Sponsors (20)
The bill expands and prioritizes refugee and asylum protections for people fleeing Xinjiang and strengthens U.S. condemnation of PRC abuses—improving protections and diplomatic tools—while imposing administrative and fiscal costs, raising security and diplomatic risks with China, and creating future uncertainty via a 10-year sunset.
People from Xinjiang/XUAR who face persecution (and their spouses/children/parents in eligible cases) gain prioritized refugee and asylum pathways, family-unity protections, presumptions easing eligibility, and flexibility in processing (including processing outside the U.S.) without counting against statutory immigrant numerical ceilings.
The U.S. formally documents and signals that senior PRC officials bear responsibility for abuses in Xinjiang, strengthening the legal/diplomatic basis for sanctions, oversight, and other targeted responses.
Requires public reporting and greater transparency on caseloads, wait times, security checks, and denials, improving congressional and public oversight of U.S. refugee/asylum processing for Xinjiang cases.
Official findings and presumptions singling out PRC abuses could heighten diplomatic tensions and risk economic retaliation that harms U.S. businesses, consumers, and broader economic interests.
The Act will increase administrative workload and resource pressure on immigration and consular systems (new eligibility rules, reporting, and priority processing), risking longer backlogs and shifting resources away from other refugee/immigration categories unless funding is added.
A 10-year automatic sunset creates uncertainty: benefits, protections, and programs created under the Act could end unless Congress reauthorizes them, imposing recurring workload and possible service disruptions.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates a special refugee/asylum pathway prioritizing residents and former residents of Xinjiang and certain relatives, waiving some immigration bars, adding evidentiary standards, requiring agency reports, and sunsets after 10 years.
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Suhas Subramanyam · Last progress March 25, 2025
Creates a special U.S. refugee and asylum pathway for current and former residents of Xinjiang and certain close relatives who fled or fear persecution for peaceful political, religious, or cultural expression. It waives some standard immigration presumptions for eligible applicants, sets new evidentiary and adjudicative standards to account for Xinjiang-specific persecution, requires regular public reporting by State and Homeland Security, encourages U.S. allies to adopt similar policies, and sunsets the law after 10 years.