PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Nov 21, 2019
Refugee Protection Act of 2019
This bill provides protections for aliens such as asylum seekers and contains other provisions.
The bill's provisions include
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
eliminating the general requirement that an asylum seeker apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the United States;
prohibiting requiring an asylum seeker to provide corroborating evidence of persecution if such evidence is not reasonably obtainable;
waiving certain grounds of inadmissibility or deportability for qualifying refugees seeking permanent resident status;
requiring the Department of Justice to appoint counsel to a child or particularly vulnerable individual in certain immigration proceedings;
increasing the annual cap on principal nonimmigrant U visas (victims of crimes) from 10,000 to 20,000;
prohibiting the removal of an alien with certain pending immigration applications, such as a U visa application;
imposing limits on when an alien may be removed from the United States in a proceeding without the alien present;
establishing a presumption that the least restrictive conditions necessary should be imposed in custody proceedings for asylum seekers, including release if appropriate;
establishing that the maximum number of refugees admitted each fiscal year shall be no less than 95,000;
directing the Department of State to help other governments increase their capacity to care for and accept refugees;
directing the State Department to establish refugee processing centers in other countries in North and Central America; and
authorizing the Department of Homeland Security to provide special immigrant status to qualified aliens who assisted U.S. efforts in Syria and admit up to 5,000 such aliens each fiscal year for five years.
People & committees
Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-19] · D–CA
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Budget, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Budget, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Budget, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Budget, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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