§6472 Reform of Refugee Policy

Summary

The Attorney General and the Secretary of State must make and carry out rules to spot and fix possible bias by people hired abroad who work for the Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Department of State and who help decide refugee claims. The rules must include training that is culturally aware and nonconfrontational. They must also set uniform steps for working with U.S.-approved refugee processing groups and for how those groups make refugee case files, so files match what applicants say and true refugees are not hurt by bad paperwork. Within 120 days after November 29, 1999, the Secretary of State, after talking with the Attorney General, must issue rules saying people who might be biased — including those employed by or under influence of governments known to persecute on the grounds of religion, race, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion — cannot be used to decide refugee status, interpret conversations, or check documents. The President must report each year on religious persecution of refugee groups being considered for admission, and the Secretary of State must include that information when testifying to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees during consultations.