Veterans’ Pathway to Citizenship Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2382 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to recognize the service of veterans of the armed forces by providing a more navigable and accommodating pathway for veterans honorably discharged from the United States military to naturalize and seek citizenship, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 8, 2021 Ms. BARRAGA´N (for herself and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to recognize the service of veterans of the armed forces by providing a more navigable and accommodating pathway for vet- erans honorably discharged from the United States mili- tary to naturalize and seek citizenship, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Pathway to 4 Citizenship Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2382.IH H2382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2382 IH SEC. 2. NATURALIZATION OF VETERANS DURING PERIODS 1 OF HOSTILITIES. 2 (a) NATURALIZATION OF VETERANS DURING PERI- 3 ODS OF HOSTILITIES.—Section 329 of the Immigration 4 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440) is amended by add- 5 ing at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(d) REMEDIES.— 7 ‘‘(1) IMMIGRATION STATUS.— 8 ‘‘(A) ASSUMPTION OF LAWFUL PERMA- 9 NENT RESIDENT STATUS.—For purposes of this 10 title, any current or former member of the 11 Armed Forces who would be eligible for natu- 12 ralization under this section but is not by rea- 13 son of a failure to complete a specified period 14 of residence or physical presence within the 15 United States under this title or failure to 16 maintain status as a lawful permanent resident 17 shall, upon application for naturalization, be 18 deemed to be a lawful permanent resident and 19 to have fulfilled any residency and physical 20 presence requirements solely for purposes of 21 such current or former member’s application 22 for naturalization. 23 ‘‘(B) PRIOR REMOVALS.—In the case of 24 any current or former member of the Armed 25 Forces who is seeking naturalization under this 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2382.IH H2382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2382 IH section, no prior removal may be taken into ac- 1 count for purposes of eligibility for any immi- 2 gration benefit or in determining deportability, 3 or inadmissibility, including for purposes of the 4 application of sections 212(a)(9) and 318. 5 ‘‘(2) PARDONS.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 7 subparagraph (B), in the case of a current or 8 former member of the Armed Forces who re- 9 ceives a pardon for an offense, that offense may 10 not be taken into account for purposes of an 11 application for naturalization under this sec- 12 tion, including as to— 13 ‘‘(i) requirements under section 212; 14 and 15 ‘‘(ii) requirements under section 316. 16 Such benefit shall apply only as to the current 17 or former member’s application for naturaliza- 18 tion. 19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 20 shall not apply if the offense pardoned was the 21 same offense that caused that former member’s 22 separation from the Armed Forces in any man- 23 ner other than honorable. 24 ‘‘(3) NOTICE PROGRAM.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2382.IH H2382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2382 IH ‘‘(A) UPON ENLISTMENT.—Every military 1 recruiter or officer overseeing an enlistment 2 shall provide to every recruit proper notice of 3 that recruit’s options for naturalization under 4 this title, and shall inform the recruit of exist- 5 ing programs or services that may aid in the re- 6 cruit’s naturalization process, including direct- 7 ing the recruit to the Judge Advocate General 8 or other designated point-of-contact for natu- 9 ralization. 10 ‘‘(B) UPON DISCHARGE.—The Secretary of 11 Homeland Security, acting through the Director 12 of the United States Customs and Immigration 13 Services, and in coordination with the Secretary 14 of Defense, shall provide to every former mem- 15 ber of the Armed Forces, upon separation from 16 the Armed Forces, an adequate notice of that 17 former member’s options for naturalization 18 under this title, and shall inform that former 19 member of existing programs and services that 20 may aid in the naturalization process. The Sec- 21 retary shall issue along with this notice a copy 22 of each form required for naturalization and a 23 copy of the certification of honorable service re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2382.IH H2382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2382 IH quired under subsection (b)(3), at no expense to 1 that former member. 2 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION AUTOMATICALLY FILED.— 3 When the current or former member who would be 4 eligible for naturalization under this section becomes 5 eligible for such naturalization, the Secretary of 6 Homeland Security, in coordination with the Sec- 7 retary of Defense shall notify the member of his or 8 her eligibility, and shall, unless the member requests 9 the Secretary of Homeland Security not do so, sub- 10 mit an application for the naturalization on behalf of 11 that member. 12 ‘‘(5) VETERAN’S APPLICATION TO BE GIVEN 13 TREATMENT AS THOUGH TIMELY FILED.—In the 14 case of any current or former member of the Armed 15 Forces who would be eligible for naturalization 16 under this section but is not by reason of a failure 17 or inability to timely file application for naturaliza- 18 tion, the Director of United States Customs and Im- 19 migration Services shall review any application for 20 naturalization submitted by or on behalf of the 21 former member as if it were completed and timely 22 filed.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2382.IH H2382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2382 IH (b) PROSPECTIVE REPEAL.—Section 329 of the Im- 1 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440) is amend- 2 ed by striking subsection (d)(5). 3 (c) APPLICABILITY.— 4 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AMENDMENT.—The 5 amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect 6 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. 7 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REPEAL.—The 8 amendment made by subsection (b) shall take effect 9 beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this 10 Act. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2382.IH H2382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS