Protect Children of Immigrant Workers Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4243 To protect children of certain immigrant workers from detention and removal and aging out of lawful status, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2020 Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To protect children of certain immigrant workers from deten- tion and removal and aging out of lawful status, 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 ‘‘Protect Children of 4 Immigrant Workers Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROTECTING CHILDREN OF CERTAIN IMMIGRANT 6 WORKERS FROM DETENTION AND REMOVAL 7 AND AGING OUT OF LAWFUL STATUS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 9 sion of law, subject to subsection (b), with respect to an 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4243.IS S4243 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4243 IS individual whose parent is the principal beneficiary of an 1 approved employment-based immigrant worker petition 2 filed on a date on which the individual was a child (as 3 defined in section 101(b) of the Immigration and Nation- 4 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b))— 5 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 6 not detain, refer for removal, initiate removal pro- 7 ceedings against, or remove the individual; and 8 (2) the individual shall— 9 (A) without regard to immigrant intent 10 and on application by the individual, be eligi- 11 ble— 12 (i) to extend nonimmigrant dependent 13 status connected to the nonimmigrant sta- 14 tus of such parent until the date on which 15 an application for lawful permanent resi- 16 dent status filed by the individual pursuant 17 to subparagraph (B) is adjudicated; or 18 (ii) to extend or change status to an 19 alternative nonimmigrant status inde- 20 pendent of such parent’s visa status until 21 the date on which an application for lawful 22 permanent resident status filed by the indi- 23 vidual pursuant to that subparagraph is 24 adjudicated; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4243.IS S4243 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4243 IS (B) qualify as a derivative beneficiary child 1 for immigrant visa purposes beginning on the 2 date on which such parent’s employment-based 3 immigrant worker petition is approved and end- 4 ing on the date on which the individual’s appli- 5 cation for lawful permanent resident status is 6 adjudicated, regardless of whether such parent 7 is living or deceased. 8 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 9 to any individual who the Secretary determines, on an in- 10 dividualized basis, poses a threat to public safety or na- 11 tional security. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4243.IS S4243 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS