II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1041 To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a veterans visa program to permit veterans who have been removed from the United States to return as immigrants, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 4, 2019 Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a veterans visa program to permit veterans who have been removed from the United States to return as immi- grants, 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 ‘‘Veterans Visa and Pro- 4 tection Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1041 IS (1) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘Armed 1 Forces’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘armed 2 forces’’ in section 101 of title 10, United States 3 Code. 4 (2) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 5 violence’’ means an offense defined in section 16(a) 6 of title 18, United States Code— 7 (A) that is not a purely political offense; 8 and 9 (B) for which a noncitizen has served a 10 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years. 11 (3) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible vet- 13 eran’’ means a veteran who— 14 (i) is a noncitizen; and 15 (ii) meets the criteria described in sec- 16 tion 3(e). 17 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible vet- 18 eran’’ includes a veteran who— 19 (i) was removed from the United 20 States; or 21 (ii) is abroad and is inadmissible 22 under section 212(a) of the Immigration 23 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1041 IS (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 1 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 2 of the United States (as defined in section 101(a) of 3 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 4 1101(a))). 5 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 6 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 7 (6) SERVICE MEMBER.—The term ‘‘service 8 member’’ means an individual who is serving as a 9 member of— 10 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 11 Armed Forces on active duty; or 12 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 13 Forces in an active status. 14 (7) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 15 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 16 United States Code. 17 SEC. 3. RETURN OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS REMOVED FROM 18 THE UNITED STATES; ADJUSTMENT OF STA- 19 TUS. 20 (a) PROGRAM FOR ADMISSION AND ADJUSTMENT OF 21 STATUS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 22 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a pro- 23 gram and an application procedure that allows— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1041 IS (1) eligible veterans outside the United States 1 to be admitted to the United States as aliens law- 2 fully admitted for permanent residence (as defined 3 in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 4 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))); and 5 (2) eligible veterans in the United States to ad- 6 just status to that of aliens lawfully admitted for 7 permanent residence. 8 (b) VETERANS ORDERED REMOVED.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to noncitizen 10 veterans who are the subjects of final orders of re- 11 moval, including noncitizen veterans who are outside 12 the United States, not later than 180 days after the 13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen- 14 eral shall— 15 (A) reopen the removal proceedings of each 16 such noncitizen veteran; and 17 (B) make a determination with respect to 18 whether each such noncitizen veteran is an eli- 19 gible veteran. 20 (2) RESCISSION OF REMOVAL ORDER.—In the 21 case of a determination under paragraph (1)(B) that 22 a noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor- 23 ney General shall— 24 (A) rescind the order of removal; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1041 IS (B) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 1 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 2 nent residence; and 3 (C) terminate removal proceedings. 4 (c) VETERANS IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to noncitizen 6 veterans the removal proceedings of whom are pend- 7 ing as of the date of the enactment of this Act, not 8 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 9 of this Act, the Attorney General shall make a deter- 10 mination with respect to whether each such noncit- 11 izen veteran is an eligible veteran. 12 (2) TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS.—In the 13 case of a determination under paragraph (1) that a 14 noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor- 15 ney General shall— 16 (A) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 17 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 18 nent residence; and 19 (B) terminate removal proceedings. 20 (d) NO NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this 21 section or in any other law may be construed to apply a 22 numerical limitation on the number of veterans who may 23 be eligible to receive a benefit under this section. 24 (e) ELIGIBILITY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1041 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 1 provision of law, including sections 212 and 237 of 2 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182 3 and 1227), a noncitizen veteran shall be eligible to 4 participate in the program established under sub- 5 section (a) or for adjustment of status under sub- 6 sections (b) or (c), as applicable, if the Secretary or 7 the Attorney General, as applicable, determines that 8 the noncitizen veteran— 9 (A) was not removed or ordered removed 10 from the United States based on a conviction 11 for— 12 (i) a crime of violence; or 13 (ii) a crime that endangers the na- 14 tional security of the United States for 15 which the noncitizen veteran has served a 16 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years; 17 and 18 (B) is not inadmissible to, or deportable 19 from, the United States based on a conviction 20 for a crime described in subparagraph (A). 