USVI Public Records

Document text

I 112TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5875 To establish a visa waiver program for the United States Virgin Islands. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 31, 2012 Mrs. CHRISTENSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish a visa waiver program for the United States Virgin Islands. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Visa 4 Waiver Act of 2012’’. 5 SEC. 2. VIRGIN ISLANDS VISA WAIVER PROGRAM. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 212(l) of the Immigration 7 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(l)) is amended— 8 (1) by amending the subsection heading to read 9 as follows: ‘‘GUAM, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, 10 VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 Jun 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5875.IH H5875 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5875 IH AND VIRGIN ISLANDS VISA WAIVER PROGRAMS.—’’; 1 and 2 (2) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(7) VIRGIN ISLANDS VISA WAIVER PRO- 4 GRAM.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The requirement of 6 subsection (a)(7)(B)(i) may be waived by the 7 Secretary of Homeland Security, in the case of 8 an alien who is a national of a country de- 9 scribed in subparagraph (B) and who is apply- 10 ing for admission as a nonimmigrant visitor for 11 business or pleasure and solely for entry into 12 and stay in the United States Virgin Islands for 13 a period not to exceed 30 days, if the Secretary 14 of Homeland Security, after consultation with 15 the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 16 State, the Governor of the United States Virgin 17 Islands, determines that such a waiver does not 18 represent a threat to the welfare, safety, or se- 19 curity of the United States or its territories and 20 commonwealths. 21 ‘‘(B) COUNTRIES.—A country described in 22 this subparagraph is a country that— 23 VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 Jun 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5875.IH H5875 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5875 IH ‘‘(i) is a member or an associate mem- 1 ber of the Caribbean Community 2 (CARICOM); and 3 ‘‘(ii) is listed in the regulations de- 4 scribed in subparagraph (D). 5 ‘‘(C) ALIEN WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—An alien 6 may not be provided a waiver under this para- 7 graph unless the alien has waived any right— 8 ‘‘(i) to review or appeal under this Act 9 an immigration officer’s determination as 10 to the admissibility of the alien at the port 11 of entry into the United States Virgin Is- 12 lands; or 13 ‘‘(ii) to contest, other than on the 14 basis of an application for withholding of 15 removal under section 241(b)(3) of this 16 Act or under the Convention Against Tor- 17 ture, or an application for asylum if per- 18 mitted under section 208, any action for 19 removal of the alien. 20 ‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—All necessary regu- 21 lations to implement this paragraph shall be 22 promulgated by the Secretary of Homeland Se- 23 curity, in consultation with the Secretary of the 24 Interior and the Secretary of State, on or be- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 Jun 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5875.IH H5875 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5875 IH fore the 60th day after the date of enactment 1 of the Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act of 2012. 2 The promulgation of such regulations shall be 3 considered a foreign affairs function for pur- 4 poses of section 553(a) of title 5, United States 5 Code. At a minimum, such regulations should 6 include, but not necessarily be limited to— 7 ‘‘(i) a listing of all member or asso- 8 ciate member countries of the Caribbean 9 Community (CARICOM) whose nationals 10 may obtain the waiver provided by this 11 paragraph, except that such regulations 12 shall not provide for a listing of any coun- 13 try if the Secretary of Homeland Security 14 determines that such country’s inclusion 15 on such list would represent a threat to the 16 welfare, safety, or security of the United 17 States or its territories and common- 18 wealths; and 19 ‘‘(ii) any bonding requirements for na- 20 tionals of some or all of those countries 21 who may present an increased risk of 22 overstays or other potential problems, if 23 different from such requirements otherwise 24 provided by law for nonimmigrant visitors. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 Jun 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5875.IH H5875 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5875 IH ‘‘(E) FACTORS.—In determining whether 1 to grant or continue providing the waiver under 2 this paragraph to nationals of any country, the 3 Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 4 with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec- 5 retary of State, shall consider all factors that 6 the Secretary deems relevant, including elec- 7 tronic travel authorizations, procedures for re- 8 porting lost and stolen passports, repatriation 9 of aliens, rates of refusal for nonimmigrant vis- 10 itor visas, overstays, exit systems, and informa- 11 tion exchange. 12 ‘‘(F) SUSPENSION.—The Secretary of 13 Homeland Security shall monitor the admission 14 of nonimmigrant visitors to the United States 15 Virgin Islands under this paragraph. If the Sec- 16 retary determines that such admissions have re- 17 sulted in an unacceptable number of visitors 18 from a country remaining unlawfully in the 19 United States Virgin Islands, unlawfully obtain- 20 ing entry to other parts of the United States, 21 or seeking withholding of removal or asylum, or 22 that visitors from a country pose a risk to law 23 enforcement or security interests of the United 24 States Virgin Islands or of the United States 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 Jun 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5875.IH H5875 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5875 IH (including the interest in the enforcement of the 1 immigration laws of the United States), the 2 Secretary shall suspend the admission of na- 3 tionals of such country under this paragraph. 4 The Secretary of Homeland Security may in the 5 Secretary’s discretion suspend the United 6 States Virgin Islands visa waiver program at 7 any time, on a country-by-country basis, for 8 other good cause. 9 ‘‘(G) ADDITION OF COUNTRIES.—The Gov- 10 ernor of the United States Virgin Islands may 11 request the Secretary of the Interior and the 12 Secretary of Homeland Security to add a par- 13 ticular country to the list of countries whose 14 nationals may obtain the waiver provided by 15 this paragraph, and the Secretary of Homeland 16 Security may grant such request after consulta- 17 tion with the Secretary of the Interior and the 18 Secretary of State, and may promulgate regula- 19 tions with respect to the inclusion of that coun- 20 try and any special requirements the Secretary 21 of Homeland Security, in the Secretary’s sole 22 discretion, may impose prior to allowing nation- 23 als of that country to obtain the waiver pro- 24 vided by this paragraph.’’. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 Jun 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5875.IH H5875 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5875 IH (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 1 (1) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 2 212(a)(7)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality 3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(7)(iii)) is amended to read as 4 follows: 5 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL VISA WAIVER PRO- 6 GRAMS.—For a provision authorizing waiv- 7 er of clause (i) in the case of visitors to 8 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 9 Mariana Islands, or the United States Vir- 10 gin Islands, see subsection (l).’’. 11 (2) ADMISSION OF NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 12 214(a)(1) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(1)) is 13 amended by inserting before the final sentence the 14 following: ‘‘No alien admitted to the United States 15 Virgin Islands without a visa pursuant to section 16 212(l)(7) may be authorized to enter or stay in the 17 United States other than in United States Virgin Is- 18 lands or to remain in the United States Virgin Is- 19 lands for a period exceeding 30 days from date of 20 admission to the United States Virgin Islands.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 Jun 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5875.IH H5875 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS