[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4352 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4352
To provide Nicaraguan political prisoners who arrived in the United
States on February 9, 2023, and their immediate family members with
certain benefits available to refugees.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 23, 2023
Ms. Salazar (for herself, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Diaz-
Balart, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide Nicaraguan political prisoners who arrived in the United
States on February 9, 2023, and their immediate family members with
certain benefits available to refugees.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Nicaragua Political Prisoner Support
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINED TERM.
In this section, the term ``eligible Nicaraguan national'' means an
alien--
(1)(A)(i) who is a citizen or national of Nicaragua; or
(ii) in the case of an alien having no nationality, whose
former or last habitual residence was in Nicaragua; and
(B) who arrived in the United States on February 9, 2023,
as part of a political prisoner release, and was granted a 2-
year humanitarian parole by the United States Government; or
(2) who is the parent, spouse, or child of an individual
described in paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an eligible Nicaraguan
national is eligible for the benefits described in section 4 if--
(1) such individual has completed security and law
enforcement background checks to the satisfaction of the
Secretary of Homeland Security; and
(2) such individual's parole--
(A) has not been terminated by the Secretary of
Homeland Security; or
(B) was terminated while a renewal application was
pending for such parole and the sole reason for such
termination was that the renewal application had not
yet been processed.
SEC. 4. BENEFITS.
An individual described in section 3 is eligible for--
(1) resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and
other benefits that are available to refugees admitted under
section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1157) to the same extent as such refugees;
(2) child welfare services described in section 412(d)(2)
of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(d)(2)); and
(3) a driver's license or identification card under section
202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (division B of Public Law 109-
13; 49 U.S.C. 30301 note), notwithstanding subsection (c)(2)(B)
of such Act.
SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) In General.--Nothing in this Act may be construed--
(1) to preclude an eligible Nicaraguan national from
applying for or receiving any immigration benefits to which
such individual is otherwise eligible; or
(2) to entitle an eligible Nicaraguan national to lawful
permanent resident status.
SEC. 6. EXEMPTION FROM THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.
The requirements under chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code
(commonly referred to as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'') shall not
apply to any action taken to implement this section involving the
translation of an approved collection of information into a new
language.
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