Grassley-Graham Proposal Will Make Human Rights Violators Deportable, Inadmissible to U.S.
WASHINGTON
– Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have introduced the Human
Rights Violator Act of 2022. The legislation would establish grounds of
inadmissibility for any alien who participated in the persecution of people
because of race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion as
well as any alien who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in
war crimes as defined in federal law. It would also make any alien already in
the country deportable if they fit those definitions.
“America
is a welcoming country, but there’s no reason we ought to welcome human rights
violators. In an era of persecution and violence abroad, the United States must
hold fast to our founding principle that all are created equal. War criminals
and those who engage in practices like female mutilation obviously don’t
respect that principle, and shouldn’t find refuge in our country. My
legislation will make sure of that,” Grassley said.
“I
appreciate the leadership of Senator Grassley on this very important issue of
denying people involved in war crimes and human rights abuses the ability to
travel to and remain in our country. This change to our immigration law is
much-needed in light of the outrage towards Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the
war crimes being committed in front of our eyes every day,” said
Graham.
The
senators’ legislation amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
to make persecutors – defined as any alien who “ordered, incited, assisted, or
otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race,
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political
opinion” – inadmissible to and deportable from the United States. It also makes
aliens who have committed war crimes as defined in existing federal law, along
with aliens involved in female genital mutilation (FGM) inadmissible to and
deportable from the United States. In addition, the bill formally authorizes
ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center for the first time.
The
Human Rights Violator Act of 2022 also extends the statute of
limitations for foreigners who commit human rights violations who’ve entered
the United States by fraud. It gives officers at U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) who adjudicate immigrant applications access to
criminal history records. Finally, the bill establishes a new revenue stream to
fund the visa security and national security programs within the Department of
Homeland Security, which provide screenings in high-risk countries to catch
potential threats, including human rights violators. A summary of the
legislation can be found HERE.
Full
legislative text of the Human Rights Violator Act of 2022 can be found HERE.
-30-
