S.Amdt. 1546

SA 1546. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1388 proposed by Mrs. Murray (for herself and Mr. Schumer)
to the bill H.R. 815, to amend title 38, United States Code, to make
certain improvements relating to the eligibility of veterans to receive
reimbursement for emergency treatment furnished through the Veterans
Community Care program, and for other purposes; which was ordered to
lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ____. CREDIBLE FEAR STANDARD AND ASYLUM BARS AT
SCREENING INTERVIEW.

Section 235(b)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(B)) is amended--
(1) in clause (v), by striking ``significant possibility''
and inserting ``reasonable possibility''; and
(2) by adding at the end, the following:
``(vi) Asylum exceptions.--An asylum officer, during the
credible fear screening of an alien--

``(I) shall determine whether any of the asylum exceptions
under section 208(b)(2) disqualify the alien from receiving
asylum; and
``(II) may determine that the alien does not meet the
definition of credible fear of persecution under clause (v)
if any such exceptions apply, including whether any such
exemptions to such disqualifying exceptions may apply.''.

SEC. ____. INTERNAL RELOCATION.

(a) In General.--Section 208(b)(2)(A) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (v), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(vii) there are reasonable grounds for concluding that
the alien could avoid persecution by relocating to--

``(I) another location in the alien's country of
nationality; or
``(II) in the case of an alien having no nationality,
another location in the alien's country of last habitual
residence.''.

(b) Inapplicability.--Section 244(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(B)(ii))
is amended by inserting ``clauses (i) through (vi) of'' after
``described in''.

SEC. ___. SAFE THIRD COUNTRY.

Section 208(a)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)(A)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``if the Attorney General determines'' and
inserting ``if the Attorney General or the Secretary of
Homeland Security determines--'';
(2) by striking ``that the alien may be removed'' and
inserting the following:
``(i) that the alien may be removed'';
(3) by striking ``, pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral
agreement, to'' and inserting ``to'';
(4) by inserting ``or the Secretary, on a case by case
basis,'' before ``finds that'';
(5) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``;
or''; and
(6) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) that the alien entered, attempted to enter, or
arrived in the United States after transiting through at
least one country outside the alien's country of citizenship,
nationality, or last lawful habitual residence en route to
the United States, unless--
``(I) the alien demonstrates that he or she applied for
protection from persecution or torture in at least one
country outside the alien's country of citizenship,
nationality, or last lawful habitual residence through which
the alien transited en route to the United States;
``(II) the alien demonstrates that he or she was a victim
of a severe form of trafficking in which a commercial sex act
was induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the
person induced to perform such act was under the age of 18
years; or in which the trafficking included the recruitment,
harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a
person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud,
or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary
servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery, and was unable
to apply for protection from persecution in each country
through which the alien transited en route to the United
States as a result of such severe form of trafficking; or
``(III) the only countries through which the alien
transited en route to the United States were, at the time of
the transit, not parties to the 1951 United Nations
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, or the United
Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.''.

SEC. ___. TRAVEL THROUGH CONTIGUOUS COUNTRY.

Section 208(b)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (v), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a
semicolon;
(2) in clause (vi), by striking the period and inserting
``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(vii)(I) the alien has traveled through a country that is
contiguous to the United States immediately before arriving
at a port of entry of, or otherwise entering, the United
States; and
``(II) did not apply for asylum in such country.''.
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