21 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the ap- 22 plication of paragraph (1)— 23 (A) for humanitarian purposes; 24 (B) to ensure family unity; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1041 IS (C) based on exceptional service in the 1 Armed Forces; or 2 (D) if a waiver otherwise is in the public 3 interest. 4 SEC. 4. PROTECTING VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS 5 FROM REMOVAL. 6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including 7 section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 8 U.S.C. 1227), a noncitizen who is a veteran or service 9 member may not be removed from the United States un- 10 less the noncitizen has been convicted for a crime of vio- 11 lence. 12 SEC. 5. NATURALIZATION THROUGH SERVICE IN THE 13 ARMED FORCES. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a non- 15 citizen who has obtained the status of an alien lawfully 16 admitted for permanent residence pursuant to section 3 17 shall be eligible for naturalization through service in the 18 Armed Forces under sections 328 and 329 of the Immi- 19 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440). 20 (b) SPECIAL RULES.— 21 (1) GOOD MORAL CHARACTER.—In determining 22 whether a noncitizen described in subsection (a) is 23 a person of good moral character, the Secretary 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1041 IS shall disregard the one or more grounds on which 1 the noncitizen was— 2 (A) removed or ordered removed from the 3 United States; or 4 (B) rendered inadmissible to, or deportable 5 from, the United States. 6 (2) PERIODS OF ABSENCE.—The Secretary 7 shall disregard any period of absence from the 8 United States of a noncitizen described in subsection 9 (a) due to the noncitizen having been removed from, 10 or being inadmissible to, the United States if the 11 noncitizen satisfies the applicable requirement relat- 12 ing to continuous residence or physical presence. 13 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO MILITARY BENEFITS. 14 A noncitizen who has obtained the status of an alien 15 lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to 16 section 3 shall be eligible for all military and veterans ben- 17 efits for which the noncitizen would have been eligible had 18 the noncitizen not been ordered removed or removed from 19 the United States, voluntarily departed the United States, 20 or rendered inadmissible to, or deportable from, the 21 United States, as applicable. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1041 IS SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION. 1 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall identify 2 noncitizen service members and veterans at risk of re- 3 moval from the United States by— 4 (1) before initiating a removal proceeding 5 against a noncitizen, asking the noncitizen whether 6 he or she is serving, or has served as a member of— 7 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 8 Armed Forces on active duty; or 9 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 10 Forces in an active status; 11 (2) requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs 12 Enforcement personnel to seek supervisory approval 13 before initiating a removal proceeding against a 14 service member or veteran; and 15 (3) keeping records of any service member or 16 veteran who has been— 17 (A) the subject of a removal proceeding; 18 (B) detained by the Director of U.S. Immi- 19 gration and Customs Enforcement; or 20 (C) removed from the United States. 21 (b) RECORD ANNOTATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a noncitizen 23 service member or veteran identified under sub- 24 section (a), the Secretary shall annotate all immigra- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1041 IS tion and naturalization records of the Department of 1 Homeland Security relating to the noncitizen— 2 (A) to reflect that the noncitizen is a serv- 3 ice member or veteran; and 4 (B) to afford an opportunity to track the 5 outcomes for the noncitizen. 6 (2) CONTENTS OF ANNOTATION.—Each annota- 7 tion under paragraph (1) shall include— 8 (A) the branch of military service in which 9 the noncitizen is serving, or has served; 10 (B) whether the noncitizen is serving, or 11 has served, during a period of military hos- 12 tilities described in section 329 of the Immigra- 13 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440); 14 (C) the immigration status of the noncit- 15 izen on the date of enlistment; 16 (D) whether the noncitizen is serving hon- 17 orably or was separated under honorable condi- 18 tions; 19 (E) the ground on which removal of the 20 noncitizen from the United States was sought; 21 and 22 (F) in the case of a noncitizen the removal 23 proceedings of whom were initiated on the basis 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1041 IS of a criminal conviction, the crime for which the 1 noncitizen was convicted. 2 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS. 3 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula- 5 tions to implement this Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041 amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with BILLS