Rep. Grace Meng

Private Prison Information Act of 2021 This bill specifies that a record related to a nonfederal prison, correctional, or detention facility must be considered a federal agency record for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A nonfederal prison, correctional, or detention facility must disclose information under FOIA unless the information is exempt from disclosure or the disclosure is prohibited by law. The term nonfederal prison, correctional, or detention facility means (1) a private prison, correctional, or detention facility; or (2) a state or local prison, jail, or other correctional or detention facility.

Preventing Vigilante Stalking that Stops Women's Access to Healthcare and Abortion Rights Act of 2021 This bill increases the maximum prison term for a stalking offense, if the offense is committed with the intent to obtain health care information of an individual or to prevent the health care decisions of an individual.

9/11 Immigrant Worker Freedom Act This bill provides lawful permanent resident status to qualifying aliens who performed rescue, debris cleanup, or related services following the September 11, 2001, attacks. This bill shall apply to an alien who (1) performed a certain number of hours of such services in New York, New York, after the attack; (2) was exposed to debris from the former World Trade Center and airborne toxins while performing vehicle maintenance services after the attack; or (3) performed rescue, cleanup, or related services following the attack on the Pentagon or the aircraft crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. An individual who has applied for lawful permanent resident status under this bill shall receive work authorization while the application is pending. An individual who willfully makes a material misrepresentation or material omission related to the performance of these services may not receive lawful permanent resident status under this bill.

Reimagining Asylum Processing Act of 2021 This bill modifies the processing of asylum seekers, including by establishing humanitarian processing centers along the southern border. The Department of Homeland Security must establish at least five humanitarian processing centers to process adult asylum seekers who arrive at the southern border and did not arrive as part of a family unit with minor children. The bill imposes certain requirements on these processing centers, including by (1) requiring a rest period of at least 72 hours from the asylum seeker's arrival before an asylum officer may conduct an interview to determine whether there is a credible fear of persecution, (2) limiting an asylum seeker's detention at a processing center to no longer than 15 days, (3) requiring the processing center to provide legal counsel and interpreters, and (4) requiring that appropriate nongovernmental organizations are authorized to monitor the processing centers for human rights abuses. The bill also changes the processing of asylum seekers generally, including by (1) removing provisions requiring the mandatory detention of an asylum seeker after the credible fear interview; (2) prohibiting the use of information obtained from the interview for immigration enforcement; and (3) requiring an asylum officer conducting the interview to consider whether an asylum seeker is eligible for other forms of relief, such as special immigrant juvenile status.

Cameroon TPS Act of 2021 This bill permits nationals of Cameroon to qualify for temporary protected status, which prevents their removal from the United States and allows them to obtain employment and travel authorization. Such status shall be available to qualifying nationals of Cameroon for 18 months starting from this bill's enactment.

Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act This bill narrows the scope of certain crime-based grounds for barring or removing an alien from the United States. (Generally, a conviction for certain crimes, such as a crime that carries a term of incarceration of a certain length, may constitute grounds for denying an individual certain immigration benefits.) The bill redefines the term conviction to exclude convictions that have been dismissed, expunged, deferred, annulled, invalidated, withheld, vacated, or pardoned. The term must also exclude adjudications where a court issued a recommendation against removal, an order of probation without entry of judgment, or a similar disposition. In addition, any reference to a term of imprisonment or sentence must, unless otherwise provided (1) only consider the period of incarceration ordered by a court, and (2) exclude any suspended portion of a sentence. Currently, for immigration purposes, a term of incarceration includes any part of the sentence that was suspended. These provisions pertaining to the definition of conviction and terms of imprisonment shall apply to convictions and judgments entered either before or after this bill's enactment. Furthermore, certain crime-based grounds for barring or removing an alien shall not apply if the sentencing court issues a recommendation that the alien not be removed on the basis of the conviction.

Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act of 2021 This bill authorizes special immigrant visas for qualifying citizens or nationals of Afghanistan who were selected for certain educational and cultural exchange programs. Specifically, a citizen or national of Afghanistan (and any accompanying spouse or child of such an individual) may be eligible for a special immigrant visa if the individual was selected on or after October 7, 2001, to participate in a qualifying educational or cultural exchange program administered by the Department of State, including the J. William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program.

Reduce Financial Barriers to Immigration and Citizenship Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from charging fees for certain immigration applications (or petitions), requires DHS to provide fee waivers to certain applicants, and addresses related issues. DHS may not impose fees for certain applications for or related to (1) asylum or refugee status, (2) special immigrant juvenile status, (3) U or T non-immigrant visas (victims of certain crimes such as human trafficking), (4) the Violence Against Women Act, (5) special immigrant status for Afghan or Iraqi nationals employed by the U.S. government, or (6) immigration-related fee waivers. DHS must also waive immigration-related application fees for an applicant who receives a means-tested benefit or meets certain conditions related to financial hardship. However, DHS is not required to provide fee waivers for applications for certain employment-based immigration benefits. Receipt of a fee waiver may not be used as a factor (1) for determining whether an alien should be considered a public charge, or (2) when considering an affidavit of support filed by a sponsor. The bill also requires all collected immigration-related adjudication fees to be used only to fund the adjudication and administration of immigration benefits and naturalization.

Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration Act of 2021 or the LIFT the BAR Act of 2021 This bill repeals certain limits on the eligibility of noncitizens who lawfully reside in the United States for federal means-tested programs, including Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), programs funded through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and certain nutrition and housing programs.

Counter-Kleptocracy Act This bill addresses prevention and elimination of corruption globally. The Department of State must (1) annually rank, using specified standards, foreign countries based on their efforts to eliminate corruption; and (2) designate an anti-corruption contact in the diplomatic mission of any country that does not meet the standards. The State Department must also evaluate whether to sanction foreign persons engaged in significant corruption (1) in countries that make de minimis or no efforts to meet the standards, or (2) connected to a designated Russian pipeline project. The President may temporarily sanction foreign persons engaging in public corruption activities (e.g. bribery). The bill makes it a federal crime for foreign officials to demand or accept bribes to influence the performance of an official act or otherwise confer an improper advantage. Officials who engage in this conduct are subject to a fine, a prison term, or both. Funds recovered by prosecuting this crime shall be deposited into a new fund in the Treasury for anti-corruption initiatives. The Department of Justice must make publicly available an accounting of property relating to foreign government corruption that is forfeited to the United States. The bill addresses issues concerning U.S. visas, including related to (1) abuse of investor visas by corrupt foreign officials or criminals, and (2) foreign individuals denied admission to the United States because of adverse foreign policy consequences. The bill also prohibits extraditions based solely on, and otherwise addresses, International Criminal Police Organization communications.