitments under 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act and international treaties 
        related to asylum-seekers;
            (3) urges the Department of Homeland Security to--
                    (A) stop deportations, of legitimate asylum-
                seekers, including Cameroonians, fleeing state 
                oppression and mass atrocity crimes due to widespread 
                violence;
                    (B) immediately provide for alternatives to 
                detention for these asylum-seekers, except in cases 
                where a determination is made that such individuals 
                pose a significant risk to public safety; and
                    (C) ensure that asylum-seekers and other immigrants 
                have access to clear information on their rights and 
                obligations regarding their ongoing legal proceedings, 
                case management, and health services (including 
                testing) in a time of COVID-19;
            (4) urges the Department of Homeland Security Office of the 
        Inspector General, to--
                    (A) immediately investigate allegations of civil 
                and human rights violations committed against 
                Cameroonian individuals in the custody of ICE at the 
                Adams County, Winn, and Jackson Parish Correctional 
                Facilities; and
                    (B) immediately pause the removals of all potential 
                victims or cooperating witnesses of alleged civil and 
                human rights violations until such an investigation is 
                complete;
            (5) urges the Government of Cameroon to respect the 
        fundamental rights of all Cameroonian citizens, including those 
        removed from the United States under orders of deportation, 
        political activists, and journalists; and
            (6) calls on the international community to use diplomatic 
        tools to address the root causes of conflict and displacement, 
        including by pursuing accountability for war crimes and 
        investing in peace-building initiatives.
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