Full Text
Official text as published. Use Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to search within the document.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10800 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10800
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a process for
designating a safe third country and review of safe third country
determinations, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 13, 2026
Mr. Latimer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a process for
designating a safe third country and review of safe third country
determinations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Hearings are Essential for Asylum
Removal to Third-countries Act'' or the ``HEART Act''.
SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OVER DETERMINATION OF SAFE THIRD COUNTRY.
Section 208(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1158(a)(3)) is amended--
(1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
``(3) Judicial review.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), no court shall have jurisdiction to
review any determination of the Attorney General under
paragraph (2).
``(B) Jurisdiction over determination of safe third
country.--
``(i) In general.--An alien seeking
judicial review of a determination under
paragraph (2)(A) that such alien may be removed
to a safe third country may present as prima
facie evidence that the alien may not be so
removed any of the following:
``(I) The bilateral or multilateral
agreement with such third country,
pursuant to which the determination
under paragraph (2)(A) was made, does
not apply to such alien.
``(II) Such alien's life or liberty
would be threatened in such third
country, on account of race, religion,
nationality, membership in a particular
social group, or political opinion.
``(III) Such alien would not have
access to a full and fair procedure for
determining a claim to asylum or
equivalent temporary protection in such
third country.
``(IV) A technical issue related to
the implementation of such bilateral or
multilateral agreement, would interfere
with, prevent, or unduly delay the
removal of such alien, regardless of
whether such issue is included in the
terms of such agreement.
``(ii) Release pending review.--An alien
who seeks judicial review of a determination
under paragraph (2)(A) shall be released from
detention for the duration of such review.'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary of State shall
issue a rule setting forth the minimum standards for a country
to be designated a safe third country, which shall include--
``(A) due process for immigrants;
``(B) a consistent record of faithfully observing
the rule of law;
``(C) an unlikelihood of imminent military conflict
or violent domestic unrest;
``(D) a requirement that the country complies with
international refugee and human rights conventions; and
``(E) a determination that the country
independently possesses the economic resources to
provide humanely for refugees engaged in the asylum
seeking process.
``(5) Certification.--The Secretary of State shall submit a
certification to Congress that a country meets the requirements
of the rule issued pursuant to paragraph (4) before designating
such country as a safe third country.''.
<all>