119-hr2607

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2607 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2607

 To designate residents of South Africa as Priority 2 refugees of 
 special humanitarian concern, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 2, 2025

 Mr. Nehls introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To designate residents of South Africa as Priority 2 refugees of 
 special humanitarian concern, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Asylum for Farmers and Refugees In 
Krsis And Necessary Emigration Resettlement Act'' or the ``AFRIKANER 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF SOUTH AFRICA AS PRIORITY 2 
 REFUGEES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, shall designate as Priority 2 refugees 
of special humanitarian concern the following categories of aliens:

    (1) Residents of South Africa who are members of the 
 Caucasian minority group and have suffered persecution, or have 
 a well-founded fear of persecution, on account of their race, 
 ethnicity, or ancestry.

    (2) The spouses, children, and parents (as such terms are 
 defined in subsections

    (a) and

    (b) of 

section 101 of the 
 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)) of individuals 
 described in paragraph

    (1) , except such parents who are 
 citizens of a country other than South Africa.

    (b) Processing of South African Refugees.--The processing of 
individuals described in subsection

    (a) for classification as refugees 
may occur in South Africa or in a third country.
            (c) Eligibility for Admission as Refugees.--An alien may not be 
denied the opportunity to apply for admission as a refugee under this 
section primarily because such alien--

    (1) qualifies as an immediate relative of a citizen of the 
 United States; or

    (2) is eligible for admission to the United States under 
 any other immigrant classification.
            (d) Facilitation of Admissions.--An applicant for admission to the 
United States from South Africa may not be denied primarily on the 
basis of a politically motivated arrest, detention, or other adverse 
government action taken against such applicant as a result of the 
applicant's race, ethnicity, or ancestry.

    (e) Exclusion From Numerical Limitations.--Aliens provided refugee 
status under this section shall not be counted against any numerical 
limitation under 

section 201, 202, 203, or 207 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151, 1152, 1153, or 1157).

    (f) Reporting Requirements.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
 the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the 
 Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
 submit a report on the matters described in paragraph

    (2) to--
        (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
        (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
 Representatives.

    (2) Matters to be included.--Each report required by 
 paragraph

    (1) shall include--
        (A) the total number of applications that are 
 pending at the end of the reporting period;
        (B) the average wait-times for all applicants who 
 are, as of the date of the report, awaiting--
            (i) employment verification;
            (ii) a prescreening interview with a 
 resettlement support center;
            (iii) an interview with U.S. Citizenship 
 and Immigration Services; and
            (iv) the completion of security checks; and
            (C) the number of denials of applications for 
 refugee status, disaggregated by the reason for each 
 such denial.

    (3) Form.--Each report required by paragraph

    (1) shall be 
 submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
 annex.

    (4) Public reports.--The Secretary of State shall make each 
 report submitted under this subsection available to the public 
 on the internet website of the Department of State.

    (g) Satisfaction of Other Requirements.--Aliens granted status 
under this section as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian 
concern under the refugee resettlement priority system shall be 
considered to satisfy the requirements under 

section 207 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) for admission to the 
United States.
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