Sec. 8. Admission of climate-displaced persons
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Chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: Notwithstanding section 207, the number of climate-displaced persons who may be admitted under this section in any fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 2021) shall be not fewer than the greater of— 50,000; or the number that the President determines, before the beginning of the fiscal year and after appropriate consultation with Congress, is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.
If the President determines that the number of climate-displaced persons who may be admitted in a fiscal year based on humanitarian concerns or the national interest is greater than the number set forth in paragraph (1)(A), the President shall— set the admissions level for climate-displaced persons at the same time as the President determines the number of refugees who may be admitted in such fiscal year under section 207; and follow all of the procedures relating to refugee admissions under section 207, including the requirement to engage in an appropriate consultation with Congress.
Subject to the numerical limitation under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security, pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, may admit any climate-displaced person under this section who— is admissible; is not described in section 208(b)(2); and is not described in paragraph (2). Any noncitizen described in subparagraph (A), regardless of such noncitizen’s immigration status, may apply for admission as a climate-displaced person if the noncitizen— is physically present in the United States; arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including a noncitizen who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters); or applies at a designated application center.
Except as provided in paragraph (3), a noncitizen may not apply for status as a climate-displaced person if— the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that the noncitizen may be removed, pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement, to a country (other than the country of the noncitizen’s nationality or, in the case of a noncitizen having no nationality, the country of the noncitizen’s last habitual residence) that is outside of the zone in which the sudden or progressive change in the environment obliged the noncitizen to leave his or her residence, provided that such determination does not violate our Nation’s human rights obligations; the application is not filed within 1 year after the date of the noncitizen’s arrival in the United States; or an earlier application by the noncitizen for climate-displaced person status has been denied.
Paragraph
(2)shall not apply to unaccompanied noncitizen children (as defined in section 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 279(g) )). Subparagraphs
(B)and
(C)of paragraph
(2)shall not apply if the noncitizen demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Homeland Security that— extraordinary circumstances prevented the noncitizen from filing an application within the period specified in paragraph (2)(B); or changed circumstances materially affect the applicant’s eligibility for climate-displaced person status. The Secretary of State may also accept applications submitted on behalf of eligible applicants for climate-displaced person status by qualified international agencies. Applications submitted under this subsection shall contain such information as the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, determines to be necessary to determine whether the applicant is eligible for admission as a climate-displaced person. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), an applicant for climate-displaced person status shall not be charged a fee. If a noncitizen has applied for, and been denied, climate-displaced person status on 2 or more previous occasions, the Secretary may charge a reasonable fee for any subsequent applications, which shall set at a level equal to the average cost of adjudicating such applications. A noncitizen who qualifies for climate-displaced person status under this section shall be eligible for resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and other benefits available to refugees admitted under section 207. A spouse or a child (as defined in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or
(E)of section 101(b)(1)) of a noncitizen who is granted climate-displaced person status under this section may, if not otherwise eligible for such status, be granted the same status as the climate-displaced person if accompanying, or following to join, such noncitizen. An unmarried noncitizen who seeks to accompany, or follow to join, a parent granted climate-displaced person status under this section, and who was younger than 21 years of age on the date on which such parent applied for such status, shall continue to be classified as a child for purposes of this subsection and section 209(b)(3), if the noncitizen attains 21 years of age while such application is pending. A noncitizen may not be admitted as a climate-displaced person under this section if the noncitizen is described in section 208(b)(2) In this section, the term noncitizen means any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States. . The table of contents for the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 244 the following: Sec. 244A. Climate-displaced persons. . Section 209(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1159(a) ) is amended by inserting or 244A before the em dash immediately preceding subparagraph (A). Nothing in section 244A of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by subsection (a)(1), may be construed to affect the United States commitment to the United States Refugee Admissions Program. The protections described in such section 244A are in addition to the refugee admissions goal established by the Presidential determination described in subsection (a)(1)(B) of such section.
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