H.R. 4276 · 117th Congress

Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act of 2021

Introduced on Jun 30, 2021 by Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-7). 27 cosponsors, 13 of them from another party. Latest action (Nov 1, 2022): Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Jun 30, 2021
Cosponsors
27
13 from the other party
Policy area
Immigration
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To provide for temporary protected status for residents of Hong Kong, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Alliances
  • Area studies and international education
  • Asia
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • Citizenship and naturalization
  • Congressional oversight
  • Cultural exchanges and relations
  • Detention of persons
  • Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
  • Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
  • Europe
  • Hong Kong
  • Human rights
  • Immigration status and procedures
  • International exchange and broadcasting
  • International organizations and cooperation
  • Japan
  • News media and reporting
  • Oceania
  • Protest and dissent
  • Racial and ethnic relations
  • Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
  • Religion
  • South Korea
  • Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
  • Travel and tourism
  • United Kingdom
  • User charges and fees
  • Visas and passports

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Jun 30, 2021). Public domain.

Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act of 2021

This bill provides for temporary protected status (TPS) for qualifying Hong Kong residents and contains other immigration-related provisions.

Hong Kong shall be treated as a TPS-designated territory for 18 months starting from this bill's enactment. (Qualifying nationals of a TPS-designated territory or country may not be removed from the United States and shall have employment authorization while the designation is in effect.)

Furthermore, Hong Kong shall be treated as separate from China for the purposes of various numerical limitations on immigrant visas. (In the treaty that transferred sovereignty of Hong Kong to China, China pledged that Hong Kong "will enjoy a high degree of autonomy.")

The bill also establishes Priority Hong Kong Resident status for qualified individuals. To obtain such status, an individual must meet certain requirements, such as having resided in Hong Kong for at least ten years as of the day of this bill's enactment and not having citizenship in any jurisdiction other than China, Hong Kong, or Macau.

For seeking refugee status or asylum, a Priority Hong Kong Resident may establish a well-founded fear of persecution based on various factors, such as fear based on the individual's significant role in certain protests against China's encroachment into Hong Kong's autonomy. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of State may provide special immigrant status to an eligible Priority Hong Kong Resident with a bachelor's or graduate degree if DHS determines that doing so would provide a significant benefit to the United States.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Tom MalinowskiD-NJ-7Sponsor

Democrats · 14

Republicans · 13

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jun 30, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Jun 30, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Jun 30, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Jun 30, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Nov 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.