jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-08 00:00:00

Veterans Visa and Protection Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) establish a program to permit eligible deported noncitizen veterans to enter the United States as, and to permit eligible noncitizen veterans in the United States to adjust their status to that of, a noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence; and (2) cancel the removal of eligible noncitizen veterans and allow them to similarly adjust their status.

An "eligible" veteran is a veteran who: (1) was not ordered removed, or removed, from the United States due to a criminal conviction for a crime of violence or for a crime that endangers U.S. national security for which the noncitizen served at least five years' imprisonment; and (2) is not inadmissible to, or deportable from, the United States due to such a conviction. DHS may waive such eligibility requirements for humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, due to exceptional service in the U.S. Armed Forces, or if such waiver otherwise is in the public interest.

A noncitizen veteran or service member shall not be removed from the United States unless he or she has a criminal conviction for a crime of violence.

A noncitizen who has obtained the status of a noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence under this bill shall be eligible for naturalization through service in the U.S. Armed Forces, except that: (1) the grounds on which the noncitizen was ordered removed from, or rendered inadmissible to or deportable from, the United States shall be disregarded when determining whether the noncitizen is a person of good moral character; and (2) any period of absence from the United States due to the noncitizen having been removed or being inadmissible shall be disregarded when determining if the noncitizen satisfies any requirement relating to continuous residence or physical presence.

A noncitizen who has obtained the status of a noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence under this bill shall be eligible for all military and veterans benefits for which the individual would have been eligible if he or she had never been been removed from, or voluntarily departed, the United States.

DHS shall: (1) identify cases involving service members and veterans at risk of removal from the United States, and (2) annotate all DHS immigration and naturalization records relating to any noncitizen involved and afford an opportunity to track the outcome.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-07-11 00:00:00

Military Amnesty Prevention Act

This bill permits the enlistment into the Armed Forces of aliens other than U.S. nationals and permanent resident aliens when such enlistment is vital to the U.S. national interest only if such individuals are in lawful immigration status.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-12 00:00:00

Uniting Families Act of 2016

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a non-immigrant W-visa category for an alien who: (1) is 18 or older and is the genetic son or daughter of a U.S. citizen who served in the Armed Forces on active duty abroad, or (2) is the spouse or child of such alien and is accompanying, or following to join, such alien.

A visa shall not be issued until a petition has been filed in the United States by the applicant's citizen parent and approved by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Such petition shall include:

 DNA evidence establishing that the alien is the petitioner's genetic child, a written agreement that the parent will provide financial support until the alien's status is adjusted to lawful permanent resident status, and information establishing that the petitioner is a U.S. citizen who served in the Armed Forces on active duty abroad. The bill provides that: (1) the period of authorized admission for a W-visa alien is five years, which may be extended for one additional two-year period; and (2) the total number of principal W-visa aliens who may be admitted during any fiscal is 5,000.

The bill prescribes the criteria that a W-visa alien must meet in order to adjust to lawful permanent resident status, including an understanding of the English language and U.S. history. (Such language and history requirements for naturalization purposes shall not apply to a person who has satisfied them in adjusting from W-visa status to lawful permanent resident status.)
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-13 00:00:00

Amerasian Paternity Recognition Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to confer automatic citizenship on aliens residing in the United States in lawful permanent resident status:

 pursuant to an approved classification petition that gives preferential treatment to persons born in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, or Thailand after 1950 and before October 22, 1982, and fathered by a U.S. citizen; or who were born in Vietnam after January 1, 1962, and before January 1, 1976, and fathered by a U.S. citizen.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Protect and Grow American Jobs Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the definition of "exempt H-1B nonimmigrant" to eliminate the masters or higher degree requirement and raise the annual salary threshold requirement from $60,000 to $100,000.

(An exempt H-1B nonimmigrant is a nonimmigrant H-1B [specialty occupation] worker meeting certain criteria whom an H-1B dependent employer may hire without having to satisfy certain otherwise applicable H-1B hiring criteria. An H-1B dependent employer is generally one whose H-1B workers comprise 15% or more of the employer's total workforce, with different thresholds applying to smaller employers.)

The bill requires an inflation adjustment to the salary threshold every third fiscal year.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

No Resettlement Without Consent Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that: (1) the Office of Refugee Resettlement shall not place or resettle a refugee within a state without the governor's approval; and (2) notwithstanding such approval, the office shall not place or resettle a refugee in any locality within a state if the locality has in effect a law, or a policy with the effect of law, disapproving of refugee resettlement in that locality.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Resettlement Accountability National Security Prioritization Act of 2016

This bill prohibits the admission of covered aliens into the United States for four years unless Congress passes a joint resolution giving the Department of Homeland Security authority to admit them. No covered alien may be admitted into the United States after such four-year period.

 "Covered alien" means an alien applying for refugee admission to the United States who: (1) is a national of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, or Yemen; or (2) has no nationality and whose last habitual residence was in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, or Yemen.

The Government Accountability Office shall report on: (1) the national security impact of refugee admissions; and (2) specified costs of providing refugees with benefits under Medicare, Medicaid, disability insurance under title II of the Social Security Act, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program), and section 8 rental assistance.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Illegal Alien Capture Notification Act

This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to provide that a person or agency shall (currently, may) not prohibit or restrict a federal, state, or local government entity from undertaking any of the following law enforcement activities (current law refers to information activities) regarding an individual's immigration status:

 notifying the federal government regarding the presence of inadmissible and deportable aliens who are encountered by state or local law enforcement personnel, or complying with federal law enforcement information requests. A federal, state, or local government entity or official shall not issue ordinances, administrative actions, general or special orders, or departmental policies that violate federal law or restrict a state or political subdivision from complying with federal law or coordinating with federal law enforcement.

A state or political subdivision that has in effect a statute, policy, or practice that prohibits state or local law enforcement officers from assisting or cooperating with federal immigration law enforcement in the course of carrying out the officers' routine law enforcement duties shall not be eligible to receive: (1) funds for the incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens or for the Cops on the Beat program, or (2) any other law enforcement or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant.

States or political subdivisions not in compliance shall: (1) be ineligible to receive such assistance for at least one year, and (2) become eligible for such assistance only after DHS certifies that the jurisdiction is in compliance. Withheld funds shall be reallocated to complying states or political subdivisions.

States and political subdivisions shall provide DHS with identifying information regarding each incarcerated alien who is believed to be inadmissible or deportable.

Nothing in this bill shall require state or local law enforcement officials to: (1) provide DHS with information related to a victim of a crime or witness to a criminal offense, or (2) otherwise report or arrest such a victim or witness.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Refugee Protection Act of 2016

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the one-year time limit for filing an asylum claim.

The bill revises the definition of "refugee" and the criteria for granting asylum.

The bill makes certain currently required detention provisions regarding arriving aliens who request asylum discretionary.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall: (1) establish a secure alternatives to detention program, and (2) establish specified conditions of detention.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom may conduct a study to determine whether certain immigration officers are properly handling asylum and removal/detention authority.

The bill: (1) authorizes waiver of the continuous one-year presence requirement for permanent resident status adjustment for a qualifying refugee/asylee who worked for the U.S. government overseas; (2) exempts aliens under the age of 18 from certain restrictions on applying for asylum; and (3) sets forth protections for minors, refugees, aliens interdicted at sea, and stateless persons.

The President is authorized to designate refugee groups.

The bill authorizes refugee applicants to simultaneously pursue other forms of admission.

The spouse or child of a refugee or asylee may bring his or her accompanying or following child into the United States as a refugee or asylee.

If the President does not issue a refugee allocation determination before the beginning of a fiscal year, the number of refugees that may be admitted in each quarter shall be 25% of the number of refugees admissible during the previous fiscal year.

The bill amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, with respect to naturalization of an Afghan or Iraqi translator who is a lawful permanent resident, to count a period of absence from the United States working as a translator for the United States or a U.S. contractor in Afghanistan or Iraq towards the accumulation of the required physical presence in the United States.

The bill revises: (1) the definition of "terrorist activity" for purposes of alien inadmissibility, including for aliens who were under 18 years of age when they committed certain actions under duress; and (2) the refugee grant and contract assistance allocation formula.

The Government Accountability Office shall conduct a study of the Office of Refugee Resettlement's domestic refugee resettlement programs.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is amended to extend the eligibility for supplemental security income assistance to certain aliens (including asylees and refugees) and trafficking victims.

 DHS shall grant employment authorization to qualifying T visa aliens (victims of trafficking in persons) and U visa aliens (children who have been granted special immigrant status as victims of criminal activity).

The number of U visas is increased.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Empowering Local Law Enforcement Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enter into a written agreement with a state or a subdivision thereof pursuant to which a state or local officer or employee may carry out immigration-related investigations, apprehensions, or detentions of aliens in the United States at state or local expense. (Under current law, such agreements are discretionary and carried out by the Department of Justice.)

The bill prohibits a state or local agreement request from being denied, or an agreement from being terminated, without a compelling reason.

DHS shall ensure that information is provided to the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) and the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) regarding the identity of any individual: with an active order of removal; who has been removed from the United States based upon engaging in terrorism or espionage, attempting to unlawfully enter the United States, being convicted of participation in a criminal street gang, being convicted of a felony other than a state or local offense for which an essential element was the alien's immigration status, or being convicted of an aggravated felony; and for whom a detainer was issued within the previous year but who was not taken into federal custody. If a state of local law enforcement official apprehends an individual for a crime and the officer has reason to believe that the individual is an alien, the officer may: (1) verify, using the information provided to the NCIC and the LESC, whether the individual is an individual described in this bill; (2) if so, issue a federal detainer; and (3) transport the individual for transfer to federal custody. DHS shall prioritize such an individual for removal.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Unaccompanied Alien Children Placement Transparency Act of 2016

This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to require the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Homeland Security to provide the following information to the governor and each appropriate agency of a state within 60 days after the custodial placement in such state of an unaccompanied alien child who is in federal custody by reason of the child's immigration status:

 the child's medical records if the child will be attending state public schools, the custodian's address and immigration status, any federal public benefit that the child will receive, and any federal public benefit that the custodian will receive as a result of such custody.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-09-09 00:00:00

Mobile Medical Immigrant Health Improvement Act of 2016

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to permit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide support to partnerships between hospitals and other local health care facilities to improve access to mobile medical health care services for individuals present in the United States who are not citizens or nationals. (Mobile medical health care services are provided in a moveable vehicle or a non-permanent clinic.) In providing such support, HHS must give priority to areas with a high ratio of such individuals to citizens and nationals.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-09-09 00:00:00

Remedies for Refusal of Repatriation Act

This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish procedures for determining whether a foreign government systematically and unreasonably refuses or delays the repatriation of its nationals who: (1) have been ordered deported by the United States; and (2) have been convicted of a felony or a crime of violence or are a threat to national security or public safety.

