Dream Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 874 To authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain individuals who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 26, 2019 Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain individuals who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, 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 ‘‘Dream Act of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifi- 7 cally provided, any term used in this Act that is 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 874 IS used in the immigration laws shall have the meaning 1 given such term in the immigration laws. 2 (2) DACA.—The term ‘‘DACA’’ means de- 3 ferred action granted to an alien pursuant to the 4 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program an- 5 nounced by President Obama on June 15, 2012. 6 (3) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has the 7 meaning given such term in section 3(1) of the 8 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9 12102(1)). 10 (4) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PRO- 11 GRAM.—The term ‘‘early childhood education pro- 12 gram’’ has the meaning given such term in section 13 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 14 U.S.C. 1003). 15 (5) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; HIGH SCHOOL; SEC- 16 ONDARY SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, 17 ‘‘high school’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 18 meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the 19 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 20 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 21 (6) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘immigra- 22 tion laws’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 23 tion 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality 24 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 874 IS (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 1 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’— 2 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 3 (B), has the meaning given such term in section 4 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 5 U.S.C. 1002); and 6 (B) does not include an institution of high- 7 er education outside of the United States. 8 (8) PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS ON A CON- 9 DITIONAL BASIS.—The term ‘‘permanent resident 10 status on a conditional basis’’ means status as an 11 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on 12 a conditional basis under this Act. 13 (9) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 14 has the meaning given such term in section 673 of 15 the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 16 9902). 17 (10) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise specifi- 18 cally provided, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 19 retary of Homeland Security. 20 (11) UNIFORMED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘Uni- 21 formed Services’’ has the meaning given the term 22 ‘‘uniformed services’’ in section 101(a) of title 10, 23 United States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 874 IS SEC. 3. PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS ON A CONDITIONAL 1 BASIS FOR CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENTS 2 WHO ENTERED THE UNITED STATES AS CHIL- 3 DREN. 4 (a) CONDITIONAL BASIS FOR STATUS.—Notwith- 5 standing any other provision of law, an alien shall be con- 6 sidered, at the time of obtaining the status of an alien 7 lawfully admitted for permanent residence under this sec- 8 tion, to have obtained such status on a conditional basis 9 subject to the provisions under this Act. 10 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 12 provision of law, the Secretary shall cancel the re- 13 moval of, and adjust to the status of an alien law- 14 fully admitted for permanent residence on a condi- 15 tional basis, an alien who is inadmissible or deport- 16 able from the United States or is in temporary pro- 17 tected status under section 244 of the Immigration 18 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a), if— 19 (A) the alien has been continuously phys- 20 ically present in the United States since the 21 date that is 4 years before the date of the en- 22 actment of this Act; 23 (B) the alien was younger than 18 years of 24 age on the date on which the alien initially en- 25 tered the United States; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 874 IS (C) subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the 1 alien— 2 (i) is not inadmissible under para- 3 graph (2), (3), (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), 4 (10)(A), (10)(C), or (10)(D) of section 5 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 6 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)); 7 (ii) has not ordered, incited, assisted, 8 or otherwise participated in the persecution 9 of any person on account of race, religion, 10 nationality, membership in a particular so- 11 cial group, or political opinion; and 12 (iii) has not been convicted of— 13 (I) any offense under Federal or 14 State law, other than a State offense 15 for which an essential element is the 16 alien’s immigration status, that is 17 punishable by a maximum term of im- 18 prisonment of more than 1 year; or 19 (II) 3 or more offenses under 20 Federal or State law, other than State 21 offenses for which an essential ele- 22 ment is the alien’s immigration sta- 23 tus, for which the alien was convicted 24 on different dates for each of the 3 of- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 874 IS fenses and imprisoned for an aggre- 1 gate of 90 days or more; and 2 (D) the alien— 3 (i) has been admitted to an institution 4 of higher education; 5 (ii) has earned a high school diploma 6 or a commensurate alternative award from 7 a public or private high school, or has ob- 8 tained a general education development 9 certificate recognized under State law or a 10 high school equivalency diploma in the 11 United States; or 12 (iii) is enrolled in secondary school or 13 in an education program assisting students 14 in— 15 (I) obtaining a regular high 16 school diploma or its recognized equiv- 17 alent under State law; or 18 (II) in passing a general edu- 19 cational development exam, a high 20 school equivalence diploma examina- 21 tion, or other similar State-authorized 22 exam. 23 (2) WAIVER.—With respect to any benefit 24 under this Act, the Secretary may waive the grounds 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 874 IS of inadmissibility under paragraph (2), (6)(E), 1 (6)(G), or (10)(D) of section 212(a) of the Immigra- 2 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) for hu- 3 manitarian purposes or family unity or if the waiver 4 is otherwise in the public interest. 5 (3) TREATMENT OF EXPUNGED CONVIC- 6 TIONS.