Sec. 301. Identification, screening, and processing of refugees and other individuals eligible for lawful admission to the United States
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Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall enter into agreements for the establishment by the Secretary of Homeland Security of Designated Processing Centers for the registration, screening, and processing of refugees and other eligible individuals in North and Central America, and the resettlement or relocation of these individuals to the United States or other countries.
One or more Designated Processing Centers shall be established in a safe and secure location identified by the United States and the host government in— El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Mexico; Costa Rica; and any other country deemed appropriate by the Secretary of State to accept and process requests and applications under this title, including any country in North or Central America hosting significant numbers of refugees or other displaced individuals. There shall be an Assistant Director of Regional Processing, who shall report to the Director of U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services, and who shall oversee the establishment and operation of all Designated Processing Centers. The Assistant Director of Regional Processing, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, shall— coordinate with the Secretary of State and the host country to ensure that each Designated Processing Center is safe, secure, and reasonably accessible to the public to facilitate the registration, screening, and processing of individuals under this title; establish standard operating procedures for the registration, screening, and processing of individuals under this title; oversee the administration of such procedures; and carry out other duties and powers prescribed by the Director of U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Assistant Director of Regional Processing, shall ensure that sufficient numbers of refugee officers and other personnel are assigned to each Designated Processing Center to fulfill the requirements of this title. The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General shall hire and assign sufficient personnel to ensure that absent exceptional circumstances, all security and law enforcement background checks required under this title are completed in 180 days or less.
Absent extraordinary circumstances, each Designated Processing Center shall commence operations not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall monitor the activities of each Designated Processing Center and establish metrics and criteria for evaluating the productivity of each Designated Processing Center. Each Designated Processing Center shall remain in operation for at least five fiscal years, and shall continue in operation until such time as the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determines, under the metrics and criteria established under paragraph (2), that for at least 4 consecutive calendar quarters the Designated Processing Center has failed to maintain sufficient productivity.
Not later than January 31 following the end of each fiscal year, and beginning with the first fiscal year that at least one Designated Processing Center commences operations, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on the number of individuals who have been registered, screened, and processed for benefits under this title at each Designated Processing Center, including the number of benefits requests that have been approved and the number of benefits requests that have been denied.