Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 175 To improve agricultural job opportunities, benefits, and security for aliens in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 17, 2019 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BENNET, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. UDALL, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To improve agricultural job opportunities, benefits, and secu- rity for aliens in the United States, and for other pur- poses. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 175 IS TITLE I—PROGRAM FOR EARNED STATUS ADJUSTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS Sec. 101. Blue card status. Sec. 102. Adjustment to permanent resident status. Sec. 103. Use of information. Sec. 104. Reports on blue cards. Sec. 105. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE II—CORRECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY RECORDS Sec. 201. Correction of Social Security records. TITLE III—DEFINITIONS Sec. 301. Definitions. TITLE I—PROGRAM FOR 1 EARNED STATUS ADJUST- 2 MENT OF AGRICULTURAL 3 WORKERS 4 SEC. 101. BLUE CARD STATUS. 5 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR BLUE CARD STATUS.—Not- 6 withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 7 may grant blue card status to any alien who— 8 (1)(A) has completed qualified work; 9 (B)(i) is the spouse or child of an alien de- 10 scribed in subparagraph (A); 11 (ii) was physically present in the United States 12 on or before the date of the enactment of this Act; 13 and 14 (iii) has maintained continuous presence in the 15 United States from such date of enactment until the 16 date on which the alien is granted blue card status; 17 or 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 175 IS (C) is, or has been, a nonimmigrant alien ad- 1 mitted to the United States for agricultural employ- 2 ment described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the 3 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 4 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) who has completed qualified 5 work; 6 (2) is not ineligible under subsection (d)(2); 7 (3) submits a completed application before the 8 end of the period set forth in subsection (b)(3); 9 (4) passes the national security and law en- 10 forcement clearances required under subsection 11 (d)(1) to the satisfactory of the Secretary; and 12 (5) pays the required processing fees and pen- 13 alties in accordance with subsection (e). 14 (b) APPLICATION.— 15 (1) SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS.—An alien de- 16 scribed in subsection (a)(1) who is seeking blue card 17 status shall submit an application— 18 (A) to the Secretary, with the assistance of 19 an attorney or a nonprofit religious, charitable, 20 social service, or similar organization recognized 21 by the Board of Immigration Appeals under 22 section 292.2 of title 8, Code of Federal Regu- 23 lations; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 175 IS (B) to a qualified designated entity if the 1 applicant consents to the forwarding of the ap- 2 plication to the Secretary. 3 (2) EVIDENCE OF APPLICATION FILING.—As 4 soon as practicable after receiving each application 5 for blue card status under paragraph (1), the Sec- 6 retary shall provide the applicant with a document 7 acknowledging the receipt of such application. 8 (3) APPLICATION PERIOD.— 9 (A) INITIAL PERIOD.—Except as provided 10 in subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Secretary 11 shall accept applications for blue card status 12 from aliens in the United States during the 18- 13 month period beginning on the date on which 14 the final rule is published in the Federal Reg- 15 ister pursuant to subsection (j). 16 (B) EXCEPTION.—Aliens described in sub- 17 section (a)(1)(C) may apply for blue card status 18 from outside of the United States. 19 (C) EXTENSION.—If the Secretary deter- 20 mines, during the initial period described in 21 subparagraph (A), that additional time is re- 22 quired to process applications for blue card sta- 23 tus or for another good cause, the Secretary 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 175 IS may extend the period for accepting applica- 1 tions by an additional 18 months. 2 (4) APPLICATION.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The application re- 4 ferred to in paragraph (1) shall collect such in- 5 formation as the Secretary determines nec- 6 essary and appropriate. 7 (B) FAMILY APPLICATION.—The Secretary 8 shall establish a process through which an alien 9 may submit a single application under this sec- 10 tion on behalf of the alien and his or her spouse 11 and children who meet the requirements set 12 forth in subsection (a)(1)(B). 13 (5) ADJUDICATION.— 14 (A) INTERVIEW.—The Secretary may 15 interview applicants for blue card status to de- 16 termine whether they meet the eligibility re- 17 quirements set forth in this section. 18 (B) FAILURE TO SUBMIT SUFFICIENT EVI- 19 DENCE.—The Secretary may deny an applica- 20 tion for blue card status submitted by an alien 21 who fails to submit evidence of the alien’s eligi- 22 bility for such status. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 175 IS (C) NOTICE.—If the Secretary denies an 1 application for blue card status, the Secretary 2 shall— 3 (i) send a written notice to the appli- 4 cant that provides the applicant with the 5 basis for denial; and 6 (ii) provide the alien with an oppor- 7 tunity to cure the denial within a reason- 8 able period. 9 (D) AMENDED APPLICATION.—An alien 10 whose application for blue card status is denied 11 under subparagraph (B) may submit an amend- 12 ed application for such status to the Secretary 13 if the amended application— 14 (i) is submitted within the period de- 15 scribed in paragraph (3); and 16 (ii) contains all the required informa- 17 tion and fees that were missing from the 18 initial application. 19 (E) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES.—The Sec- 20 retary may utilize the procedures set forth in 21 sections 103.2 and 103.3 of title 8, Code of 22 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of 23 the enactment of this Act, to adjudicate re- 24 quests for blue card status to the extent such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 175 IS procedures are consistent with the requirements 1 under this section. 2 (6) EVIDENCE OF BLUE CARD STATUS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 4 issue documentary evidence of blue card status 5 to each alien whose application for such status 6 has been approved. 7 (B) DOCUMENTATION FEATURES.—Docu- 8 mentary evidence provided under subparagraph 9 (A)— 10 (i) shall be machine-readable and tam- 11 per-resistant; 12 (ii) shall contain a digitized photo- 13 graph; 14 (iii) shall, during the alien’s author- 15 ized period of admission, and any exten- 16 sion of such authorized admission, serve as 17 a valid travel and entry document for the 18 purpose of applying for admission to the 19 United States; 20 (iv) may be accepted during the pe- 21 riod of its validity by an employer as evi- 22 dence of employment authorization and 23 identity under section 274A(b)(1)(B) of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 175 IS the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 1 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)(B)); and 2 (v) shall include such other features 3 and information as the Secretary may pre- 4 scribe. 5 (c) SPECIAL RULES FOR BLUE CARD APPLICANTS 6 AND ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR BLUE CARD STATUS.— 7 (1) ALIENS APPREHENDED BEFORE OR DURING 8 THE APPLICATION PERIOD.—If an alien who is ap- 9 prehended during the period beginning on the date 10 of the enactment of this Act and ending on the last 11 day of the application period described in paragraph 12 (3) appears prima facie eligible for blue card status, 13 the Secretary— 14 (A) shall provide the alien with a reason- 15 able opportunity to submit an application for 16 such status under this section during such pe- 17 riod; and 18 (B) if such an application is submitted, 19 may not remove the individual until a final ad- 20 ministrative determination is made on such ap- 21 plication. 22 (2) ALIENS IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—Not- 23 withstanding any other provision of the Immigration 24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) if an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 175 IS alien is in removal, deportation, or exclusion pro- 1 ceedings during the period beginning on the date of 2 the enactment of this Act and ending on the last day 3 of the application period described in subsection 4 (b)(3) and is prima facie eligible for blue card status 5 under this section, upon motion by the Secretary 6 and with the consent of the alien or upon motion by 7 the alien, the Executive Office for Immigration Re- 8 view shall— 9 (A) terminate such proceedings without 10 prejudice to future proceedings; and 11 (B) permit the alien a reasonable oppor- 12 tunity to apply for such status. 13 (3) TREATMENT OF ALIENS PREVIOUSLY OR- 14 DERED REMOVED.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an alien who meets 16 the eligibility requirements set forth in sub- 17 section (a) is present in the United States and 18 has been ordered excluded, deported, or re- 19 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from 20 the United States under any provision of the 21 Immigration and Nationality Act— 22 (i) notwithstanding such order or sec- 23 tion 241(a)(5) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 175 IS 1231(a)(5)), the alien may apply for blue 1 card status under this section; and 2 (ii) if the alien is granted such status, 3 the alien may file a motion to reopen the 4 exclusion, deportation, removal, or vol- 5 untary departure order, which motion shall 6 be granted. 7 (B) LIMITATIONS ON MOTIONS TO RE- 8 OPEN.—The limitations on motions to reopen 9 set forth in section 240(c)(7) of the Immigra- 10 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(7)) 11 shall not apply to motions filed under subpara- 12 graph (A)(ii). 13 (4) PERIOD PENDING ADJUDICATION OF APPLI- 14 CATION.—During the period beginning on the date 15 on which an alien applies for blue card status under 16 this section and ending on the date on which the 17 Secretary makes a final decision regarding such ap- 18 plication, the alien— 19 (A) is eligible to apply for advance parole; 20 (B) may not be detained by the Secretary 21 or removed from the United States unless the 22 Secretary makes a prima facie determination 23 that such alien is, or has become, ineligible for 24 blue card status under subsection (d)(2); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 175 IS (C) shall not be considered unlawfully 1 present under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Im- 2 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 3 1182(a)(9)(B)); and 4 (D) shall not be considered an unauthor- 5 ized alien (as defined in section 274A(h)(3) of 6 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(3))). 7 (5) EFFECT OF DEPARTURE.—Section 101(g) 8 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 9 1101(g)) shall not apply to an alien granted— 10 (A) advance parole under paragraph (4)(A) 11 to reenter the United States; or 12 (B) blue card status. 13 (6) PROTECTION FROM DETENTION OR RE- 14 MOVAL DURING BLUE CARD STATUS.—An alien 15 granted blue card status under this section may not 16 be detained by the Secretary or removed from the 17 United States unless— 18 (A) the alien is removable under section 19 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 20 U.S.C. 1227); or 21 (B) the alien’s blue card status has been 22 revoked. 23 (7) DURATION OF STATUS.—No alien may re- 24 main in blue card status on or after the date that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 175 IS is 8 years after the date on which regulations are 1 published under subsection (j). 2 (d) REQUIRED BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS AND 3 INELIGIBILITY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.— 5 (A) BIOMETRIC AND BIOGRAPHIC DATA.— 6 The Secretary may not grant blue card status 7 to an alien or an alien dependent spouse or 8 child under this section unless such alien sub- 9 mits biometric and biographic data in accord- 10 ance with procedures established by the Sec- 11 retary. 12 (B) ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES.—The 13 Secretary shall provide an alternative procedure 14 for applicants who cannot provide the standard 15 biometric data required under subparagraph 16 (A) because of a physical impairment. 17 (C) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary 18 shall collect, from each alien applying for status 19 under this section, biometric, biographic, and 20 other data that the Secretary determines to be 21 appropriate in order to conduct a background 22 investigation and determine the alien’s eligi- 23 bility for blue card status. 24 (2) GROUNDS FOR INELIGIBILITY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S175.IS S175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 175 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 subparagraph (B), an alien is ineligible for blue 2 card status if the Secretary determines that the 3 alien— 4 (i) has a conviction for— 5 (I) an offense classified as a fel- 6 ony in the convicting jurisdiction 7 (other than a State or local offense 8 for which an essential element was the 9 alien’s immigration status, or a viola- 10 tion of the Immigration and Nation- 11 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)); 12 (II) an aggravated felony (as de- 13 fined in s [Text truncated for display. 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