—An expunged conviction shall not automati- 7 cally be treated as an offense under paragraph (1). 8 The Secretary shall evaluate expunged convictions 9 on a case-by-case basis according to the nature and 10 severity of the offense to determine whether, under 11 the particular circumstances, the Secretary deter- 12 mines that the alien should be eligible for cancella- 13 tion of removal, adjustment to permanent resident 14 status on a conditional basis, or other adjustment of 15 status. 16 (4) DACA RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary shall 17 cancel the removal of, and adjust to the status of an 18 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on 19 a conditional basis, an alien who was granted DACA 20 unless the alien has engaged in conduct since the 21 alien was granted DACA that would make the alien 22 ineligible for DACA. 23 (5) APPLICATION FEE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 874 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may re- 1 quire an alien applying for permanent resident 2 status on a conditional basis under this section 3 to pay a reasonable fee that is commensurate 4 with the cost of processing the application. 5 (B) EXEMPTION.—An applicant may be 6 exempted from paying the fee required under 7 subparagraph (A) if the alien— 8 (i)(I) is younger than 18 years of age; 9 (II) received total income, during the 10 12-month period immediately preceding the 11 date on which the alien files an application 12 under this section, that is less than 150 13 percent of the poverty line; and 14 (III) is in foster care or otherwise 15 lacking any parental or other familial sup- 16 port; 17 (ii) is younger than 18 years of age 18 and is homeless; 19 (iii)(I) cannot care for himself or her- 20 self because of a serious, chronic disability; 21 and 22 (II) received total income, during the 23 12-month period immediately preceding the 24 date on which the alien files an application 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 874 IS under this section, that is less than 150 1 percent of the poverty line; or 2 (iv)(I) during the 12-month period im- 3 mediately preceding the date on which the 4 alien files an application under this sec- 5 tion, accumulated $10,000 or more in debt 6 as a result of unreimbursed medical ex- 7 penses incurred by the alien or an imme- 8 diate family member of the alien; and 9 (II) received total income, during the 10 12-month period immediately preceding the 11 date on which the alien files an application 12 under this section, that is less than 150 13 percent of the poverty line. 14 (6) SUBMISSION OF BIOMETRIC AND BIO- 15 GRAPHIC DATA.—The Secretary may not grant an 16 alien permanent resident status on a conditional 17 basis under this section unless the alien submits bio- 18 metric and biographic data, in accordance with pro- 19 cedures established by the Secretary. The Secretary 20 shall provide an alternative procedure for aliens who 21 are unable to provide such biometric or biographic 22 data because of a physical impairment. 23 (7) BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 874 IS (A) REQUIREMENT FOR BACKGROUND 1 CHECKS.—The Secretary shall utilize biometric, 2 biographic, and other data that the Secretary 3 determines appropriate— 4 (i) to conduct security and law en- 5 forcement background checks of an alien 6 seeking permanent resident status on a 7 conditional basis under this section; and 8 (ii) to determine whether there is any 9 criminal, national security, or other factor 10 that would render the alien ineligible for 11 such status. 12 (B) COMPLETION OF BACKGROUND 13 CHECKS.—The security and law enforcement 14 background checks of an alien required under 15 subparagraph (A) shall be completed, to the 16 satisfaction of the Secretary, before the date on 17 which the Secretary grants such alien perma- 18 nent resident status on a conditional basis 19 under this section. 20 (8) MEDICAL EXAMINATION.— 21 (A) REQUIREMENT.—An alien applying for 22 permanent resident status on a conditional 23 basis under this section shall undergo a medical 24 examination. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 874 IS (B) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The 1 Secretary, with the concurrence of the Sec- 2 retary of Health and Human Services, shall 3 prescribe policies and procedures for the nature 4 and timing of the examination required under 5 subparagraph (A). 6 (9) MILITARY SELECTIVE SERVICE.—An alien 7 applying for permanent resident status on a condi- 8 tional basis under this section shall establish that 9 the alien has registered under the Military Selective 10 Service Act (50 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.), if the alien is 11 subject to registration under such Act. 12 (c) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.— 13 (1) TERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PERIOD.— 14 Any period of continuous physical presence in the 15 United States of an alien who applies for permanent 16 resident status on a conditional basis under this sec- 17 tion shall not terminate when the alien is served a 18 notice to appear under section 239(a) of the Immi- 19 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(a)). 20 (2) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN PRES- 21 ENCE.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 23 subparagraphs (B) and (C), an alien shall be 24 considered to have failed to maintain contin- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 874 IS uous physical presence in the United States 1 under subsection (b)(1)(A) if the alien has de- 2 parted from the United States for any period 3 exceeding 90 days or for any periods, in the ag- 4 gregate, exceeding 180 days. 5 (B) EXTENSIONS FOR EXTENUATING CIR- 6 CUMSTANCES.—The Secretary may extend the 7 time periods described in subparagraph (A) for 8 an alien who demonstrates that the failure to 9 timely return to the United States was due to 10 extenuating circumstances beyond the alien’s 11 control, including the serious illness of the 12 alien, or death or serious illness of a parent, 13 grandparent, sibling, or child of the alien. 14 (C) TRAVEL AUTHORIZED BY THE SEC- 15 RETARY.—Any period of travel outside of the 16 United States by an alien that was authorized 17 by the Secretary may not be counted toward 18 any period of departure from the United States 19 under subparagraph (A). 20 (d) LIMITATION ON REMOVAL OF CERTAIN 21 ALIENS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the Attor- 23 ney General may not remove an alien who appears 24 prima facie eligible for relief under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S874.IS S874 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 874 IS (2) ALIENS SUBJECT TO REMOVAL.—The Sec- 1 retary shall provide a reasonable opportunity to 2 apply for relief under this section to any alien [Text truncated for display. 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