I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1169 To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals of Liberia to that of lawful permanent residents, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Ms. OMAR, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. PHILLIPS, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals of Liberia to that of lawful permanent residents, 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 ‘‘Liberian Refugee Im- 4 migration Fairness Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifi- 8 cally provided, any term used in this Act that is 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1169 IH used in the immigration laws shall have the meaning 1 given the term in the immigration laws. 2 (2) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘immigra- 3 tion laws’’ has the meaning given the term in section 4 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 5 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)). 6 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 8 SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 9 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 11 graph (3), the Secretary shall adjust the status of 12 an alien described in subsection (b) to that of an 13 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if 14 the alien— 15 (A) applies for adjustment not later than 16 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 17 Act; 18 (B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im- 19 migrant visa; and 20 (C) subject to paragraph (2), is admissible 21 to the United States for permanent residence. 22 (2) APPLICABILITY OF GROUNDS OF INADMIS- 23 SIBILITY.—In determining the admissibility of an 24 alien under paragraph (1)(C), the grounds of inad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1169 IH missibility specified in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A), 1 and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and 2 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) shall not apply. 3 (3) EXCEPTIONS.—An alien shall not be eligible 4 for adjustment of status under this subsection if the 5 Secretary determines that the alien— 6 (A) has been convicted of any aggravated 7 felony; 8 (B) has been convicted of 2 or more crimes 9 involving moral turpitude; or 10 (C) has ordered, incited, assisted, or other- 11 wise participated in the persecution of any per- 12 son on account of race, religion, nationality, 13 membership in a particular social group, or po- 14 litical opinion. 15 (4) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER- 16 TAIN ORDERS.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—An alien present in the 18 United States who has been subject to an order 19 of exclusion, deportation, removal, or voluntary 20 departure under any provision of the Immigra- 21 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 22 seq.) may, notwithstanding such order, submit 23 an application for adjustment of status under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1169 IH this subsection if the alien is otherwise eligible 1 for adjustment of status under paragraph (1). 2 (B) SEPARATE MOTION NOT REQUIRED.— 3 An alien described in subparagraph (A) shall 4 not be required, as a condition of submitting or 5 granting an application under this subsection, 6 to file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, 7 or vacate an order described in subparagraph 8 (A). 9 (C) EFFECT OF DECISION BY SEC- 10 RETARY.— 11 (i) GRANT.—If the Secretary adjusts 12 the status of an alien pursuant to an appli- 13 cation under this subsection, the Secretary 14 shall cancel any order described in sub- 15 paragraph (A) to which the alien has been 16 subject. 17 (ii) DENIAL.—If the Secretary makes 18 a final decision to deny such application, 19 any such order shall be effective and en- 20 forceable to the same extent that such 21 order would be effective and enforceable if 22 the application had not been made. 23 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA- 24 TUS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1169 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefits provided under 1 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien who— 2 (A)(i) is a national of Liberia; and 3 (ii) has been continuously present in the 4 United States during the period beginning on 5 November 20, 2014, and ending on the date on 6 which the alien submits an application under 7 subsection (a); or 8 (B) is the spouse, child, or unmarried son 9 or daughter of an alien described in subpara- 10 graph (A). 11 (2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PHYS- 12 ICAL PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing the 13 period of continuous physical presence referred to in 14 paragraph (1)(A)(ii), an alien shall not be consid- 15 ered to have failed to maintain continuous physical 16 presence based on 1 or more absences from the 17 United States for 1 or more periods amounting, in 18 the aggregate, to not more than 180 days. 19 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall promul- 21 gate regulations establishing procedures by which an 22 alien who is subject to a final order of deportation, 23 removal, or exclusion, may seek a stay of such order 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1169 IH based on the filing of an application under sub- 1 section (a). 2 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4 subparagraph (B), notwithstanding any provi- 5 sion of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 6 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), the Secretary may not 7 order an alien to be removed from the United 8 States if the alien— 9 (i) is in exclusion, deportation, or re- 10 moval proceedings under any provision of 11 such Act; and 12 (ii) has submitted an application for 13 adjustment of status under subsection (a). 14 (B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may 15 order an alien described in subparagraph (A) to 16 be removed from the United States if the Sec- 17 retary has made a final determination to deny 18 the application for adjustment of status under 19 subsection (a) of the alien. 20 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may— 22 (i) authorize an alien who has applied 23 for adjustment of status under subsection 24 (a) to engage in employment in the United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1169 IH States during the period in which a deter- 1 mination on such application is pending; 2 and 3 (ii) provide such alien with an ‘‘em- 4 ployment authorized’’ endorsement or 5 other appropriate document signifying au- 6 thorization of employment. 7 (B) PENDING APPLICATIONS.—If an appli- 8 cation for adjustment of status under sub- 9 section (a) is pending for a period exceeding 10 180 days and has not been denied, the Sec- 11 retary shall authorize employment for the appli- 12 cable alien. 13 (d) RECORD OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE.—On the 14 approval of an application for adjustment of status under 15 subsection (a) of an alien, the Secretary shall establish a 16 record of admission for permanent residence for the alien 17 as of the date of the arrival of the alien in the United 18 States. 19 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 20 The Secretary shall provide applicants for adjustment of 21 status under subsection (a) with the same right to, and 22 procedures for, administrative review as are provided to— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1169 IH (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 1 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 2 (8 U.S.C. 1255); and 3 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 4 section 240 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a). 5 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter- 6 mination by the Secretary with respect to the adjustment 7 of status of any alien under this section is final and shall 8 not be subject to review by any court. 9 (g) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.— 10 The Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce the 11 number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued under 12 any provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 13 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) to offset the adjustment of status 14 of an alien who has been lawfully admitted for permanent 15 residence pursuant to this section. 16 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION- 17 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.— 18 (1) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act 19 may be construed to repeal, amend, alter, modify, ef- 20 fect, or restrict the powers, duties, function, or au- 21 thority of the Secretary in the administration and 22 enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act 23 (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or any other law relating to 24 immigration, nationality, or naturalization. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1169 IH (2) EFFECT OF ELIGIBILITY FOR ADJUSTMENT 1 OF STATUS.—The eligibility of an alien to be law- 2 fully admitted for permanent residence under this 3 section shall not preclude the alien from seeking any 4 status under any other provision of law for which 5 the alien may otherwise be eligible. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1169.IH H1169 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS