Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2017
Latest action · Jul 26, 2017 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 19 - 11.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 10, 2017
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2015
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to:
- prohibit the government from bearing any expense of counsel for any person in a removal or related appeal proceedings,
- add a requirement to establish a credible fear of persecution claim in an asylum interview,
- limit humanitarian and public interest parole authority, and
- prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using parole authority for an alien who is ineligible for refugee status.
The bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to revise the definition of "unaccompanied alien child" (UAC).
The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 is amended to extend the period for a federal agency to: (1) notify the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that it has apprehended or discovered a UAC or an alien who is under 18 years old, and (2) transfer a UAC to HHS custody.
The bill: (1) provides for HHS-DHS information sharing concerning UACs, (2) prohibits UAC from applying for asylum if such child may be removed to a safe third country, and (3) provides for additional immigration judges and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys.
The Department of State is directed to: (1) suspend all foreign assistance to certain countries that refuse to negotiate a child repatriation agreement or accept from the United States repatriated UACs who are nationals or residents of the sending country, and (2) provide certain foreign assistance for repatriation and reintegration purposes.
The bill places the burden of proof on an an alien to establish that: (1) the alien's life or freedom would be threatened in a country to which he or she is scheduled to be removed to from the United States; and (2) that race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion would be at least one central reason for such threat.
An alien who has committed acts of torture, extrajudicial killings, war crimes, systematic attacks on civilians, persecution, or enforced disappearance of persons shall be inadmissable. The President may make such alien's visa records public.
The bill terminates the refugee or asylee status of an alien who: (1) without a compelling reason returns to the country of such alien's nationality or, in the case of an alien having no nationality, returns to the country in which such alien last habitually resided; and (2) applied for such status because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Such provision shall not apply to an alien who is eligible for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status pursuant to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.
The bill allows up to 500 grants of asylum per fiscal year to families fleeing home school persecution.
A written warning must be included in an asylum application advising the alien of the consequences of filing a frivolous application.
If an alien's asylum status is subject to termination, the immigration judge shall determine whether the termination conditions have been met and, if so, terminate the alien's asylum status before considering whether the alien is eligible for adjustment of status.
Cosponsors 26
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 10, 2017 to Nov 28, 2018; 16 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-TX | Blake Farenthold | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-FL | Daniel Webster | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-TN | Diane Black | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-GA | Earl L. "Buddy" Carter | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-SC | Jeff Duncan | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-GA | Jody B. Hice | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-TX | John R. Carter | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-TX | Lamar Smith | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-NY | Lee M. Zeldin | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-NJ | Leonard Lance | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-AL | Mo Brooks | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-AZ | Paul A. Gosar | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-NC | Richard Hudson | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-NC | Robert Pittenger | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-OH | Steve Chabot | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-SC | Trey Gowdy | Original | Jan 10, 2017 |
| R-PA | Lou Barletta | Jan 12, 2017 | |
| R-FL | Francis Rooney | Feb 1, 2017 | |
| R-VA | Dave Brat | Feb 13, 2017 | |
| R-GA | Tom Graves | Feb 27, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Jeb Hensarling | Mar 15, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Pete Sessions | Jun 7, 2017 | |
| R-IN | Jim Banks | Oct 12, 2017 | |
| R-PA | Scott Perry | Nov 13, 2017 | |
| R-TN | Scott DesJarlais | May 11, 2018 | |
| R-FL | Bill Posey | Nov 28, 2018 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jan 10, 2017Markup Jul 26, 2017 |
| Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee | Referred Feb 6, 2017 | |
| House | Foreign Affairs Committee | Referred Jan 10, 2017 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 26, 2017Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Jul 26, 2017Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 19 - 11.
- Jul 25, 2017ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Johnson (LA) asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 391, a bill originally introduced by Representative Chaffetz, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.
- Feb 6, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
- Jan 10, 2017Introduced in House
In the Congressional Record 2
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H7962 | Bob Goodlatte R-VA | Oct 11, 2017 |
| House | Debate and remarks H6279 | Mike Johnson R-LA | Jul 25, 2017 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 6, January 10, 2017, page H299.
CRS reports 2
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 2
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R46570 | Immigration Parole | Report | Sep 18, 2025 |
| R45539 | Immigration: U.S. Asylum Policy Archived | Report | Feb 19, 2019 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 1153 | Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2015 | Reintroduction of | Mar 18, 2015 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To modify the treatment of unaccompanied alien children who are in Federal custody by reason of their immigration status, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2017
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Border security and unlawful immigration
- Child care and development
- Child safety and welfare
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Homeland Security
- Elementary and secondary education
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Evidence and witnesses
- Family relationships
- Foreign aid and international relief
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Human rights
- Immigration
- Immigration status and procedures
- Judges
- Judicial procedure and administration
- Lawyers and legal services
- Organ and tissue donation and transplantation
- Racial and ethnic relations
- Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
- Religion
- Sanctions
- Violent crime
- Visas and passports
- War crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 10, 2017Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
