Rep. Goodlatte and Labrador Introduce Legislation To Reduce Refugees

House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) introduced the Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act (H.R. 4731) that would reduce the refugee cap to 60,000 and would give more power to Congress and the states to decide how many refugees the U.S. should take in and where the refugees should be settled.

Here are some key components of the bill:

• The bill would establish a ceiling for refugees at 60,000, which is about 10,000 less than the annual average over the last 10 years, and would prevent the President from changing the number without Congressional approval.
• It allows any state or locality to take legislative or executive action against resettling refugees in their jurisdiction. Currently the federal government and third party companies are responsible for resettling refugees with no oversight or approval needed from the communities or states.
• It requires regular security screening for each refugee until they gain legal permanent status.
• It would require a refugee’s status to be terminated for any refugee who returns to their home country, unless their country’s condition and status has changed.
• Under this bill the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would be required to report on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program’s screening and processing procedures, the number of refugees who have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes since 2006, and the use of federally-funded programs by the refugees in the U.S.

“Our bill makes common-sense reforms to improve and modernize the refugee program. It restores congressional power and respects the decisions of elected officials closest to the people,” said Rep. Labrador in a press release.

Rep. Goodlatte said, “The Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act makes meaningful reforms to the refugee program to curb fraud, strengthen national security and public safety, and restore integrity to the program.”

Read the full press release here.