Save the Children Act of 2016

Save the Children Act of 2016

This bill directs the Departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security (DHS), and Health and Human Services to establish the Save the Children program to grant nonimmigrant visas to certain young minor children from Syria between the ages of 3 and 10 to enter and remain in the United States until there is a sustained reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants.

The bill establishes in the DHS Office of Refugee Resettlement a Coordinator of the Save the Children program.

The program shall terminate six months after the State Department certifies that there is a sustained reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants.

The program provides for the admission of not more than 5,000 children in the first year and 10,000 children for each of the second and third years.

The bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a nonimmigrant W-visa for an alien who: (1) is resident in or was born in Syria but is currently a displaced person or refugee living in another country, (2) is between 3 and 10 years old, and (3) has been approved by the State Department to temporarily reside in the United States.

Program aliens may remain in the United States until the State Department certifies that there is a sustained reduction of civil war violence in Syria and a substantial reduction in the numbers of newly displaced Syria inhabitants, with a six-month grace period for reunification efforts.