Sec. 5. Refugee processes for certain at-risk Afghan allies
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In this section, the term Afghan ally means an alien who is a citizen or national of Afghanistan, or in the case of an alien having no nationality, an alien who last habitually resided in Afghanistan, who— was— a member of— the special operations forces of the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces; the Afghanistan National Army Special Operations Command; the Afghan Air Force; or the Special Mission Wing of Afghanistan; a female member of any other entity of the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces, including— a cadet or instructor at the Afghanistan National Defense University; and a civilian employee of the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Interior Affairs; an individual associated with former Afghan military and police human intelligence activities, including operators and Department of Defense sources; an individual associated with former Afghan military counterintelligence, counterterrorism, or counternarcotics; an individual associated with the former Afghan Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior Affairs, or court system, and who was involved in the investigation, prosecution or detention of combatants or members of the Taliban or criminal networks affiliated with the Taliban; an individual employed in the former justice sector in Afghanistan as a judge, prosecutor, or investigator who was engaged in rule of law activities for which the United States provided funding or training; or a senior military officer, senior enlisted personnel, or civilian official who served on the staff of the former Ministry of Defense or the former Ministry of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan; or provided service to an entity or organization described in subparagraph
(A)for not less than 1 year during the period beginning on December 22, 2001, and ending on September 1, 2021, and did so in support of the United States mission in Afghanistan. For purposes of this section, the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces includes members of the security forces under the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, including the Afghanistan National Army, the Afghan Air Force, the Afghanistan National Police, and any other entity designated by the Secretary of Defense as part of the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces during the relevant period of service of the applicant concerned. Afghan allies shall be considered refugees of special humanitarian concern under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1157 ), until the later of 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act or upon determination by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary, that such designation is no longer in the interest of the United States. Notwithstanding section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42) ), the Secretary of State and the Secretary shall, to the greatest extent possible, conduct remote refugee processing for an Afghan ally located in Afghanistan. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act— the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish a process by which an individual may apply to the Secretary of Defense for classification as an Afghan ally and request a referral to the United States Refugee Admissions Program; and the head of any appropriate department or agency that conducted operations in Afghanistan during the period beginning on December 22, 2001, and ending on September 1, 2021, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may establish a process by which an individual may apply to the head of the appropriate department or agency for classification as an Afghan ally and request a referral to the United States Refugee Admissions Program. The process established under paragraph
(1)shall— include the development and maintenance of a secure online portal through which applicants may provide information verifying their status as Afghan allies and upload supporting documentation; and allow— an applicant to submit his or her own application; a designee of an applicant to submit an application on behalf of the applicant; and in the case of an applicant who is outside the United States, the submission of an application regardless of where the applicant is located. The Secretary of Defense— may enter into arrangements with the head of any other appropriate department or agency so as to allow the application system established under subparagraph
(A)to be used by such department or agency; and shall notify the Secretary of State of any such arrangement. As soon as practicable after receiving a request for classification and referral described in paragraph (1), the head of the appropriate department or agency shall— review— the service record of the applicant, if available; if the applicant provides a service record or other supporting documentation, any information that helps verify the service record concerned, including information or an attestation provided by any current or former official of the department or agency who has personal knowledge of the eligibility of the applicant for such classification and referral; and the data holdings of the department or agency and other cooperating interagency partners, including as applicable biographic and biometric records, iris scans, fingerprints, voice biometric information, hand geometry biometrics, other identifiable information, and any other information related to the applicant, including relevant derogatory information; and in a case in which the head of the department or agency determines that the applicant is an Afghan ally without significant derogatory information, refer the Afghan ally to the United States Refugee Admissions Program as a refugee; and include with such referral— any service record concerned, if available; if the applicant provides a service record, any information that helps verify the service record concerned; and any biometrics for the applicant. In the case of an applicant with respect to whom the head of the appropriate department or agency denies a request for classification and referral based on a determination that the applicant is not an Afghan ally or based on derogatory information— the head of the department or agency shall provide the applicant with a written notice of the denial that provides, to the maximum extent practicable, a description of the basis for the denial, including the facts and inferences, or evidentiary gaps, underlying the individual determination; and the applicant shall be provided an opportunity to submit not more than 1 written appeal to the head of the department or agency for each such denial. An appeal under clause
(ii)of subparagraph
(A)shall be submitted— not more than 120 days after the date on which the applicant concerned receives notice under clause
(i)of that subparagraph; or on any date thereafter, at the discretion of the head of the appropriate department or agency. An applicant who receives a denial under subparagraph
(A)may submit a request to reopen a request for classification and referral under the process established under paragraph
(1)so that the applicant may provide additional information, clarify existing information, or explain any unfavorable information. After considering 1 such request to reopen from an applicant, the head of the appropriate department or agency may deny subsequent requests to reopen submitted by the same applicant. To the extent practicable, the head of the appropriate department or agency shall ensure that referrals made under this subsection— conform to requirements established by the Secretary of State for form and content; and are complete and include sufficient contact information, supporting documentation, and any other material the Secretary of State or the Secretary consider necessary or helpful in determining whether an applicant is entitled to refugee status. The application process and referral system under this subsection shall terminate upon the later of 1 year before the termination of the designation under subsection (b)(1) or on the date of a joint determination by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary, that such termination is in the national interest of the United States. The Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, or the head of any appropriate department or agency referring Afghan allies under this section may not charge any fee in connection with a request for a classification and referral as a refugee under this section. Any limitation in law with respect to the number of personnel within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the military departments, or a Defense Agency (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code) shall not apply to personnel employed for the primary purpose of carrying out this section. An alien applying for admission to the United States under this section may be represented during the application process, including at relevant interviews and examinations, by an attorney or other accredited representative. Such representation shall not be at the expense of the United States Government. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the head of any other appropriate Federal agency, shall make a reasonable effort to provide an alien who has been classified as an Afghan ally and has been referred as a refugee under this section protection or to immediately remove such alien from Afghanistan, if possible. No alien shall be denied the opportunity to apply for admission under this section solely because the alien qualifies as an immediate relative or is eligible for any other immigrant classification. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2034 to carry out this section. Nothing in this section may be construed to inhibit the Secretary of State from accepting refugee referrals from any entity.
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