H.R. 9710 — Third World Immigration Moratorium Act

This section prohibits the entry into the United States of nationals from 40 specified countries—Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Togo, Venezuela, Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Syria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—as well as aliens possessing travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.

This section limits the Act to aliens outside the United States on the date of enactment who lack a valid visa on that date. It exempts lawful permanent residents, dual nationals of a designated country and a non-designated country, holders of A, C, or G nonimmigrant status or NATO status, athletes and support personnel traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting events, special immigrants under INA section 101(a)(27)(D), and individuals with immigrant visas based on ethnic or religious persecution in Iran. It authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State and Attorney General, to waive the prohibition on a case-by-case basis when entry advances a critical national interest, including for witnesses in criminal proceedings.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, to submit a report to Congress every 180 days beginning 180 days after enactment. The report must recommend whether the prohibition should be continued, terminated, modified, or supplemented and must address any cases in which an exception applied.

This section provides that if any provision of the Act is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and its application to other persons or circumstances remains in effect.