American Families United Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2920 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2021 Ms. ESCOBAR (for herself and Mr. VALADAO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, 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 ‘‘American Families 4 United Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The rights and interests of United States 8 citizens should be protected by our Nation’s immi- 9 gration laws. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2920 IH (2) It is the intent of Congress to provide the 1 Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Secu- 2 rity with the ability to exercise their discretion in 3 favor of preventing hardship to the spouses, chil- 4 dren, and parents of United States citizens in immi- 5 gration proceedings, on a case-by-case basis, to en- 6 sure fairness and prevent hardships associated with 7 family separation. 8 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 9 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to provide the 10 Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security 11 with the ability to exercise the discretionary authority pro- 12 vided in this Act, except on a case-by-case basis. 13 SEC. 4. DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO RE- 14 MOVAL, DEPORTATION, INELIGIBILITY OR IN- 15 ADMISSIBILITY OF CITIZEN FAMILY MEM- 16 BERS. 17 (a) APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF FROM REMOVAL.— 18 Section 240(c)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 19 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(4)) is amended by adding at the end 20 the following: 21 ‘‘(D) JUDICIAL DISCRETION.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 23 alien in removal proceedings, who is the 24 spouse or child of a United States citizen, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2920 IH the Attorney General may, for reasons de- 1 scribed in clause (ii)— 2 ‘‘(I) decline to order such alien 3 removed from the United States; 4 ‘‘(II) terminate such removal 5 proceedings; or 6 ‘‘(III) grant such alien permis- 7 sion to reapply for admission to the 8 United States or any other application 9 for relief from removal. 10 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON DISCRETION.— 11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney 12 General may exercise discretion de- 13 scribed in clause (i) if the Attorney 14 General determines that removal of 15 the alien or the denial of a requested 16 benefit would result in hardship to the 17 alien’s United States citizen spouse, 18 parent, or child. 19 ‘‘(II) HARDSHIP.—For purposes 20 of subclause (I), there is a presump- 21 tion that family separation shall result 22 in hardship. 23 ‘‘(iii) EXCLUSIONS.—This subpara- 24 graph shall not apply to an alien whom the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2920 IH Attorney General determines is inadmis- 1 sible or deportable under— 2 ‘‘(I) subparagraph (B), (C), 3 (D)(ii), (E), (H), or (I) of section 4 212(a)(2); 5 ‘‘(II) section 212(a)(3); 6 ‘‘(III) subparagraph (A), (C), or 7 (D) of section 212(a)(10); or 8 ‘‘(IV) paragraph (2)(A)(iii), 9 (2)(A)(v), (2)(F), (4), or (6) of sec- 10 tion 237(a).’’. 11 (b) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION.—Section 212 of the 12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is 13 amended— 14 (1) by redesignating the second subsection (t) 15 as subsection (u); and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(v) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien who 19 is the spouse or child of a United States citizen, and 20 who is inadmissible under subsection (a), deportable 21 under section 237, or ineligible for any immigration 22 benefit or relief under the immigration laws as a re- 23 sult of such inadmissibility or deportability, the Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2920 IH retary of Homeland Security may, for reasons de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2)— 2 ‘‘(A) waive one or more grounds of inad- 3 missibility or deportability; 4 ‘‘(B) decline to issue a notice to appear re- 5 quiring such an alien to appear for removal pro- 6 ceedings; 7 ‘‘(C) decline to reinstate an order of re- 8 moval under section 241(a)(5); and 9 ‘‘(D) grant such alien permission to re- 10 apply for admission to the United States or any 11 other application for an immigration benefit. 12 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON DISCRETION.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 14 Homeland Security may exercise discretion de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1) if the Secretary deter- 16 mines that removal of the alien or the denial of 17 a requested benefit would result in hardship to 18 the alien’s United States citizen spouse, parent, 19 or child. 20 ‘‘(B) HARDSHIP.—For purposes of sub- 21 paragraph (A), there is a presumption that 22 family separation shall result in hardship. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2920 IH ‘‘(3) EXCLUSIONS.—This subsection shall not 1 apply to an alien whom the Secretary determines is 2 inadmissible or deportable under— 3 ‘‘(A) subparagraph (B), (C), (D)(ii), (E), 4 (H), or (I) of subsection (a)(2); 5 ‘‘(B) subsection (a)(3); 6 ‘‘(C) subparagraph (A), (C), or (D) of sub- 7 section (a)(10); or 8 ‘‘(D) paragraph (2)(A)(iii), (2)(A)(v), 9 (2)(F), or (6) of section 237(a).’’. 10 (c) NATIONALITY AT BIRTH AND COLLECTIVE NATU- 11 RALIZATION.—Section 301(g) of the Immigration and Na- 12 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401(g)) is amended by striking 13 ‘‘for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, 14 at least two of which were after attaining the age of four- 15 teen years’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS