American Families United Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1698 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 22, 2023 Ms. ESCOBAR (for herself, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. WIL- LIAMS of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. CORREA, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. ROSS, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, 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 ‘‘American Families 4 United Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 6 Nothing in this Act shall be construed— 7 (1) to provide the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 8 rity or the Attorney General with the ability to exer- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1698 IH cise the discretionary authority provided in this Act, 1 or by an amendment made by this Act, except on a 2 case-by-case basis; or 3 (2) to otherwise modify or limit the discre- 4 tionary authority of the Secretary of Homeland Se- 5 curity or the Attorney General under the immigra- 6 tion laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the 7 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 8 1101(a)(17))). 9 SEC. 3. DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO 10 FAMILY MEMBERS OF UNITED STATES CITI- 11 ZENS. 12 (a) APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF FROM REMOVAL.— 13 Section 240(c)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 14 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(4)) is amended by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(D) JUDICIAL DISCRETION.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 18 alien who is the spouse or child of a citizen 19 of the United States, the Attorney General 20 may subject to clause (ii)— 21 ‘‘(I) terminate any removal pro- 22 ceedings against the alien; 23 ‘‘(II) decline to order the alien 24 removed from the United States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1698 IH ‘‘(III) grant the alien permission 1 to reapply for admission to the United 2 States; or 3 ‘‘(IV) subject to clause (iii), 4 waive the application of one or more 5 grounds of inadmissibility or deport- 6 ability in connection with any request 7 for relief from removal. 8 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON DISCRETION.— 9 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney 10 General may exercise the discretion 11 described in clause (i) if the Attorney 12 General determines that removal of 13 the alien or the denial of a request for 14 relief from removal would result in 15 hardship to the alien’s United States 16 citizen spouse, parent, or child. There 17 shall be a presumption that family 18 separation constitutes hardship. 19 ‘‘(II) WIDOW AND SURVIVING 20 CHILD OF DECEASED UNITED STATES 21 CITIZEN.—In the case of the death of 22 a citizen of the United States, the At- 23 torney General may exercise discretion 24 described in clause (i) with respect to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1698 IH an alien who was a child of such cit- 1 izen, or was the spouse of such citizen 2 and was not legally separated from 3 such citizen on the date of the citi- 4 zen’s death, if— 5 ‘‘(aa) the Attorney General 6 determines that removal of the 7 child or spouse or the denial of a 8 requested benefit would result in 9 hardship to the child or spouse; 10 and 11 ‘‘(bb) the child or spouse 12 seeks relief requiring such discre- 13 tion not later than two years 14 after the date of the citizen’s 15 death or demonstrates to the sat- 16 isfaction of the Attorney General 17 the existence of extraordinary cir- 18 cumstances that prevented the 19 spouse or child from seeking re- 20 lief within such period. 21 ‘‘(iii) EXCLUSIONS.—This subpara- 22 graph shall not apply to an alien whom the 23 Attorney General determines— 24 ‘‘(I) is inadmissible under— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1698 IH ‘‘(aa) paragraph (2) or (3) 1 of section 212(a); or 2 ‘‘(bb) subparagraph (A), 3 (C), or (D) of section 212(a)(10); 4 or 5 ‘‘(II) is deportable under para- 6 graph (2), (4), or (6) of section 7 237(a).’’. 8 (b) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION.—Section 212 of the 9 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is 10 amended— 11 (1) by redesignating the second subsection (t) 12 as subsection (u); and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(u) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien who 16 is the spouse or child of a citizen of the United 17 States, the Secretary of Homeland Security may, 18 subject to paragraph (2)— 19 ‘‘(A) waive the application of one or more 20 grounds of inadmissibility or deportability in 21 connection with an application for an immigra- 22 tion benefit or request for relief from removal; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1698 IH ‘‘(B) decline to issue a notice to appear or 1 other charging document requiring such an 2 alien to appear for removal proceedings; 3 ‘‘(C) decline to reinstate an order of re- 4 moval under section 241(a)(5); or 5 ‘‘(D) grant such alien permission to re- 6 apply for admission to the United States or any 7 other application for an immigration benefit. 8 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON DISCRETION.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 10 Homeland Security may exercise discretion de- 11 scribed in paragraph (1) if the Secretary deter- 12 mines that removal of the alien or the denial of 13 a requested benefit would result in hardship to 14 the alien’s United States citizen spouse, parent, 15 or child. There shall be a presumption that 16 family separation constitutes hardship. 17 ‘‘(B) WIDOW AND ORPHAN OF DECEASED 18 UNITED STATES CITIZEN.—In the case of the 19 death of a citizen of the United States, the Sec- 20 retary of Homeland Security may exercise dis- 21 cretion described in paragraph (1) with respect 22 to an alien who was a child of such citizen, or 23 was the spouse of such citizen and was not le- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1698 IH gally separated from such citizen on the date of 1 the citizen’s death, if— 2 ‘‘(i) the Secretary determines that the 3 denial of a requested benefit would result 4 in hardship to the child or spouse; and 5 ‘‘(ii) the child or spouse seeks relief 6 requiring such discretion not later than 7 two years after the date of the citizen’s 8 death or demonstrates to the satisfaction 9 of the Secretary the existence of extraor- 10 dinary circumstances that prevented the 11 spouse or child from seeking relief within 12 such period. 13 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSIONS.—This subsection shall not 14 apply to an alien whom the Secretary determines— 15 ‘‘(A) is inadmissible under— 16 ‘‘(i) paragraph (2) or (3) of sub- 17 sections (a); or 18 ‘‘(ii) subparagraphs (A), (C), or (D) 19 of subsection (a)(10); or 20 ‘‘(B) is deportable under paragraphs (2), 21 (4), or (6) of section 237(a).’’. 22 SEC. 4. MOTIONS TO REOPEN OR RECONSIDER. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—A motion to reopen or reconsider 24 the denial of a petition or application or an order of re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1698 IH moval for an alien may be granted if such petition, appli- 1 cation, or order would have been adjudicated in favor of 2 the alien had this Act, or an amendment made by this 3 Act, been in effect at the time of such denial or order. 4 (b) FILING REQUIREMENT.—A motion under sub- 5 section (a) shall be filed no later than the date that is 6 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, unless 7 the alien demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary 8 of Homeland Security or Attorney General, as appro- 9 priate, the existence of extraordinary circumstances that 10 prevented the alien from filing within such period. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1698.IH H1698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS