§7845 Annual Reports

Summary

Every year from not later than 1 year after October 18, 2004 and then every 12 months through 2022, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security must send a joint report to the relevant congressional committees and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees about how this part of the law worked the prior year. The report must give the number of people from North Korea who applied for political asylum and how many got it, the number who applied for refugee status and how many got it, and a clear account of what the State Department did to get cooperation from East and Southeast Asian governments so the United States could process North Koreans seeking refugee protection. This information should be unclassified, with a classified annex if needed. The President must include, in each yearly report on proposed refugee admissions, information about steps taken to help people who fled countries identified as having severe violations of religious freedom get access to the U.S. refugee program. For each such country, the report must describe how nationals or former long-term residents can get a refugee decision through outside agency referrals, special humanitarian group designations, or family ties to people in the United States.