Results for

Protecting Our Communities from Gang Violence Act of 2019 This bill makes alien gang members inadmissible to the United States and deportable. It also authorizes revoking the citizenship of certain naturalized individuals who are members of a criminal gang. The Department of Homeland Security may designate a group or association of five or more persons as a criminal gang if one of the group's primary purposes is the commission of certain crimes, and if the group's members have committed such crimes in a continuing series of such offenses within the past five years. The Department of Justice shall take into custody any individual who is inadmissible or deportable due to an association with a criminal gang. Individuals associated with a criminal gang shall be ineligible for asylum or temporary protected status. Prohibitions on removing an alien to a country where the alien's life or freedom would be threatened due to factors, such as the alien's membership in a particular social group, shall not apply to individuals associated with an alien criminal gang. An alien affiliated with a criminal gang shall not be regarded as a person of good moral character for immigration purposes. If a naturalized person becomes an associate of a criminal gang or has been convicted for or admits to certain criminal conduct within 10 years of naturalization, such conduct shall be prima facie evidence sufficient to revoke the order admitting the person to citizenship in the absence of countervailing evidence.

Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act This bill makes aliens associated with criminal gangs inadmissible for entry into the United States and deportable, and establishes procedures related to designating groups with criminal gang status. An alien shall be inadmissible if a consular officer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), or the Department of Justice knows or has reason to believe that the individual is or was a criminal gang member, or has participated or aided such a group's illegal activities. An alien who is or was a member of such a gang, or has participated or aided such a group's illegal activities, shall be deportable. Such individuals shall be subject to mandatory detention, shall not be eligible for asylum, temporary protected status, or special immigrant juvenile visas and shall not be eligible for parole unless they are assisting the government in a law enforcement matter. The bill defines a criminal gang as a group of five or more persons (1) where one of its primary purposes is the commission of specified criminal offenses and the members of which engage or have engaged within the past five years in a continuing series of such offenses, or (2) that has been designated as a criminal gang by DHS. The bill establishes procedures for DHS to designate a group such status, including notification to Congress, publication in the Federal Register, and an opportunity for the group to petition for administrative and judicial review.

Singh's Law This bill establishes that aliens associated with a criminal gang shall be inadmissible into the United States and deported if already in the country. Such aliens are (1) subject to mandatory detention, (2) barred from receiving asylum, (3) ineligible for temporary protected status, and (4) barred from receiving special immigrant juvenile status. An alien associated with a criminal gang is one who (1) has been a member of a criminal gang or has participated in a gang's activities, knowing or having reason to know that such activities will promote or support the gang's illegal activities; and (2) has been convicted of a crime in the United States. The bill also provides for procedures for designating a group or organization a criminal gang, and also procedures for challenging and revoking such a designation. The Department of Justice may provide grants to states and local governments to assist (1) efforts to combat criminal and youth gangs, and (2) gangprevention activities.

Expanding Research on Mass Violence Prevention Act This bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to engage in specified research and activities to improve surveillance, risk assessment, and prevention strategies related to mass violence.

Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 This bill reauthorizes through FY2029, modifies, and establishes new programs and activities under the Violence Against Women Act, which provides funding and other support to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Among the bill's changes, it expands activities in rural areas and among tribal populations; addresses female genital mutilation; and establishes new protections to promote housing stability for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

Equal Protection of Unaccompanied Minors Act This bill amends rules for the treatment of unaccompanied alien children and asylum-seeking families, and for detaining and removal of various types of aliens. The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to return an inadmissible unaccompanied child to the child's country of nationality or last habitual residence, where currently DHS has discretion to do so. Interviews with unaccompanied alien children shall be conducted by those with specialized training for interviewing child trafficking victims. Before placing an alien child with an individual, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall provide DHS with various information, including the individual's immigration status and contact information. DHS shall initiate removal proceedings if the individual is unlawfully present in the United States. Under the bill, unaccompanied alien children in DHS or HHS custody shall have access to counsel in legal proceedings, where currently such children shall have counsel. DHS shall have authority to extend the detention periods for various categories of removable aliens. The bill also expands the definitions of various types of crimes, such as those related to explosive materials, that are aggravated felonies or crimes of violence for immigration purposes. Aliens associated with criminal gangs shall be inadmissible to the United States and deportable. The bill directs DHS, the Department of Justice, and HHS to maintain facilities for housing asylum applicants and their children, and increases the number of immigration judges and Board of Immigration Appeals attorneys and necessary support staff.

Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2019 (Sec. 2) This bill revises and reauthorizes through FY2024 the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) Program. It subjects JABG grants to accountability measures. The Office of Inspector General in the Department of Justice (DOJ) must conduct annual audits of selected grant recipients. Additionally, DOJ must identify and report on duplicative grant awards. (Sec. 3) The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the use of best practices is encouraged for activities carried out with JABG funds.

Justice for Native Survivors of Sexual Violence Act This bill expands Native American tribal criminal jurisdiction over crimes of domestic violence to include sex trafficking, sexual violence, stalking, and related conduct. The bill also authorizes a tribe to exercise jurisdiction over a non-Native American defendant regardless of whether the defendant resides on the tribe's lands, is employed on the tribe's lands, or is a spouse, dating partner, or intimate partner of a Native American who resides on the tribe's lands.

Justice for Native Survivors of Sexual Violence Act This bill expands Native American tribal criminal jurisdiction over crimes of domestic violence to include sex trafficking, sexual violence, stalking, and related conduct. The bill also authorizes a tribe to exercise jurisdiction over a non-Native American defendant regardless of whether the defendant resides on the tribe's lands, is employed on the tribe's lands, or is a spouse, dating partner, or intimate partner of a Native American who resides on the tribe's lands.

Combat Violent Crime Act of 2019 This bill modifies the approach used to determine if a criminal offense is a crime of violence for purposes of imposing an enhanced sentence on a defendant who uses or possesses a firearm in a crime of violence.