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Judiciary Committee advances bill to review immigration approvals from administration’s "high‑risk" countries
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Summary
Committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R.6978 and ordered the bill reported. Supporters urged a codified re‑review of approvals from countries the administration deemed high risk; opponents warned the measure singles out lawful immigrants and could create a second class of citizens.
The House Judiciary Committee advanced H.R.6978, the "Preserving Integrity and Immigration Benefits Act," adopting an amendment in the nature of a substitute and voting to report the measure to the House.
Representative McClintock, the bill’s sponsor, described H.R.6978 as a codification of the administration’s re‑review of immigration benefits issued to nationals from countries the executive has designated as higher risk. "Among the reasons a country might be identified as high risk are woeful inadequacies in screening, vetting, and the provision of information," he said.
Democrats objected that the legislation effectively singles out lawful immigrants from certain countries and could subject naturalized citizens and green card holders to administrative second‑guessing. Representative Lofgren said the bill risks creating "a second class of US citizenship" by allowing approved cases to be reopened for country‑of‑origin reasons.
Members debated which countries would be included; the sponsor cited a 36‑country list that includes nations with unreliable records and said Afghanistan and others would remain on that list. The committee debated amendments and ultimately adopted the substitute and voted to report H.R.6978 favorably; clerks recorded the roll call counts during the session.
Several members also sought to enter news articles into the record and pointed to recent reporting—some members on both sides cited press reports and prosecutors’ resignations related to a Minnesota fraud investigation to justify oversight requests. Committee staff were authorized to make technical and conforming changes before House consideration.
