Families Belong Together Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1375 To grant lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible persons who were separated from immediate family members by the Department of Homeland Security. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2021 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To grant lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible persons who were separated from immediate family mem- bers by the Department of Homeland Security. 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 ‘‘Families Belong To- 4 gether Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1375 IS (1) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘‘eligible 1 child’’ means a person who, regardless of whether 2 the person is in the United States or abroad— 3 (A) entered the United States before at- 4 taining 18 years of age at a port of entry or be- 5 tween ports of entry; 6 (B) was separated from his or her parent 7 or legal guardian by the Department of Home- 8 land Security between January 20, 2017, and 9 January 20, 2021; and 10 (C) is not inadmissible under paragraph 11 (2)(C)(i), (2)(E), (2)(G), (2)(I), or (3) of sec- 12 tion 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 14 (2) ELIGIBLE PARENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 15 parent’’ means a person who, regardless of whether 16 the person is in the United States or abroad— 17 (A) is a parent or legal guardian of an eli- 18 gible child; 19 (B) entered the United States at a port of 20 entry, or between ports of entry, with an eligi- 21 ble child to whom he or she is a parent or legal 22 guardian; 23 (C) was separated from his or her eligible 24 child by the Department of Homeland Security 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1375 IS between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 1 2021; and 2 (D) is not inadmissible under paragraph 3 (2)(C)(i), (2)(E), (2)(G), (2)(I), or (3) of sec- 4 tion 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 6 SEC. 3. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu- 8 rity shall grant humanitarian parole into the United 9 States to any eligible parent or eligible child who expressly 10 requests and applies for such parole, whether or not such 11 eligible parent or eligible child is physically present in the 12 United States. 13 (b) FEE AND SPONSOR PROHIBITED.—The Secretary 14 of Homeland Security may not— 15 (1) impose a fee in conjunction with a request 16 or application for parole under subsection (a); or 17 (2) require the applicant to secure a fiscal spon- 18 sor. 19 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 20 of Homeland Security shall consult with the Secretary of 21 State to ensure coordination with local consular officials 22 abroad. 23 SEC. 4. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 24 (a) ELIGIBLE PARENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1375 IS (1) APPLICATION.—Eligible parents in the 1 United States may submit an application to the Di- 2 rector of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 3 to have their status adjusted to that of an alien law- 4 fully admitted for permanent residence. 5 (2) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—Not later than 6 30 days after receiving an application from an eligi- 7 ble parent pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director 8 shall adjust the status of such eligible parent to that 9 of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi- 10 dence. 11 (b) ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.— 12 (1) APPLICATION.—Eligible children in the 13 United States may submit an application to the Di- 14 rector of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 15 to have their status adjusted to that of an alien law- 16 fully admitted for permanent residence. 17 (2) ADJUSTMENT.—Not later than 30 days 18 after receiving an application from an eligible child 19 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall adjust 20 the status of such child to that of an alien lawfully 21 admitted for permanent residence. 22 (c) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 23 The numerical limitations set forth in sections 201 and 24 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1375 IS 1151 and 1152) shall not apply to aliens whose status is 1 adjusted pursuant to subsection (a) or (b). 2 (d) APPLICATION FEES PROHIBITED.—The Director 3 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may not im- 4 pose a fee for— 5 (1) any application submitted under this sec- 6 tion; or 7 (2) any filing related to such application, in- 8 cluding the submission of biometric information or 9 an application for waiver of grounds of inadmis- 10 sibility. 11 (e) ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS AND SERVICES.— 12 Notwithstanding title IV of the Personal Responsibility 13 and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 14 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), an eligible parent or eligible child 15 whose status is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admit- 16 ted for permanent residence shall be eligible for benefits 17 and services under any Federal or State program or activ- 18 ity to the same extent as an alien who is admitted to the 19 United States as a refugee under section 207 of the Immi- 20 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157). 21 SEC. 5. DISCRETION OF THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND 22 SECURITY. 23 (a) WAIVER OF GROUNDS OF INADMISSIBILITY.— 24 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1375 IS of Homeland Security may waive the operation of one or 1 more grounds of inadmissibility set forth in section 212(a) 2 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 3 1182(a)) (other than paragraph (3)(E) of such section) 4 with respect to an eligible child or an eligible parent, for 5 humanitarian purposes, to ensure family unity, or when 6 such waiver is otherwise in the public interest. 7 (b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act may 8 be construed to reduce or diminish the discretion provided 9 to the Secretary of Homeland Security under section 10 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 11 1182(a)). 12 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL 13 REVIEW. 14 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—Not later than 30 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 16 retary of Homeland Security shall provide a process for 17 aliens who have applied for adjustment of status under 18 this Act to seek administrative appellate review of a denial 19 of an application for adjustment of status, or a revocation 20 of such status. 21 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 23 provision of law, an alien may seek judicial review of 24 a denial of an application for adjustment of status, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1375 IS or a revocation of such status, under this Act in an 1 appropriate United States district court. 2 (2) SCOPE OF REVIEW AND DECISION.—Not- 3 withstanding any other provision of law, the review 4 authorized under paragraph (1) shall be de novo and 5 shall be based solely on the administrative record, 6 except that the applicant shall be given the oppor- 7 tunity to supplement the administrative record and 8 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall be given 9 the opportunity to rebut the evidence and arguments 10 raised in such submission. Upon issuing its decision, 11 the court shall remand the matter, with appropriate 12 instructions, to the Department of Homeland Secu- 13 rity to render a final decision on the application. 14 (c) APPOINTED COUNSEL.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 16 provision of law, an applicant seeking judicial review 17 under this section shall be represented by counsel, 18 who shall be appointed, upon the request of the ap- 19 plicant, in accordance with procedures established by 20 the Attorney General. 21 (2) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days 22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the At- 23 torney General shall establish procedures for the ap- 24 pointment of counsel under paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1375 IS (3) FUNDING.—Counsel appointed pursuant to 1 paragraph (1) shall be paid from amounts appro- 2 priated pursuant to section 7(2). 3 (d) STAY OF REMOVAL.—An alien seeking adminis- 4 trative or judicial review under this section may not be 5 removed from the United States until a final decision is 6 rendered establishing that the alien is ineligible for adjust- 7 ment of status under section 4. 8 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other amounts 10 otherwise authorized to be appropriated for such purpose, 11 there is authorized to be appropriated— 12 (1) $5,000,000 to the Department of State in 13 fiscal year 2021 to locate and educate eligible par- 14 ents and children abroad about opportunities for hu- 15 manitarian parole; and 16 (2) $5,000,000 to the Executive Office for Im- 17 migration Review of the Department of Justice in 18 fiscal year 2021 for the provision of legal services, 19 including educating eligible parents and eligible chil- 20 dren of their rights under this Act. 21 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro- 22 priated pursuant to subsection (a) shall remain available 23 until expended. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1375.IS S1375 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS