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To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to establish a repatriation grant program.
Summary
This bill would amend federal law to convert the State Department's repatriation assistance program from loans to grants. Currently, the program provides loans to help U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and other nationals return home when stranded abroad. The bill would eliminate the repayment requirement and expand the program to explicitly include destitute lawful permanent residents. The Secretary of State would update the relevant policies to reflect this change.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
2 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Jul 23, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. · house
- Jul 23, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 23, 2025
Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Ms. Velazquez, and Mr. Nadler) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to establish a repatriation grant program.
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 “Safe Return Act”.
SEC. 2. REPATRIATION GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.—Section 4 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2671) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b)(2)—
(A) in subparagraph (A), by amending clause (ii) to read as follows:
“(ii) private United States citizens, lawful permanent residents of the United States, or third-country nationals, on a grant basis, to the maximum extent practicable;”;
(B) in subparagraph (B)—
(i) by striking “loans” and inserting “grants”;
(ii) by inserting “and destitute lawful permanent residents of the United States” after “destitute citizens of the United States”; and
(iii) by adding at the end before the semicolon the following: “and lawful permanent residents”; and
(2) in subsection (d)—
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “loan” and inserting “grant”;
(B) in paragraph (1)—
(i) by striking “borrower” and inserting “grantee”; and
(ii) by adding “and” at the end;
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking “a written loan agreement” and all that follows and inserting “a written grant agreement.”; and
(D) by striking paragraphs (3) through (11).
(b) Update to Foreign Affairs Manual.—The Secretary of State shall update the “Repatriation Loans” section of the Foreign Affairs Manual to reflect the amendments made by subsection (a). <all>
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