PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary of State must refuse visas, and the Attorney General must bar from the United States, any noncitizen who, after March 12, 1996, has taken or ordered the taking of property claimed by a U.S. national, converted that property for personal gain, traded in such confiscated property, was a controlling officer or shareholder of a company that did those things, or is the spouse, minor child, or agent of someone who did. "Confiscated" means the Cuban government took or nationalized property without giving it back or paying fair compensation, or refused to pay debts tied to that taken property. "Traffics" means knowingly selling, buying, transferring, managing, improving, leasing, using, or otherwise benefiting from confiscated property without the U.S. claimant’s permission. Exceptions include delivery of international telecom signals, normal trading in public securities (unless specially designated by Treasury), transactions needed for lawful travel to Cuba, and actions by Cuban citizens living in Cuba who are not government or ruling-party officials. The Secretary of State can allow entry for medical reasons or to pursue certain legal claims. The rule applies to people seeking entry on or after March 12, 1996, and to trafficking acts that happened on or after that date.

Title 22, §6091

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Grounds for exclusion

The Secretary of State shall deny a visa to, and the Attorney General shall exclude from the United States, any alien who the Secretary of State determines is a person who, after March 12, 1996—

(1)has confiscated, or has directed or overseen the confiscation of, property a claim to which is owned by a United States national, or converts or has converted for personal gain confiscated property, a claim to which is owned by a United States national;

(2)traffics in confiscated property, a claim to which is owned by a United States national;

(3)is a corporate officer, principal, or shareholder with a controlling interest of an entity which has been involved in the confiscation of property or trafficking in confiscated property, a claim to which is owned by a United States national; or

(4)is a spouse, minor child, or agent of a person excludable under paragraph (1), (2), or (3).

(b)Definitions

As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1)Confiscated; confiscation

The terms “confiscated” and “confiscation” refer to—

(A)the nationalization, expropriation, or other seizure by the Cuban Government of ownership or control of property—

(i)without the property having been returned or adequate and effective compensation provided; or

(ii)without the claim to the property having been settled pursuant to an international claims settlement agreement or other mutually accepted settlement procedure; and

(B)the repudiation by the Cuban Government of, the default by the Cuban Government on, or the failure of the Cuban Government to pay—

(i)a debt of any enterprise which has been nationalized, expropriated, or otherwise taken by the Cuban Government;

(ii)a debt which is a charge on property nationalized, expropriated, or otherwise taken by the Cuban Government; or

(iii)a debt which was incurred by the Cuban Government in satisfaction or settlement of a confiscated property claim.

(2)Traffics

(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a person “traffics” in confiscated property if that person knowingly and intentionally—

(i)(I)transfers, distributes, dispenses, brokers, or otherwise disposes of confiscated property,

(II)purchases, receives, obtains control of, or otherwise acquires confiscated property, or

(III)improves (other than for routine maintenance), invests in (by contribution of funds or anything of value, other than for routine maintenance), or begins after March 12, 1996, to manage, lease, possess, use, or hold an interest in confiscated property,

(ii)enters into a commercial arrangement using or otherwise benefiting from confiscated property, or

(iii)causes, directs, participates in, or profits from, trafficking (as described in clause (i) or (ii)) by another person, or otherwise engages in trafficking (as described in clause (i) or (ii)) through another person,

without the authorization of any United States national who holds a claim to the property.

(B)The term “traffics” does not include—

(i)the delivery of international telecommunication signals to Cuba;

(ii)the trading or holding of securities publicly traded or held, unless the trading is with or by a person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be a specially designated national;

(iii)transactions and uses of property incident to lawful travel to Cuba, to the extent that such transactions and uses of property are necessary to the conduct of such travel; or

(iv)transactions and uses of property by a person who is both a citizen of Cuba and a resident of Cuba, and who is not an official of the Cuban Government or the ruling political party in Cuba.

(c)Exemption

This section shall not apply where the Secretary of State finds, on a case by case basis, that the entry into the United States of the person who would otherwise be excluded under this section is necessary for medical reasons or for purposes of litigation of an action under subchapter III.

(d)Effective date

(1)In general

This section applies to aliens seeking to enter the United States on or after March 12, 1996.

(2)Trafficking

This section applies only with respect to acts within the meaning of “traffics” that occur on or after March 12, 1996.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Subchapter III, referred to in subsec. (c), was in the original “title III”, meaning title III of Pub. L. 104–114, Mar. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 814, which enacted subchapter III of this chapter and section 1643l and 1643m of this title and amended section 1611 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. For complete classification of title III to the Code, see Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Reports on Determinations Under Title IV of the LIBERTAD Act Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, subdiv. B, title XXVIII, § 2802, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–845, as amended by Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(7) [div. A, title II, § 209(b)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A–423; Pub. L. 107–228, div. A, title II, § 216(b), Sept. 30, 2002, 116 Stat. 1366, provided that: “(a) Reports Required.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998] and every 3 months thereafter during the period ending September 30, 2003, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees [Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate] a report on the implementation of section 401 of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6091). Each report shall include—“(1) an unclassified list, by economic sector, of the number of entities then under review pursuant to that section; “(2) an unclassified list of all entities and a classified list of all individuals that the Secretary of State has determined to be subject to that section; “(3) an unclassified list of all entities and a classified list of all individuals that the Secretary of State has determined are no longer subject to that section; “(4) an explanation of the status of the review underway for the cases referred to in paragraph (1); and “(5) an unclassified explanation of each determination of the Secretary of State under section 401(a) of that Act and each finding of the Secretary under section 401(c) of that Act—“(A) since the date of the enactment of this Act, in the case of the first report under this subsection; and “(B) in the preceding 3-month period, in the case of each subsequent report. “(b) Protection of Identity of Concerned Entities.—In preparing the report under subsection (a), the names of entities shall not be identified under paragraph (1) or (4).”

§6091 Exclusion From United States of Aliens Who Have Confiscated Property of United States Nationals or Who Traffic in Such Property