Upon determining that a country does refuse or delay repatriation of its citizens, DHS shall notify the Department of State and the two departments shall meet with the country's representatives and notify them that the United States may deny visas to their nationals.

If the country continues to refuse or delay the repatriation of its nationals, the State Department shall discontinue the issuance of visas, unless DHS determines that such discontinuance is not in U.S. interests.

DHS and the State Department shall list such countries on their websites.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-09-15 00:00:00

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize a specified amount of appropriations for FY2017 and each subsequent fiscal year for refugee resettlement activities.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-09-21 00:00:00

Immigrant Veterans Eligibility Tracking System (I-VETS) Act

 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to:

 identify aliens, when they apply for an immigration benefit or are placed in an immigration enforcement proceeding, who are serving, or have served, as a member of a regular or reserve component of the Armed Forces on active duty or as a member of a reserve component in an active status; and annotate all DHS immigration and naturalization records relating to an identified alien to reflect such identification and afford an opportunity to track the outcomes for such aliens.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-09-21 00:00:00

Healthcare Opportunities for Patriots in Exile (HOPE) Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Department of Homeland Security to parole into the United States an alien veteran who: (1) is seeking temporary admission to receive health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and (2) resides permanently abroad after having been removed or voluntarily departed from the United States.

Such parole shall not be available for an alien who is inadmissible due to a criminal conviction for: (1) a crime of violence for which the alien has served at least five years in prison, or (2) a crime that endangers U.S. national security for which the alien has served at least five years in prison.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-09-21 00:00:00

Naturalization at Training Sites Act of 2016 or the NATS Act

This bill directs the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard, to establish a naturalization office with trained personnel at each initial military training site of the Armed Forces.

The military department concerned shall: (1) identify members of the Armed Forces who are not U.S. citizens and inform them of the availability of naturalization services at such offices; and (2) pending establishment of a naturalization office at all initial military training sites, assign new non-citizen members of the Armed Forces to an initial military training site that has such an office.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-09-21 00:00:00

Immigration Courts Bail Reform Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the minimum bond amount needed to release a detained alien.

An immigration judge may review an initial custody determination for an adult alien, subject to specified rules, which include the following:

 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall, within 72 hours, file the notice to appear or charging document with the appropriate immigration court and serve such notice on the detained alien; except for criminals or suspected terrorists, DHS may continue to detain an alien only if no conditions will reasonably assure the alien's appearance and the safety of any other person and the community; the Department of Justice shall ensure that an alien has the opportunity to promptly appear before an immigration judge for a custody redetermination hearing; except for criminals or suspected terrorists, an immigration judge shall review the custody determination de novo and may continue to detain the alien only if DHS demonstrates that no conditions will reasonably assure the alien's appearance and the community's safety; DHS and an immigration judge shall order an alien's release on personal recognizance or upon an unsecured appearance bond unless such release will not reasonably assure the alien's appearance or the community's safety; if DHS or an immigration judge determines that such release will not reasonably assure the alien's appearance or such safety, DHS or the immigration judge shall order the alien's release under the least restrictive conditions that will assure the alien's appearance and the community's safety; DHS or an immigration judge shall consider the alien's financial ability in determining whether to impose a bond as a condition of release; and DHS or an immigration judge may not impose a financial condition that results in an alien's detention.
Topic: Immigration — Immigration
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2016-09-21 00:00:00

Allow State Sovereignty Upon Refugee Entry (ASSURE) Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to set forth requirements for programs for domestic resettlement of, and assistance to, refugees.

Before initial placement or resettlement of a refugee in a state, and before any assistance under such Act is provided to a refugee in a state, the Office of Refugee Resettlement must submit to the state legislature, and the state must enact, a plan covering that refugee, which includes:

 the costs to the state for housing, providing benefits to, and education of, the refugee; vaccination and health records, and the criminal history, of the refugee; any ties to a terrorist organization; whether the refugee is affiliated with groups listed as unindicted co-conspirators in the case of United States of America v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development; records of the refugee found in the Department of State's Consular Lookout and Support System; and records from the refugee interview conducted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. If such plan is signed into law, the state may enter contracts to carry out programs for domestic resettlement of, and assistance to, covered refugees. The state shall be reimbursed by the federal government for expenses incurred.

The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shall ensure that every Identity History Summary provided by the FBI includes: (1) the subject's immigration or citizenship status, and (2) any violation of federal immigration laws that has been adjudicated regarding the subject.