The New York State Senate

                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2304

                       2017-2018 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 12, 2017
                               ___________

Introduced by Sens. MURPHY, CROCI, AMEDORE, GALLIVAN, GOLDEN, MARCHIONE,
  ORTT,  RANZENHOFER, SEWARD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Securi-
  ty and Military Affairs

AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to directing the division
  of homeland security and emergency  services  to  develop  a  plan  to
  ensure  that  refugee  resettlement agencies monitor certain refugees;
  and directing the office for new Americans  to  conduct  a  background
  check  on  refugees;  to amend the social services law, in relation to
  requiring aliens admitted to the United States as refugees to register
  with the office of temporary and disability assistance; and  to  amend
  the  not-for-profit  corporation law, in relation to requiring refugee
  resettlement agencies to submit quarterly reports  to  the  bureau  of
  refugee  and immigrant assistance and requiring such agencies to moni-
  tor refugees for a certain period of time

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraph (u) of subdivision 2 of section 709 of the execu-
tive law is relettered paragraph (v) and a new paragraph (u) is added to
read as follows:
  (U)  DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A PLAN TO ENSURE THAT ALL REFUGEE RESETTLE-
MENT AGENCIES COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION ONE THOUSAND  FOUR
HUNDRED THIRTEEN OF THE NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION LAW.
  §  2.  Paragraphs  (m) and (n) of subdivision 5 of section 94-b of the
executive law, as added by chapter 206 of the laws of 2014, are  amended
and a new paragraph (o) is added to read as follows:
  (m)  Encourage  and  assist  local  governments  in the development of
activities to enhance civic engagement among immigrants and in immigrant
communities; [and]
  (n) Beginning in two thousand fifteen, by June fifteenth of each year,
produce a report to the governor, the speaker of the assembly,  and  the

