GRACE Act

Guaranteed refugee admissions and reporting

If enacted, this bill would require the President to set yearly refugee admission goals of at least 125,000. The President would also set how many slots go to private or community sponsorship. Private sponsors would have to give initial reception and placement help like resettlement agencies. If the President issues no determination before a fiscal year starts, the yearly total would default to 125,000. The Secretary of State would set regional allocations based on UNHCR projected needs. The State Department would also keep an unallocated reserve and notify Congress if it uses that reserve. Within 15 days after each quarter, agencies would publish public and processing reports with counts and detailed metrics. Reports would include enhanced security-check results and approval, denial, and hold rates by nationality. They would also report circuit-ride and interview counts and average days from identification to interview and from interview to admission. If a quarter’s admissions are below 25 percent of the annual authorization, agencies would explain contributing country or humanitarian conditions and provide a plan with procedural or staffing changes plus monthly projections to meet the yearly goal.