H.R. 6870

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6870 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6870

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the President 
to set a minimum annual goal for the number of refugees to be admitted, 
and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 18, 2025

Ms. Lofgren (for herself, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. 
Norton, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Lieu, 
Mr. Khanna, Mr. Davis of Illinois, and Ms. Clarke of New York) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the President 
to set a minimum annual goal for the number of refugees to be admitted, 
and for other purposes.

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 ``Guaranteed Refugee Admission Ceiling 
Enhancement Act'' or the ``GRACE Act''.

SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF REFUGEES.

Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) 
is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and 
inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (b), 
the number of refugees who may be admitted under this section 
in any fiscal year shall be the sum of--
``(A) such number as the President determines is 
justified by humanitarian concerns or otherwise in the 
national interest, which shall be not fewer than 
125,000; and
``(B) such number as the President determines shall 
be admitted to the United States through community or 
private sponsorship, by which community groups and 
private sponsors provide to a refugee and the immediate 
relatives or beneficiaries of the refugee initial 
reception and placement services similar to services 
provided by domestic resettlement agencies and local 
affiliates, in lieu of services typically provided by 
domestic resettlement agencies and local affiliates.
``(2) Absence of determination.--If the President does not 
issue a determination under paragraph (1) before the beginning 
of a fiscal year, the number of refugees who may be admitted in 
that fiscal year under this section shall be 125,000.'';
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 
paragraphs (4) and (7), respectively;
(C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Numerical goals.--Each officer of the Federal 
Government responsible for refugee admissions or refugee 
resettlement shall treat as the numerical goals for refugee 
admissions under this section for the applicable fiscal year--
``(A)(i) a determination under paragraph (1); or
``(ii) in the absence of a determination under 
paragraph (1), the number under paragraph (2); and
``(B) a determination under subsection (b).''; and
(D) by inserting after paragraph (4), as 
redesignated, the following:
``(5) Consideration of resettlement needs.--In making a 
determination under paragraph (1), the President shall consider 
the number of refugees who are in need of resettlement in a 
third country, as determined by the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees in the most recently published 
projected global resettlement needs report.
``(6) Regional allocations.--The President shall determine 
regional allocations for admissions under this subsection, 
which shall--
``(A)(i) reflect the projected needs identified by 
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 
the projected global resettlement needs report for the 
calendar year beginning immediately after the beginning 
of the applicable fiscal year; or
``(ii) include an assessment by the Secretary of 
State detailing the humanitarian and national interest 
justifications for prioritizing refugee admissions from 
1 or more regions; and
``(B) include an unallocated reserve that the 
Secretary of State, after notifying the Committee on 
the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives, may use for 
1 or more regions in which the need for additional 
refugee admissions arises.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Quarterly Public Reports on Admissions.--Not later than 15 
days after the last day of each quarter, the President shall submit to 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and publish on a publicly 
accessible website, a report that includes the following:
``(1) The number of refugees admitted to the United States 
during the preceding quarter.
``(2) The number of refugees admitted to the United States 
during the preceding quarter, expressed as a percentage of the 
number of refugees authorized to be admitted in accordance with 
the determinations under subsections (a) and (b) for the 
applicable fiscal year.
``(3) The cumulative number of refugees admitted to the 
United States during the applicable fiscal year, as of the last 
day of the preceding quarter.
``(4) The number of refugees to be admitted to the United 
States during the remainder of the applicable fiscal year so as 
to achieve the numerical goals set forth in the determinations 
under subsections (a) and (b) for such fiscal year.
``(5) The number of refugees from each region admitted to 
the United States during the preceding quarter, expressed as a 
percentage of the allocation for each region under subsection 
(a)(6) for the applicable fiscal year.
``(h) Quarterly Reports on Processing.--Not later than 15 days 
after the last day of each quarter, the President shall submit to the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that includes the 
following:
``(1) Aliens with enhanced security checks.--
``(A) The number of aliens, by nationality, for 
whom an enhanced security check has been requested who 
were security-cleared during the preceding quarter, 
expressed as a percentage of all cases successfully 
adjudicated, approved, and security-cleared by the 
Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
in the applicable fiscal year.
``(B) The number of aliens, by nationality, for 
whom an enhanced security check has been requested who 
were admitted to the United States during the preceding 
quarter.
``(2) Circuit rides.--
``(A) For the preceding quarter--
``(i) the number of Refugee Corps officers 
deployed on circuit rides, expressed as a 
percentage of the overall number of Refugee 
Corps officers;
``(ii) the number of individuals 
interviewed--
``(I) on each circuit ride; and
``(II) at each circuit ride 
location;
``(iii) the number of circuit rides;
``(iv) for each circuit ride--
``(I) the duration of the circuit 
ride;
``(II) the average number of 
interviews conducted daily on the 
circuit ride; and
``(III) the percentages of 
interviews conducted for--
``(aa) individuals who 
require an enhanced security 
check; and
``(bb) individuals who do 
not require an enhanced 
security check; and
``(v) the number of interviews completed by 
video teleconferencing.
``(B) For the subsequent quarter--
``(i) the number of circuit rides 
scheduled; and
``(ii) the number of circuit rides planned.
``(3) Processing.--For the preceding quarter--
``(A) the average number of days between--
``(i) the date on which an individual is 
identified by the United States Government as a 
refugee; and
``(ii) the date on which such individual is 
interviewed by the Secretary of Homeland 
Security;
``(B) the average number of days between--
``(i) the date on which an individual 
identified by the United States Government as a 
refugee is interviewed by the Secretary of 
Homeland Security; and
``(ii) the date on which such individual is 
admitted to the United States; and
``(C) with respect to individuals identified by the 
United States Government as refugees who have been 
interviewed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
approval, denial, and hold rates for the applications 
for admission of such individuals, by nationality.
``(4) Plan and additional information.--If the number of 
refugees admitted during the preceding quarter is less than 25 
percent of the number of refugees authorized to be admitted in 
accordance with the determinations under subsections (a) and 
(b) for the applicable fiscal year, the President shall 
submit--
``(A) an assessment of country conditions and 
emergency humanitarian circumstances that contributed 
to the number of refugees admitted;
``(B) a plan that describes the procedural or 
personnel changes necessary to ensure the admission of 
the number of refugees authorized to be admitted to the 
United States in accordance with determinations under 
subsections (a) and (b), including a projection of the 
number of refugees to be admitted to the United States 
each month so as to achieve the numerical goals set 
forth in such determinations; and
``(C) any additional information relating to the 
pace of refugee admissions, as determined by the 
President.
``(5) Enhanced security check defined.--In this subsection, 
the term `enhanced security check' means any evaluation process 
to investigate national security concerns, including terrorism, 
espionage, sabotage, or the illegal transfer of goods, 
technology, or sensitive information, including--
``(A) any process within U.S. Citizenship and 
Immigration Services for handling cases with national 
security concerns;
``(B) any interagency check requested by U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services during the 
adjudication process to investigate national security 
concerns;
``(C) any additional vetting or review of 
applicants from a country that is a state sponsor of 
terrorism or a country with full or partial suspension 
of entry into the United States under this Act; and
``(D) any process to screen applicant data against 
publicly available social media for national security 
purposes.
``(i) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
``(1) to inhibit the expeditious processing of refugee and 
asylum applications; or
``(2) to restrict the authority of the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to admit aliens to the United States under 
any other Act.''.
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