Immigrant Witness and Victim Protection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4319 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the annual numerical limitation on U visas, to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant work authorization to aliens with a pending application for nonimmigrant status under subparagraph (U) or (T) of section 101(a)(15) of such Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CORREA, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. MURPHY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. VARGAS, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the annual numerical limitation on U visas, to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant work au- thorization to aliens with a pending application for non- immigrant status under subparagraph (U) or (T) of sec- tion 101(a)(15) of such Act, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Sep 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4319 IH 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 ‘‘Immigrant Witness 4 and Victim Protection Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE; FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to remove 7 barriers for alien survivors of domestic violence, sexual as- 8 sault, human trafficking, and other crimes who may be 9 eligible for protections under the Violence Against Women 10 Act of 1994 (VAWA), the Trafficking Victims Protection 11 Act of 2000 (TVPA). 12 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 13 (1) Threats of deportation are one of the most 14 potent tools abusers and perpetrators of crime use 15 to maintain control over and silence alien victims 16 and to avoid criminal prosecution. Abusers and per- 17 petrators leverage the immigration system in the 18 abuse and exploitation of aliens they victimize. 19 (2) A bipartisan majority in Congress created 20 critical immigration protections in VAWA, TVPA 21 and their subsequent reauthorizations in recognition 22 that alien survivors of domestic violence, sexual as- 23 sault, human trafficking, and other eligible crimes 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4319 IH often fear that reaching out for help may lead to 1 their deportation. 2 (3) Detention and removal of those with victim- 3 based cases undermines the intent of VAWA and re- 4 traumatizes victims and their children. Deporting 5 survivors while they await decisions on their cases 6 discourages victims from accessing justice, under- 7 mines the usefulness of these forms of relief as tools 8 for law enforcement that seek to keep all commu- 9 nities safe, separates them from their children and 10 support networks, and eliminates the ability of local 11 law enforcement to continue protecting and working 12 with such crime survivors. 13 (4) Lack of timely access to employment au- 14 thorization makes victims more vulnerable and likely 15 to need to endure or return to abusive relationships 16 or exploitative conditions. Crime survivors should 17 have access to work authorization to escape abusive 18 situations, and gain self-sufficiency following victim- 19 ization so they can support themselves and their 20 children. 21 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 22 gress that the Secretary of Homeland Security should not 23 deport crime victims before their applications for humani- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4319 IH tarian relief are fully adjudicated, as it undermines critical 1 bi-partisan protections created in VAWA and the TVPA. 2 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF ANNUAL NUMERICAL LIMITATION 3 ON U VISAS. 4 Section 214(p) of the Immigration and Nationality 5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(p)) is amended by striking paragraph 6 (2). 7 SEC. 4. WORK AUTHORIZATION WHILE APPLICATIONS FOR 8 U AND T VISAS ARE PENDING. 9 (a) U VISAS.—Section 214(p) of the Immigration 10 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(p)) is amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking the last sen- 12 tence; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(8) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding 15 any provision of this Act granting eligibility for em- 16 ployment in the United States, the Secretary of 17 Homeland Security shall grant employment author- 18 ization to an alien who has filed an application for 19 nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(U) 20 on the date that is the earlier of— 21 ‘‘(A) the date on which the alien’s applica- 22 tion for such status is approved; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4319 IH ‘‘(B) a date determined by the Secretary 1 that is not later than 180 days after the date 2 on which the alien filed the application.’’. 3 (b) T VISAS.—Section 214(o) of the Immigration and 4 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(o)) is amended by adding 5 at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(8) Notwithstanding any provision of this Act grant- 7 ing eligibility for employment in the United States, the 8 Secretary of Homeland Security shall grant employment 9 authorization to an alien who has filed an application for 10 nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(T) on the 11 date that is the earlier of— 12 ‘‘(A) the date on which the alien’s application 13 for such status is approved; or 14 ‘‘(B) a date determined by the Secretary that 15 is not later than 180 days after the date on which 16 the alien filed the application.’’. 17 (c) VAWA SELF-PETITIONERS.—Section 18 204(a)(1)(K) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 19 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(K)) is amended— 20 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik- 21 ing ‘‘, the alien’’; 22 (2) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘the alien’’ before 23 ‘‘is eligible’’; and 24 (3) by amending clause (ii) to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4319 IH ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding any provision of 1 this Act restricting eligibility for employ- 2 ment in the United States, the Secretary 3 of Homeland Security shall grant employ- 4 ment authorization to such an alien on the 5 date that is the earlier of— 6 ‘‘(I) the date on which the alien’s 7 application for lawful permanent resi- 8 dent status is approved; or 9 ‘‘(II) a date determined by the 10 Secretary that is not later than 180 11 days after the date that is the earlier 12 of the date on which the alien filed 13 the application or the alien’s petition 14 as a VAWA self-petitioner is ap- 15 proved.’’. 16 (d) CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL.—Section 17 240A(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 18 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(E) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—Notwith- 21 standing any provision of this Act granting eli- 22 gibility for employment in the United States, 23 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall grant 24 employment authorization to an alien who has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4319 IH filed an application for cancellation of removal 1 under this paragraph on a date that is not later 2 than 180 days after the date on which the alien 3 filed the application.’’. 4 SEC. 5. STAY OF REMOVAL. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—An alien described in subsection 6 (b) shall not be removed from the United States under 7 section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 8 U.S.C. 1229a) or any other provision of law until there 9 is a final denial of the alien’s application for status after 10 the exhaustion of administrative and judicial review. 11 (b) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien is described in 12 this subsection if the alien— 13 (1) has a pending application under section 14 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 106, 240A(b)(2), or 15 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 31, 1997) of the 16 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101, 17 1229a, 1254a); or 18 (2) is a VAWA self-petitioner, as defined in sec- 19 tion 101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nationality 20 Act, with a pending application for relief under a 21 provision referred to in one of subparagraphs (A) 22 through (G) of such section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4319 IH SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON DETENTION OF CERTAIN VICTIMS 1 WITH PENDING PETITIONS AND APPLICA- 2 TIONS. 3 Section 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 4 (8 U.S.C. 1226) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON DETENTION OF CERTAIN VIC- 7 TIMS WITH PENDING PETITIONS AND APPLICATIONS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 9 provision of this Act, there shall be a presumption 10 that the alien described in paragraph (2) should be 11 released from detention. The Secretary of Homeland 12 Security shall have the duty of rebutting this pre- 13 sumption, which may only be shown based on clear 14 and convincing evidence, including credible and indi- 15 vidualized information, that the use of alternatives 16 to detention will not reasonably ensure the appear- 17 ance of the alien at removal proceedings, or that the 18 alien is a threat to another person or the commu- 19 nity. The fact that an alien has a criminal charge 20 pending against the alien may not be the sole factor 21 to justify the continued detention of the alien. 22 ‘‘(2) ALIEN DESCRIBED.—An alien is described 23 in this paragraph if the alien— 24 ‘‘(A) has a pending application under sec- 25 tion 101(a)(15)(T), 101(a)(15)(U), 106, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4319 IH 240A(b)(2), or 244(a)(3) (as in effect on March 1 31, 1997); or 2 ‘‘(B) is a VAWA self-petitioner, as defined 3 in section 101(a)(51), with a pending applica- 4 tion for relief under a provision referred to in 5 one of subparagraphs (A) through (G) of such 6 section.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4319.IH H4319 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS