8 U.S.C. § 1157 : US Code - Section 1157: Annual admission of refugees and admission of emergency situation refugees

Search 8 U.S.C. § 1157 : US Code - Section 1157: Annual admission of refugees and admission of emergency situation refugees

(a) Maximum number of admissions; increases for humanitarian
concerns; allocations
(1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the
number of refugees who may be admitted under this section in fiscal
year 1980, 1981, or 1982, may not exceed fifty thousand unless the
President determines, before the beginning of the fiscal year and
after appropriate consultation (as defined in subsection (e) of
this section), that admission of a specific number of refugees in
excess of such number is justified by humanitarian concerns or is
otherwise in the national interest.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the
number of refugees who may be admitted under this section in any
fiscal year after fiscal year 1982 shall be such number as the
President determines, before the beginning of the fiscal year and
after appropriate consultation, is justified by humanitarian
concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.
(3) Admissions under this subsection shall be allocated among
refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States in
accordance with a determination made by the President after
appropriate consultation.
(4) In the determination made under this subsection for each
fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 1992), the President shall
enumerate, with the respective number of refugees so determined,
the number of aliens who were granted asylum in the previous year.
(b) Determinations by President respecting number of admissions for
humanitarian concerns
If the President determines, after appropriate consultation, that
(1) an unforeseen emergency refugee situation exists, (2) the
admission of certain refugees in response to the emergency refugee
situation is justified by grave humanitarian concerns or is
otherwise in the national interest, and (3) the admission to the
United States of these refugees cannot be accomplished under
subsection (a) of this section, the President may fix a number of
refugees to be admitted to the United States during the succeeding
period (not to exceed twelve months) in response to the emergency
refugee situation and such admissions shall be allocated among
refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States in
accordance with a determination made by the President after the
appropriate consultation provided under this subsection.
(c) Admission by Attorney General of refugees; criteria; admission
status of spouse or child; applicability of other statutory
requirements; termination of refugee status of alien, spouse or
child
(1) Subject to the numerical limitations established pursuant to
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the Attorney General may,
in the Attorney General's discretion and pursuant to such
regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe, admit any
refugee who is not firmly resettled in any foreign country, is
determined to be of special humanitarian concern to the United
States, and is admissible (except as otherwise provided under
paragraph (3)) as an immigrant under this chapter.
(2)(A) A spouse or child (as defined in section 1101(b)(1)(A),
(B), (C), (D), or (E) of this title) of any refugee who qualifies
for admission under paragraph (1) shall, if not otherwise entitled
to admission under paragraph (1) and if not a person described in
the second sentence of section 1101(a)(42) of this title, be
entitled to the same admission status as such refugee if
accompanying, or following to join, such refugee and if the spouse
or child is admissible (except as otherwise provided under
paragraph (3)) as an immigrant under this chapter. Upon the
spouse's or child's admission to the United States, such admission
shall be charged against the numerical limitation established in
accordance with the appropriate subsection under which the
refugee's admission is charged.
(B) An unmarried alien who seeks to accompany, or follow to join,
a parent granted admission as a refugee under this subsection, and
who was under 21 years of age on the date on which such parent
applied for refugee status under this section, shall continue to be
classified as a child for purposes of this paragraph, if the alien
attained 21 years of age after such application was filed but while
it was pending.
(3) The provisions of paragraphs (4), (5), and (7)(A) of section
1182(a) of this title shall not be applicable to any alien seeking
admission to the United States under this subsection, and the
Attorney General may waive any other provision of such section
(other than paragraph (2)(C) or subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E)
of paragraph (3)) with respect to such an alien for humanitarian
purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is otherwise in the
public interest. Any such waiver by the Attorney General shall be
in writing and shall be granted only on an individual basis
following an investigation. The Attorney General shall provide for
the annual reporting to Congress of the number of waivers granted
under this paragraph in the previous fiscal year and a summary of
the reasons for granting such waivers.
(4) The refugee status of any alien (and of the spouse or child
of the alien) may be terminated by the Attorney General pursuant to
such regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe if the
Attorney General determines that the alien was not in fact a
refugee within the meaning of section 1101(a)(42) of this title at
the time of the alien's admission.
(d) Oversight reporting and consultation requirements
(1) Before the start of each fiscal year the President shall
report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives and of the Senate regarding the foreseeable number
of refugees who will be in need of resettlement during the fiscal
year and the anticipated allocation of refugee admissions during
the fiscal year. The President shall provide for periodic
discussions between designated representatives of the President and
members of such committees regarding changes in the worldwide
refugee situation, the progress of refugee admissions, and the
possible need for adjustments in the allocation of admissions among
refugees.
(2) As soon as possible after representatives of the President
initiate appropriate consultation with respect to the number of
refugee admissions under subsection (a) of this section or with
respect to the admission of refugees in response to an emergency
refugee situation under subsection (b) of this section, the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of
the Senate shall cause to have printed in the Congressional Record
the substance of such consultation.
(3)(A) After the President initiates appropriate consultation
prior to making a determination under subsection (a) of this
section, a hearing to review the proposed determination shall be
held unless public disclosure of the details of the proposal would
jeopardize the lives or safety of individuals.
(B) After the President initiates appropriate consultation prior
to making a determination, under subsection (b) of this section,
that the number of refugee admissions should be increased because
of an unforeseen emergency refugee situation, to the extent that
time and the nature of the emergency refugee situation permit, a
hearing to review the proposal to increase refugee admissions shall
be held unless public disclosure of the details of the proposal
would jeopardize the lives or safety of individuals.
(e) "Appropriate consultation" defined
For purposes of this section, the term "appropriate consultation"
means, with respect to the admission of refugees and allocation of
refugee admissions, discussions in person by designated Cabinet-
level representatives of the President with members of the
Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and of the House of
Representatives to review the refugee situation or emergency
refugee situation, to project the extent of possible participation
of the United States therein, to discuss the reasons for believing
that the proposed admission of refugees is justified by
humanitarian concerns or grave humanitarian concerns or is
otherwise in the national interest, and to provide such members
with the following information:
(1) A description of the nature of the refugee situation.
(2) A description of the number and allocation of the refugees
to be admitted and an analysis of conditions within the countries
from which they came.
(3) A description of the proposed plans for their movement and
resettlement and the estimated cost of their movement and
resettlement.
(4) An analysis of the anticipated social, economic, and
demographic impact of their admission to the United States.
(5) A description of the extent to which other countries will
admit and assist in the resettlement of such refugees.
(6) An analysis of the impact of the participation of the
United States in the resettlement of such refugees on the foreign
policy interests of the United States.
(7) Such additional information as may be appropriate or
requested by such members.
To the extent possible, information described in this subsection
shall be provided at least two weeks in advance of discussions in
person by designated representatives of the President with such
members.
(f) Training
(1) The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of
State, shall provide all United States officials adjudicating
refugee cases under this section with the same training as that
provided to officers adjudicating asylum cases under section 1158
of this title.
(2) Such training shall include country-specific conditions,
instruction on the internationally recognized right to freedom of
religion, instruction on methods of religious persecution practiced
in foreign countries, and applicable distinctions within a country
between the nature of and treatment of various religious practices
and believers.