§6472 Reform of refugee policy

Summary

The Attorney General and the Secretary of State must write and use rules to prevent bias by Immigration and Naturalization Service and State Department staff hired abroad who help decide refugee claims. The rules must cover bias because of religion, race, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Training must be culturally aware and help create a fair, nonadversarial process. They must also set consistent procedures for working with U.S.-designated refugee processing groups and for preparing case files so files match what applicants say and do not harm real refugees. Within 120 days after November 29, 1999, the Secretary of State, with the Attorney General, must bar people with possible bias — including those tied to persecuting governments — from taking part in interviews, interpretation, or document review in refugee decisions. Each year the President must report on religious persecution of refugee groups in the proposed admissions report under section 1157(d). The Secretary of State must include that information in formal testimony to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees during the consultation under section 1157(e).