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD00124-01-7

S. 2304                             2

temporary  president  of  the  senate  describing  the activities of the
office, including but not limited to, summarizing calls received through
the hotline and website, information on ESOL training services  provided
by the office, the number of immigrants assisted through the opportunity
centers,  or an estimation thereof, the status of any workforce develop-
ment programs, and any other relevant information[.]; AND
  (O) SCREEN AND PERFORM A BACKGROUND SCREENING OF EVERY  IMMIGRANT  WHO
REGISTERS  PURSUANT  TO SUBDIVISION NINE OF SECTION TWENTY OF THE SOCIAL
SERVICES LAW, TO ENSURE THAT THE IMMIGRANT DOES NOT PRESENT  A  SECURITY
RISK  TO  THE  STATE  OR THE UNITED STATES. THE OFFICE SHALL PROVIDE THE
RESULTS OF EACH SUCH SCREENING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW, THE DIVISION OF
STATE POLICE, AND  THE  DIVISION  OF  HOMELAND  SECURITY  AND  EMERGENCY
SERVICES.
  §  3.    Subdivision  3  of  section  20 of the social services law is
amended by adding a new paragraph (k) to read as follows:
  (K) TO COLLECT AND MAINTAIN REPORTS SUBMITTED BY REFUGEE  RESETTLEMENT
AGENCIES  PURSUANT  TO SECTION FOURTEEN HUNDRED THIRTEEN OF THE NOT-FOR-
PROFIT CORPORATION LAW.
  § 4. Section 20 of the social services law is amended by adding a  new
subdivision 9 to read as follows:
  9. (A) THE BUREAU OF REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT ASSISTANCE OF THE OFFICE OF
TEMPORARY  AND  DISABILITY  ASSISTANCE  SHALL  PROVIDE TO EACH ALIEN WHO
RESIDES IN THE STATE, AND WHO WAS ADMITTED TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMER-
ICA AS A REFUGEE PURSUANT TO SECTION TWO HUNDRED  SEVEN  OF  THE  UNITED
STATES  IMMIGRATION  AND  NATIONALITY  ACT  (8 U.S.C. § 1157) OR WHO WAS
GRANTED ASYLUM PURSUANT TO SECTION TWO HUNDRED  EIGHT  OF  SUCH  ACT  (8
U.S.C. § 1158), THAT HE OR SHE IS REQUIRED, WITHIN THIRTY DAYS OF ENTER-
ING THE STATE, TO:
  (I)  REGISTER AS A REFUGEE WITH THE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY AND DISABILITY
ASSISTANCE; AND
  (II) BE INTERVIEWED BY AND PROVIDE HIS OR HER FINGERPRINTS TO AN OFFI-
CER OR EMPLOYEE OF SUCH OFFICE DESIGNATED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF  TEMPO-
RARY AND DISABILITY ASSISTANCE.
  (B)  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  TEMPORARY  AND DISABILITY ASSISTANCE SHALL
MAINTAIN ALL REFUGEE REGISTRATION DATA AND INFORMATION IN AN  ELECTRONIC
DATABASE.  NOT LESS THAN ON A MONTHLY BASIS, THE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY AND
DISABILITY ASSISTANCE SHALL FORWARD A COPY OF THE REGISTRATION RECORD OF
EACH REFUGEE WHO REGISTERED DURING THE PRECEDING MONTH, TO THE OFFICE OF
CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, THE  OFFICE  FOR
NEW  AMERICANS, THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW, THE DIVISION OF STATE POLICE, AND
THE DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES.
  (C) ANNUALLY, ON OR BEFORE FEBRUARY FIRST, THE COMMISSIONER OF  TEMPO-
RARY AND DISABILITY ASSISTANCE SHALL SUBMIT A REPORT ON THE REGISTRATION
PROGRAM  ESTABLISHED  BY THIS SUBDIVISION TO THE GOVERNOR, THE TEMPORARY
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY.    SUCH  REPORT
SHALL  INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES WHO REGISTERED DURING THE PREVIOUS
CALENDAR YEAR AND THEIR COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN.
  (D) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE TERM "ALIEN" SHALL  HAVE
THE  SAME MEANING AS IS ASCRIBED TO SUCH TERM BY SECTION ONE HUNDRED ONE
OF THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (8 U.S.C. 1101).
  § 5. The not-for-profit corporation law is amended  by  adding  a  new
section 1413 to read as follows:
§ 1413. REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AGENCIES.
  (A)  DEFINITION. "REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AGENCY" MEANS A VOLUNTARY AGEN-
CY, AS DEFINED PURSUANT TO SECTION 1411 OF THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION
AND NATIONALITY ACT (8 U.S.C. § 1521),  ORGANIZATION,  OR  AFFILIATE  OF

S. 2304                             3

SUCH  AGENCY  OR  ORGANIZATION THAT RECEIVES FEDERAL FUNDING FOR REFUGEE
RECEPTION AND PLACEMENT RESETTLEMENT SERVICES OR  OTHER  FEDERAL  GRANTS
INTENDED FOR THE SUPPORT OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT ACTIVITIES.
  (B)  REPORTING  REQUIREMENT.  EACH  REFUGEE  RESETTLEMENT AGENCY SHALL
REPORT, ON A QUARTERLY BASIS, TO THE BUREAU  OF  REFUGEE  AND  IMMIGRANT
ASSISTANCE OF THE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY AND DISABILITY ASSISTANCE:
  (1) THE TOTAL NUMBER OF REFUGEES RESETTLED BY THE AGENCY AND THE TOTAL
OF SUCH REFUGEES IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING AGE GROUPS:
  (A) UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE,
  (B) BETWEEN EIGHTEEN AND SIXTY-FOUR YEARS OF AGE, AND
  (C) SIXTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER;
  (2)  THE  PUBLIC  ASSISTANCE BENEFITS THE REFUGEES HAVE APPLIED FOR OR
HAVE BEEN GRANTED; AND
  (3) THE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THE REFUGEES.
  (C) MONITORING REQUIREMENT. EACH  REFUGEE  RESETTLEMENT  AGENCY  SHALL
MONITOR  REFUGEES  WHO  HAVE REGISTERED WITH THE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY AND
DISABILITY ASSISTANCE PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION NINE OF SECTION TWENTY  OF
THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR OR UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A
REFUGEE  IS GRANTED PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS BY THE UNITED STATES CITI-
ZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, WHICHEVER SHALL OCCUR FIRST.
  § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.