Sec. 8319. Responding to crime and corruption in Haiti
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In this section: The term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives. The term economic elite means any board member, officer, or executive of any group, committee, corporation, or other entity that exerts substantial influence or control over Haiti’s economy, infrastructure, or particular industries.
The term foreign person means an individual or entity that is not a United States person. The term good means any article, natural or man-made substance, material, supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment, and excluding technical data. The term political elite means any current and former government official of Haiti, high level staff of any such official, any Haitian political party leader, and any Haitian political committee leader. The term United States person means— a United States citizen; an alien who has been granted permanent residence in the United States; or an entity organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees regarding the ties between criminal gangs and political and economic elites in Haiti. Each report submitted pursuant to paragraph
(1)shall— identify and list prominent criminal gangs in Haiti and their leaders, describe their criminal activities, including coercive recruitment, and identify their primary geographic areas of operations; list Haitian political and economic elites who knowingly have direct and significant links to criminal gangs and any organizations or entities controlled by such individuals; describe in detail the relationship between the individuals identified pursuant to subparagraph
(B)and the criminal gangs identified pursuant to subparagraph (A); describe in detail how political and economic elites use their relationships with criminal gangs to advance their political and economic interests and agendas; include a list of each criminal organization assessed to be trafficking Haitians and other individuals to the United States border; include an assessment of ties between political and economic elites, criminal gangs in Haiti, and transnational criminal organizations; include an assessment of how the nature and extent of collusion between political elites, economic elites, and criminal gangs threatens the Haitian people and United States national interests and activities in Haiti; include an assessment of how connections between political and economic elites and criminal gangs facilitate illicit firearms trafficking from the United States that fuels violence and instability in Haiti; and include an assessment of potential actions that the Government of the United States could take to address the ties referred to in subparagraph (F). The report required under paragraph
(1)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. Not later than 90 days after the submission of the each report required under subsection
(b)to the appropriate congressional committees, the President— shall impose the sanctions described in subparagraph
(A)and
(B)of paragraph
(2)with respect to any foreign person who— is identified pursuant to subparagraph
(A)of subsection (b)(2); or is identified pursuant to subparagraph
(B)of subsection (b)(2) and meets the definition of political elite under subsection (a)(5); shall impose all of the sanctions described in paragraph (2)(B) with respect to any foreign person who is identified pursuant to subparagraph
(B)of subsection (b)(2) and meets the definition of economic elite under subsection (a)(2); and may impose all of the sanctions described in paragraph
(3)with respect to any foreign person who is identified pursuant to subparagraph
(B)of subsection (b)(2) and meets the definition of economic elite under subsection (a)(2). The sanctions described in this subsection are the following: Notwithstanding the requirements under section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 ), the President may exercise all of the powers granted to the President by such Act to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property of the foreign person if such property and interests in property— are in the United States; come within the United States; or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person. An alien described in paragraph
(1)is— inadmissible to the United States; ineligible for a visa or other documentation to enter the United States; and otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into the United States or to receive any other benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq. ). An alien described in paragraph
(1)is subject to revocation of any visa or other entry document issued to such alien regardless of the date on which such visa or other entry document was issued. A revocation under subclause
(I)shall take effect immediately and shall automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry document that is in the alien’s possession. Notwithstanding the requirements under section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 ), the President may exercise of all powers granted to the President by such Act to the extent necessary— to prohibit any United States financial institution from making loans or providing credit to the foreign person; or prohibit any transactions in foreign exchange that are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and in which the foreign person has any interest. Sanctions under this subsection shall not apply with respect to the admission of an alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the United States is necessary to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, or other applicable international obligations. Sanctions under this subsection may not be imposed with respect to transactions or the facilitation of transactions for— the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices to Haiti; the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of Haiti; financial transactions relating to humanitarian assistance or for humanitarian purposes in Haiti; or transporting goods or services that are necessary to carry out operations relating to humanitarian assistance or humanitarian purposes in Haiti. For any sanctions imposed on a political elite pursuant to this subsection, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue such general licenses and public guidance as may be necessary to clarify that such sanctions do not apply to the following— any agency or instrumentality of the Government of Haiti with which the sanctioned person is officially associated; and any person the sanctioned person owns or controls that contributes to meaningful economic activity in Haiti, unless the person is itself designated based on its behavior. For any sanctions imposed pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue such general licenses and public guidance as may be necessary to limit adverse impacts to employment, legitimate economic activity, and humanitarian conditions in Haiti. The President may exercise all of the authorities provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section. The penalties under subsections
(b)and
(c)of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1705 ) shall apply to any person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of regulations promulgated to carry out this subsection to the same extent that such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in section 206(a) of such Act. The President may waive the application of sanctions or restrictions imposed with respect to a foreign person under this subsection if the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days before such waiver is scheduled to take effect, that the waiver is vital to the national interests of the United States. The authorities and requirements to impose sanctions under this subsection shall not include the authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of goods. The provisions of this section shall cease to have any force or effect beginning on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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Sec. 8319
Responding to crime and corruption in Haiti
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