§2730 Prohibition on funding the involuntary return of refugees

Summary

Money given to the State Department or to the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund under section 2601(c) must not be used to force someone to go back to a country where they have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. That rule does not apply to people who are barred from refugee protection under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of July 28, 1951, and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees of January 31, 1967, with the U.S. Senate’s stated reservations. Before any forced return, the Secretary must notify the appropriate congressional committees, except in a life-threatening emergency when notice must be given as soon as practicable. This rule does not change removal or extradition actions under other laws. “Appropriate congressional committees” means the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on International Relations. “To force someone to return” means using physical force or circumstances that threaten force to make a person go back against their will, whether the person is in the United States and whether the U.S. acts directly or through an agent.