Break the Chain Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3798 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the provisions that relate to family-sponsored immigrants. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 8, 2021 Mr. STEUBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the provisions that relate to family-sponsored immigrants. 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 ‘‘Break the Chain Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRATION PRIORITIES. 5 (a) IMMEDIATE RELATIVE REDEFINED.—Section 6 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 7 1151) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(A)— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3798 IH (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘children, 1 spouses, and parents of a citizen of the United 2 States, except that, in the case of parents, such 3 citizens shall be at least 21 years of age.’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘children and spouse of a citizen of 5 the United States.’’; and 6 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘such an im- 7 mediate relative’’ and inserting ‘‘the immediate 8 relative spouse of a United States citizen’’; 9 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(c) WORLDWIDE LEVEL OF FAMILY-SPONSORED 12 IMMIGRANTS.—(1) The worldwide level of family-spon- 13 sored immigrants under this subsection for a fiscal year 14 is equal to 87,934 minus the number computed under 15 paragraph (2). 16 ‘‘(2) The number computed under this paragraph for 17 a fiscal year is the number of aliens who were paroled into 18 the United States under section 212(d)(5) in the second 19 preceding fiscal year who— 20 ‘‘(A) did not depart from the United States 21 (without advance parole) within 365 days; and 22 ‘‘(B)(i) did not acquire the status of an alien 23 lawfully admitted to the United States for perma- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3798 IH nent residence during the two preceding fiscal years; 1 or 2 ‘‘(ii) acquired such status during such period 3 under a provision of law (other than subsection (b)) 4 that exempts adjustment to such status from the nu- 5 merical limitation on the worldwide level of immigra- 6 tion under this section.’’; and 7 (3) in subsection (f)— 8 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘section 9 203(a)(2)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’; 10 (B) by striking paragraph (3); 11 (C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 12 paragraph (3); and 13 (D) in paragraph (3), as redesignated, by 14 striking ‘‘(1) through (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 15 and (2)’’. 16 (b) FAMILY-BASED VISA PREFERENCES.—Section 17 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 18 1153(a)) is amended to read as follows: 19 ‘‘(a) SPOUSES AND MINOR CHILDREN OF PERMA- 20 NENT RESIDENT ALIENS.—Family-sponsored immigrants 21 described in this subsection are qualified immigrants who 22 are the spouse or a child of an alien lawfully admitted 23 for permanent residence. Such immigrants shall be allo- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3798 IH cated visas in accordance with the number computed 1 under section 201(c).’’. 2 (c) AGING OUT.—Section 203(h) of the Immigration 3 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(h)) is amended— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)(2)(A)’’ each place such 5 term appears and inserting ‘‘(a)’’; 6 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol- 7 lows: 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 9 for purposes of subsections (a) and (d), a determina- 10 tion of whether an alien satisfies the age require- 11 ment in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) of 12 section 101(b)(1) shall be made using the age of the 13 alien on the date on which a petition is filed with 14 the Secretary of Homeland Security.’’. 15 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 16 (4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; 17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding the age of 20 an alien on the date on which a petition is filed, an 21 alien who marries or turns 25 years of age prior to 22 a visa becoming available for issuance pursuant to 23 subsection (a) or (d), no longer satisfies the age re- 24 quirement described in paragraph (1).’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3798 IH (5) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by 1 striking ‘‘(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4)’’. 2 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 3 (1) DEFINITION OF V NONIMMIGRANT.—Section 4 101(a)(15)(V) of the Immigration and Nationality 5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(V)) is amended by strik- 6 ing ‘‘section 203(a)(2)(A)’’ each place such term ap- 7 pears and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’. 8 (2) PROCEDURE FOR GRANTING IMMIGRANT 9 STATUS.—Section 204 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) 10 is amended— 11 (A) in subsection (a)(1)— 12 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 13 ‘‘to classification by reason of a relation- 14 ship described in paragraph (1), (3), or (4) 15 of section 203(a) or’’; 16 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 17 (I) in clause (i), by redesignating 18 the second subclause (I) as subclause 19 (II); and 20 (II) by striking ‘‘203(a)(2)(A)’’ 21 each place such terms appear and in- 22 serting ‘‘203(a)’’; and 23 (iii) in subparagraph (D)(i)(I), by 24 striking ‘‘a petitioner’’ and all that follows 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3798 IH through ‘‘section 204(a)(1)(B)(iii).’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘an individual younger than 21 2 years of age for purposes of adjudicating 3 such petition and for purposes of admis- 4 sion as an immediate relative under section 5 201(b)(2)(A)(i) or a family-sponsored im- 6 migrant under section 203(a), as appro- 7 priate, notwithstanding the actual age of 8 the individual.’’; 9 (B) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘, 10 203(a)(1), or 203(a)(3), as appropriate’’; and 11 (C) by striking subsection (k). 12 (3) WAIVERS OF INADMISSIBILITY.—Section 13 212 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is amended— 14 (A) in subsection (a)(6)(E)(ii), by striking 15 ‘‘section 203(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 16 203(a)’’; and 17 (B) in subsection (d)(11), by striking 18 ‘‘(other than paragraph (4) thereof)’’. 19 (4) EMPLOYMENT OF V NONIMMIGRANTS.—Sec- 20 tion 214(q)(1)(B)(i) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 21 1184(q)(1)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 22 203(a)(2)(A)’’ each place such term appears and in- 23 serting ‘‘section 203(a)’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3798 IH (5) DEFINITION OF ALIEN SPOUSE.—Section 1 216(h)(1)(C) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1186a(h)(1)(C)) 2 is amended by striking ‘‘section 203(a)(2)’’ and in- 3 serting ‘‘section 203(a)’’. 4 (6) CLASSES OF DEPORTABLE ALIENS.—Sec- 5 tion 237(a)(1)(E)(ii) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 6 1227(a)(1)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 7 203(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’. 8 (e) CREATION OF NONIMMIGRANT CLASSIFICATION 9 FOR ALIEN PARENTS OF ADULT UNITED STATES CITI- 10 ZENS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(15) of the 12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 13 1101(a)(15)) is amended— 14 (A) in subparagraph (T)(ii)(III), by strik- 15 ing the period at the end and inserting a semi- 16 colon; 17 (B) in subparagraph (U)(iii), by striking 18 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 19 (C) in subparagraph (V)(ii)(II), by striking 20 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 21 (D) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(W) Subject to section 214(s), an alien 23 who is a parent of a citizen of the United 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3798 IH States, if the citizen is at least 21 years of 1 age.’’. 2 (2) CONDITIONS ON ADMISSION.—Section 214 3 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding 4 at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(s)(1) The initial period of authorized admission for 6 a nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(W) shall 7 be 5 years, but may be extended by the Secretary of 8 Homeland Security for additional 5-year periods if the 9 United States citizen son or daughter of the nonimmigrant 10 is still residing in the United States. 11 ‘‘(2) A nonimmigrant described in section 12 101(a)(15)(W)— 13 ‘‘(A) is not authorized to be employed in 14 the United States; and 15 ‘‘(B) is not eligible for any Federal, State, 16 or local public benefit. 17 ‘‘(3) The United States citizen son or daughter 18 shall file a petition with the Secretary of Homeland 19 Security on behalf of the alien parent in order for 20 the alien parent to be issued a visa or otherwise be 21 provided nonimmigrant status under section 22 101(a)(15)(W). 23 ‘‘(4) An alien is ineligible to be issued a visa or 24 otherwise be provided nonimmigrant status under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3798 IH section 101(a)(15)(W), or to be admitted into the 1 United States as a nonimmigrant described in sec- 2 tion 101(a)(15)(W), unless the alien provides satis- 3 factory proof that the United States citizen son or 4 daughter has arranged for health insurance coverage 5 for the alien, at no cost to the alien, during the an- 6 ticipated period of the alien’s residence in the United 7 States.’’. 8 (3) AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT.— 9 (A) GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY.—Sec- 10 tion 212(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Na- 11 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(4)(C)) is 12 amended— 13 (i) in the heading by adding at the 14 end the following: ‘‘AND NONIMMIGRANTS’’; 15 and 16 (ii) in the matter preceding clause (i), 17 by striking ‘‘section 201(b)(2) or 203(a)’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘section 101(a)(15)(W), 19 201(b)(2), or 203(a)’’. 20 (B) AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED.—Section 213A 21 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 22 U.S.C. 1183a) is amended— 23 (i) in subsection (a)(2)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3798 IH (I) by striking ‘‘An affidavit of 1 support’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) IN GEN- 2 ERAL—Except as provided in sub- 3 paragraph (B), an affidavit of sup- 4 port’’; and 5 (II) by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of an 8 alien who has been issued a visa or otherwise 9 provided nonimmigrant status under section 10 101(a)(15)(W), an affidavit of support shall be 11 enforceable with respect to benefits provided for 12 an alien while the alien is physically present in 13 the United States.’’; and 14 (ii) in subsection (f)(1)(D), by insert- 15 ing after ‘‘section 204’’ the following: ‘‘or 16 petitioning for the alien to be provided a 17 visa under or accorded status under sec- 18 tion 101(a)(15)(W)’’. 19 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.— 20 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 21 by this section shall take effect on October 1, 2022. 22 (2) INVALIDITY OF CERTAIN PETITIONS AND 23 APPLICATIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3798 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—No person may file, 1 and the Secretary of Homeland Security and 2 the Secretary of State may not accept, adju- 3 dicate, or approve any petition under section 4 204 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 5 U.S.C. 1154) filed on or after the date of enact- 6 ment of this Act seeking classification of an 7 alien under section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) with respect 8 to a parent of a United States citizen, or under 9 section 203(a)(1), (2)(B), (3), or (4) of such 10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i), 1153(a)(1), 11 (2)(B), (3), or (4)). Any application for adjust- 12 ment of status or an immigrant visa based on 13 such a petition shall be invalid. 14 (B) PENDING PETITIONS.—Neither the 15 Secretary of Homeland Security nor the Sec- 16 retary of State may adjudicate or approve any 17 petition under section 204 of the Immigration 18 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) pending 19 as of the date of enactment of this Act seeking 20 classification of an alien under section 21 201(b)(2)(A)(i) with respect to a parent of a 22 United States citizen, or under section 23 203(a)(1), (2)(B), (3), or (4) of such Act (8 24 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i), 1153(a)(1), (2)(B), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3798 IH (3), or (4)). Any application for adjustment of 1 status or an immigrant visa based on such a 2 petition shall be invalid. 3 (3) APPLICABILITY TO WAITLISTED APPLI- 4 CANTS.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 6 amendments made by this section, an alien with 7 regard to whom a petition or application for 8 status under paragraph (1), (2)(B), (3), or (4) 9 of section 203(a) of the Immigration and Na- 10 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(a)), as in effect on 11 September 30, 2020, was approved prior to the 12 date of the enactment of this Act, may be 13 issued a visa pursuant to that paragraph in ac- 14 cordance with the availability of visas under 15 subparagraph (B). 16 (B) AVAILABILITY OF VISAS.—Visas may 17 be issued to beneficiaries of approved petitions 18 under each category described in subparagraph 19 (A), but only until such time as the number of 20 visas that would have been allocated to that 21 category in fiscal year 2022, notwithstanding 22 the amendments made by this section, have 23 been issued. When the number of visas de- 24 scribed in the previous sentence have been 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3798 IH issued for each category described in subpara- 1 graph (A), no additional visas may be issued for 2 that category. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS