Families Belong Together Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 883 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. CASTRO of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 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 (1) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘‘eligible 8 child’’ means a person who— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H883.IH H883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 883 IH (A) entered the United States, before at- 1 taining 18 years of age, at a port of entry or 2 between ports of entry; 3 (B) was separated from his or her parent 4 or legal guardian by the Department of Home- 5 land Security, and the Department failed to 6 demonstrate in a hearing that the parent or 7 legal guardian was unfit or presented a danger 8 to the child; 9 (C)(i) was in the custody of the Depart- 10 ment of Homeland Security or the Office of 11 Refugee Resettlement on the date of the enact- 12 ment of this Act; 13 (ii) has been released to a sponsor, includ- 14 ing a family-member sponsor; or 15 (iii) has been repatriated to his or her 16 country of origin; and 17 (D) is not inadmissible under paragraph 18 (2)(C), (2)(E), (2)(G), (2)(H), (2)(I), (3), 19 (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), (10)(C), or (10)(D) of sec- 20 tion 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 21 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 22 (2) ELIGIBLE PARENT.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H883.IH H883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 883 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 1 graph (B), the term ‘‘eligible parent’’ means an 2 individual who— 3 (i) is— 4 (I) a parent of an eligible child; 5 or 6 (II) a legal guardian of an eligi- 7 ble child; 8 (ii) entered the United States at a 9 port of entry, or between ports of entry, 10 with an eligible child to whom he or she is 11 a parent or legal guardian; and 12 (iii) was separated from his or her eli- 13 gible child by the Department of Home- 14 land Security, which failed to demonstrate 15 in a hearing that the parent or legal 16 guardian was unfit or presented a danger 17 to the child. 18 (B) EXCLUSION.—An individual is not an 19 ‘‘eligible parent’’ if the individual is inadmis- 20 sible under paragraph (2)(C), (2)(E), (2)(G), 21 (2)(H), (2)(I), (3), (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), (10)(C), 22 or (10)(D) of section 212(a) of the Immigration 23 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H883.IH H883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 883 IH SEC. 3. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE. 1 The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 2 Services shall grant humanitarian parole into the United 3 States to all eligible parents and eligible children who ex- 4 pressly request such parole. The Director shall not impose 5 a fee for any such request. 6 SEC. 4. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 7 (a) ELIGIBLE PARENTS.—Eligible parents in the 8 United States shall be eligible to apply to the Director of 9 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to have their 10 status adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 11 permanent residence. Not later than 30 days after receiv- 12 ing such an application from an eligible parent, the Direc- 13 tor shall adjust the status of such parent to that of an 14 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 15 (b) ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.—Eligible children in the 16 United States shall be eligible to apply to the Director of 17 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to have their 18 status adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 19 permanent residence. Not later than 30 days after receiv- 20 ing such an application from an eligible child, the Director 21 shall adjust the status of such child to that of an alien 22 lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 23 (c) APPLICATION FEES PROHIBITED.—The Director 24 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall not im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H883.IH H883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 883 IH pose a fee for any application submitted under this sec- 1 tion. 2 SEC. 5. EXCEPTION TO GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY. 3 For purposes of this Act, assistance provided by a 4 person to a member of his or her nuclear family unit shall 5 not render the person inadmissible under section 6 212(a)(6)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 7 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(E)). 8 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 9 In addition to any other amounts otherwise author- 10 ized to be appropriated for such purpose, there is author- 11 ized to be appropriated to the Executive Office for Immi- 12 gration Review $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2019 to carry 13 out the Legal Orientation Program, including educating 14 eligible parents and eligible children of their rights under 15 this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H883.IH H883 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS