What This Bill Does
This bill changes section 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to let certain people who have lived in the United States for a long time apply for a benefit under that law. The bill updates the rules about who can use this registry provision (a government system that lets people establish legal residency status).
Who It Affects
People who are long-term residents of the United States and want to apply for benefits under section 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Key Provisions
• Changes the eligibility requirement so that people who entered the United States at least 7 years before they apply can use this provision. (Sec. 2)
• Removes the old rule that only allowed people who entered before July 1, 1924 or January 1, 1972 to use this benefit. (Sec. 2)
What Changes
The law currently limits who can use section 249 based on when they entered the country (only those before July 1, 1924 or January 1, 1972). This bill replaces that with a simpler rule: anyone who has been in the United States for at least 7 years before applying can use this benefit instead.
Important Definitions
None defined in the bill text.
Effective Date
The changes take effect 60 days after the bill becomes law. (Sec. 2)
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1511
To amend section 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to render
available to certain long-term residents of the United States the benefit
under that section.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 9, 2023
Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. MENG, Mr.
CORREA, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms.
NORTON, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr.
PANETTA, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms.
VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. ROSS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. PAYNE, Ms.
BARRAGA´N, Mr. LIEU, Ms. BUSH, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. LEE of California,
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. OMAR,
Mr. SOTO, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr.
TRONE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE of
Wisconsin, Ms. CHU, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SCAN-
LON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms.
DEGETTE, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Ms. TOKUDA, and Mr.
CASAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend section 249 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act to render available to certain long-term residents
of the United States the benefit under that section.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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•HR 1511 IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Renewing Immigration
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Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929’’.
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SEC. 2. REGISTRY.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 249 of the Immigration
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and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1259) is amended—
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(1) in the section header, by striking ‘‘EN-
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TERED THE UNITED STATES PRIOR TO JULY 1, 1924
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OR JANUARY 1, 1972’’; and inserting ‘‘ARE LONG-
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TERM RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES’’; and
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(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
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lows:
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‘‘(a) entered the United States at least 7 years before
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the application date;’’.
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
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this section shall take effect 60 days after the date of the
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enactment of this Act.
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Æ
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