S 2502 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Preventing the Forced Return of Uyghurs Act of 2025
To deny entry into the United States of current or former government officials engaged in the forced repatriation of Uyghurs and other designated aliens to the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill prohibits the U.S. government from issuing visas or admitting to the United States any current or former government officials determined to be responsible for or complicit in forcibly returning Uyghurs or other persecuted ethnic or religious groups to the People's Republic of China. The Secretary of State must refer such cases to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control for consideration of additional sanctions. The Secretary of State may waive these restrictions if the action is in the national interest or if circumstances have changed. The bill requires reports to Congress every 180 days on denials and waivers granted. The provision expires after five years.
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)
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
2 cosponsors
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX)
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] (R-FL)
Actions (2)
- Jul 29, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · senate
- Jul 29, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2025
Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To deny entry into the United States of current or former government officials engaged in the forced repatriation of Uyghurs and other designated aliens to the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.
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 “Preventing the Forced Return of Uyghurs Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. DENIAL OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF CURRENT OR FORMER OFFICIALS ENGAGED IN THE FORCED REPATRIATION OF UYGHURS AND OTHER DESIGNATED ALIENS TO THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
(a) Denial of Entry.—
(1) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary of State may not issue any visa, and the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security may not admit to the United States or grant any immigration benefit or status to any current or former government official who the Secretary of State determines is or was responsible for, or complicit in, the forced departure from their country of last habitual residence and return to the People’s Republic of China of—
(A) any Uyghur individual; or
(B) any alien who—
(i) is a member of any other ethnic or religious group; and
(ii) is more likely than not to be subject to persecution by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, as determined by the Secretary of State.
(2) Referral to office of foreign assets control.— Concurrent with the application of paragraph (1) to an official described in that subsection, the Secretary shall refer the matter to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury to determine whether to apply sanctions authorities in accordance with United States law to block the transfer of property and interests in property, and all financial transactions, in the United States involving such official.
(b) Waiver.—The Secretary of State may waive the application of subsection (a) with respect to an official described in that subsection if the Secretary determines that—
(1) such a waiver is in the national interest of the United States; or
(2) the circumstances that caused the official to be ineligible under that subsection for a visa or an immigration benefit or status have changed sufficiently.
(c) Report.—
(1) In general.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter until the date on which this section ceases to have effect under subsection (d), the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report—
(A) information on each official denied admission or an immigration benefit or status under subsection
(a)(1); and
(B) a list of waivers granted under subsection (b), and the justification for each waiver.
(2) Form.—Each report submitted under this subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.
(3) Appropriate committees of congress defined.—In this subsection, the term “appropriate committees of Congress” means—
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
(d) Termination.—This section shall cease to have effect on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. <all>
Comments