SenateS. 4771119th Congress
Protecting Asylum Integrity Act
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4771 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4771
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Secretary
of Homeland Security to collect a fee for credible fear interviews, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 11, 2026
Mr. Scott of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Secretary
of Homeland Security to collect a fee for credible fear interviews, 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 ``Protecting Asylum Integrity Act''.
SEC. 2. CREDIBLE FEAR PROCESSING FEE.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et
seq.) expressly authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security
to prescribe and collect fees for the processing of immigration
applications, benefits, and claims, including through the
Immigration Examinations Fee Account established under section
286(m) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)).
(2) The credible fear interview required under section
235(b)(1) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)) is a statutorily
mandated component of the expedited removal process and serves
as the threshold step for individuals seeking to pursue asylum
or other protection claims.
(3) Credible fear screenings impose substantial
administrative, personnel, and operational costs on U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of
Homeland Security, including costs relating to officer time,
interpreter services, detention support, and downstream
processing of positive determinations.
(4) A reasonable user fee for credible fear processing--
(A) is consistent with longstanding congressional
policy of recovering costs associated with immigration
claims processing;
(B) promotes fiscal responsibility;
(C) deters the filing of frivolous or meritless
claims; and
(D) generates revenue that can be used to support
border security and immigration enforcement activities.
(5) The imposition of such a fee is a budgetary measure
that will increase Federal revenues.
(b) Credible Fear Processing Fee.--Section 235(b)(1) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)) is amended by
adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(H) Fee for credible fear processing.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary of
Homeland Security shall assess and collect a
fee of not less than $100 for each credible
fear interview conducted under this paragraph.
Such fee shall be collected before such
interview is conducted.
``(ii) Adjustment for inflation.--The
amount of the fee under clause (i) shall be
adjusted annually, beginning in fiscal year
2027, for inflation using the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers published by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the same manner
as civil monetary penalties are adjusted under
the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 1990 (Public
Law 101-410; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note).
``(iii) Deposit of fees.--Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, 50 percent of the
fees collected under this subparagraph shall be
deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee
Account established under section 286(m) and
shall be available to U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services, without further
appropriation, for processing and operations.
The remaining 50 percent of such fees collected
shall be deposited into the general fund of the
Treasury.''.
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