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What is Senate Bill S. 2329?

This bill would enhance security screenings for prospective refugees before they can be admitted into the U.S. The bill also suspends the approval of visas from "high-risk" countries. Enhanced screenings would include things like:

Registration requirements;
Interviews;
Fingerprinting;
A Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) background check;
DHS monitoring searching for indications of terrorist activities.

New visa applications could not be approved for at least 30 days to allow time for enhanced security screenings. Applicants from countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program would also be subject to enhanced screenings. The Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without a special visa. Designated ‘trusted travelers’ under the Global Entry program would be exempt from the delays, but only after meeting certain criteria.

34 countries would be designated as "high-risk" under this bill. Refugee admissions would be suspended from these countries, including: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Consideration of visa applications from these countries could resume once the DHS submits a screening effectiveness report 25 days after this bill’s enactment. That report would have to certify to Congress that the screening process has been improved. Congress would then have to enact a law reinstating application approval for candidates from those countries.

Visa applications from high-risk countries would be blocked until DHS, the Dept. of State, and the Director of National Intelligence can unanimously certify that:

A national security screening process has been created for applicants from high-risk countries requiring a 30-day assessment;
A biometric entry-exit control system has been fully implemented;
The necessary steps have been taken to prevent national security vulnerabilities from people overstaying a temporary legal status;
A policy has been implemented to remove those who have overstayed the authorized period of time they could stay in the country.

DHS would be have to integrate data from its automated entry-exit system into a database that could be cross-referenced to look up the records and lawful immigration status of any given traveler to the U.S. Records include any illegal entry into the country, visa status, fraudulent travel documents, instances of identity misrepresentation, and other methods of entry into the country used by the traveler.

DHS could question and verify the travel documents of any U.S. citizen in the outgoing lane of port of entry on the U.S. border. This bill also outlines provisions to ensure that refugees, asylees, and other non-citizens with visas do not vote in federal elections while in the U.S. Anyone who illegally registers to vote or votes in a federal election would no longer be eligible for permanent residence or citizenship. They could also be subject to deportation.

Refugees and asylees would be prohibited from receiving federal benefits like Medicaid or Social Security. If any non-citizen with a visa secures these benefits, they would be ineligible for permanent residence or citizenship.

Impact

Citizens of Visa Waiver Program countries who apply to travel to the U.S., people applying for U.S. visas or who travel in and out of the country, refugees or visa holders who try to vote in federal elections or receive federal benefits, people in the U.S., federal agencies involved in border security, DHS, and the State Department.

Cost of Senate Bill S. 2329

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

More Information

In-Depth: Sponsoring Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) cited the need to screen people entering the country to ensure they don't pose a security risk:

“The time has come to stop terrorists from walking in our front door. The Boston Marathon bombers were refugees, and numerous refugees from Iraq, including some living in my hometown, have attempted to commit terrorist attacks. The terrorist attacks in Paris underscore this concern that I have been working to address for the past several years. My bill will press pause on new refugee entrants from high-risk countries until stringent new screening procedures are in place.”

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have observed that the Visa Waiver Program is vulnerable to being exploited by terrorists. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said that Europe, which is home to 30 of the 38 countries in the Visa Waiver Program, “has a much more massive number of people who’ve come back” from terror camps in Iraq and Syria. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) called for the program to be temporarily suspended:

“It could just be a matter of hours, before someone travels through these different borders, someone who's become a foreign fighter, who's been fighting in Syria, and ends up here on the United States soil."

The travel industry has pushed back against this legislation, noting that there are up to 20 million travelers per year who utilize the Visa Waiver Program to come to the U.S. Others argue that the current screening procedures — a 18 to 24 month process that includes interviews, biometrics, background checks, medical and database checks — is stringent enough.