AN ACT
To provide for an emergency temporary intake of Syrian refugees; establish a public-private partnership to resettle refugees within Atlasia; provide for appropriations for the same; and to coordinate refugee settlement with the regional governments.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in Congress Assembled.Title I--Title, Definitions, and Enactment1. This act may be cited as the "Refugee Act 2017", or, within this text, the "Act."
2. For the context of this Act, "Secretary" shall, in all cases, refer to the Secretary of State.
3. For the context of this Act, a "refugee" is defined as a person identified by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees as being a person internally or externally displaced as a result of the Syrian emergency.
4. This Act shall come into operation on the day following its approval into law.
Title II--Providing for a temporary intake of refugees1. In accordance with Schedule A of this act, the Secretary of State shall, upon the enactment of this act into law, provide for the resettlement of no more than fifty thousand (50,000) refugees into the territory of the Republic of Atlasia.
2. It shall be the legal responsibility of the Department of State to provide for the successful transportation, settlement, and assimilation of the refugees as defined in Section 1.
Title III--Establishment of the Commission for Refugees1. In order to achieve the successful implementation of this Title, the Secretary of State shall establish a "Commission for Refugees" or, as defined within this Act, the "Commission."
2. The Commission shall be defined as body corporate of the Commonwealth with responsibility to successfully oversee the intake of refugees into the Commonwealth, provide for their settlement, oversee their education, and provide for employment training.
3. The Commission shall be composed of the following statutory offices:
a. The Commissioner;
b. The Deputy Commissioner;
4. The Secretary of State shall oversee the establishment of a Commission Secretariat to organize and implement the provisions of this Act.
Title IV--Establishment of the Refugee Exchange Program1. The Commission shall, through consultation and cooperation with international, national, regional, and local, humanitarian aid bodies develop a Refugee Exchange Program to provide for the private sponsorship and hosting of the refugees as defined in Title I.
2. Each refugee candidate's application shall have to fully conform with all federal immigration laws and procedures, and must, in the opinion of the Commission, prove to be a satisfactory candidate for resettlement.
3. The Commission shall ensure that each approved applicant receives regular and adequate instruction in the English language within their host community as well as employment training provisions.
4. Households participating within the Refugee Exchange Program shall be designated to host either a family consisting of persons directly related or a group of individuals not to exceed six persons.
5. Selected households participating within the Exchange must be certified by the Commission to have adequate financial means and proper social disposition to accommodate the applicants.
6. Preference shall be given by the Commission to select household applicants residing in regional and rural communities as defined by the Census Bureau of Atlasia.
7. The Department of State shall appropriate, from its general appropriation, a payment of $1,500 per month to host households to be used for all necessary expenses in direct relation to participation within the Program.
8. The Commission shall be responsible for appropriating all donations received to it from individuals, groups, or bodies to the respective participating households.
9. Households agreeing to participate within the Exchange shall agree to host said refugees for a minimum period of twelve months, which may be extended to eighteen months with the agreement of the Commission, the respective household, and refugees.
Title V: Developing Partnerships with the Regional Governments.1. The Secretary of State shall be authorized and permitted to waive this Act, or any applicable section therein, to stand in place of any program for refugee resettlement as provided by a regional government.
2. Any program as defined in Section 1 of this Title may be approved to receive parallel funding from the Department of State to a degree to which the Secretary deems appropriate.
Schedule A1. Title II: To be completed no later than March 31, 2018, unless ordered to be extended by the Secretary.
2. Title III: Within thirty days of this Act's enactment.
3. Title IV: Within sixty days following Section 2.