Freedom House play a key role in raising the cost of transnational repression. The Biden administration should: • • Impose targeted sanctions on perpetrators and enablers of acts of transnational repression that fall within the bounds of existing law. Current law allows sanctions on perpetrators of serious human rights abuses and those who assist them, including for abuses such as assassinations and renditions, which are some of the most serious forms of transnational repression. In many cases, transnational repression operations are carried out by specific units of intelligence agencies. The individuals directing these units to act, the units themselves, and the individual members of these units should be sanctioned. Work with Congress to ensure robust funding for enforcement of targeted sanctions. The US Department of the Treasury, Department of State, and Department of Justice all collect information about suspected perpetrators of abuses eligible for sanction. Unfortunately, the number of potential sanctions cases to be vetted by the US government far exceeds current capacity. The US Congress has provided modest dedicated funding for sanctions enforcement, but funding for additional staff would be useful in reducing the existing backlog. The Biden administration should direct senior staff at each relevant agency to make the implementation of targeted sanctions a key priority and should ensure the president’s budget requests include the funding levels required for robust enforcement. Ensure the United States maintains a robust refugee resettlement program to protect victims of transnational repression and others fleeing persecution. As Congress noted in the creation of the Refugee Resettlement Act of 1980, “it is the historic policy of the United States to respond to the urgent needs of persons subject to persecution in their homelands.” Many refugees fled political persecution in countries that engage in transnational repression, and face threats even after resettlement. Refugees who live in strong democracies where the rule of law is upheld and institutions are accountable have stronger basic protection against transnational repression than those who do not. With this in mind, the Biden administration should: • Commit to rebuilding the country’s resettlement program back to historical levels and work with Congress to provide adequate funding for this purpose. Each year, the president and Congress work together to set an annual cap on the number of allowable refugee admissions for that year, with a high of 207,116 in 1980, a low of 22,517 in 2018, and an average annual acceptance rate of 77,561. The Biden administration should uphold the United States’ historical position on refugee admittance, which rightly seeks to protect those who need protection, by working with Congress to welcome as many refugees as possible. • Revoke the president’s September 2019 executive order permitting states and localities to prevent resettlement. • Ensure transparent admittance criteria that do not discriminate inappropriately, such as on the basis of race or religion. When reviewing export licensing applications, give extra scrutiny to applications for companies exporting products to countries rated as Not Free or Partly Free by Freedom House. In October of 2020, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BiS) updated its licensing policy to restrict the export of items if there is “a risk that the items will be used to violate or abuse human rights” (15 C.F.R. §742.7(b)). In applying this updated policy, the Biden administration should consult research by Freedom House and other credible human rights organizations to determine whether there is a risk of human rights abuse, including transnational repression, for exported items. Particular caution in granting applications should be applied for products being exported to countries rated by Freedom House as Partly Free or Not Free. Nearly all perpetrators of transnational repression are countries with these ratings. Ensure that personnel of the US State Department and other relevant agencies, stationed both in the United States and overseas, are trained to recognize and address transnational repression. US diplomats and personnel can play a key role in protecting exiles who are targeted. Timely diplomatic intervention, whether public or private, in isolation or in coordination with other states, can be the difference between an unlawful deportation and freedom for a targeted individual. The State Department should: • Add training on identifying transnational repression threats, and on the relevant laws that can be invoked to combat them. Like those on human trafficking and other key issues, training programs would help US officials recognize and mitigate the threat of transnational repression when they encounter them in the course of their jobs. freedomhouse.org 55