I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8585 To amend section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for cancellation of removal and temporary resident status for certain parents of citizens of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 13, 2020 Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for cancellation of removal and temporary resident status for certain parents of citizens of the United States, 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 Right to 4 Family Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8585 IH SEC. 2. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND TEMPORARY 1 RESIDENT STATUS FOR CERTAIN LONG-TERM 2 RESIDENT PARENTS. 3 Section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 4 (8 U.S.C. 1229b) is amended by adding at the end the 5 following: 6 ‘‘(f) CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND TEMPORARY 7 RESIDENT STATUS FOR CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENT 8 PARENTS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 10 provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 11 or the Attorney General shall cancel the removal of, 12 and adjust to the status of an alien having lawful 13 temporary residence, an alien who is inadmissible or 14 deportable from the United States if— 15 ‘‘(A) the alien— 16 ‘‘(i) has been physically present in the 17 United States for a continuous period of 18 not less than 10 years immediately pre- 19 ceding the date of the alien’s application; 20 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraph (7), was re- 21 moved, deported, or permitted to depart 22 voluntarily from the United States after 23 having been physically present in the 24 United States for a continuous period of 25 not less than 10 years; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8585 IH ‘‘(iii) has deferred action pursuant to 1 the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 2 policy announced by the Secretary of 3 Homeland Security on June 15, 2012; or 4 ‘‘(iv) would have been eligible for a 5 grant of deferred action pursuant to such 6 policy, if the memorandum announcing the 7 policy were fully in effect since the date 8 issued; 9 ‘‘(B) the alien is the parent of a son or 10 daughter who— 11 ‘‘(i) is a citizen or national of the 12 United States; or 13 ‘‘(ii) initially entered the United 14 States while under 16 years of age and has 15 been continuously physically present in the 16 United States since such entry; and 17 ‘‘(C) the alien— 18 ‘‘(i) is not inadmissible under para- 19 graph (1), (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), or (10) of 20 section 212(a); 21 ‘‘(ii) has not ordered, incited, assisted, 22 or otherwise participated in the persecution 23 of any person on account of race, religion, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8585 IH nationality, membership in a particular so- 1 cial group, or political opinion; and 2 ‘‘(iii) is not barred from adjustment of 3 status under this subsection based on the 4 criminal and national security grounds de- 5 scribed under paragraph (3), subject to the 6 provisions of such paragraph. 7 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PRES- 8 ENCE.— 9 ‘‘(A) EFFECT OF NOTICE TO APPEAR.— 10 Any period of continuous physical presence in 11 the United States of an alien who applies for 12 temporary resident status under this subsection 13 shall not terminate when the alien is served a 14 notice to appear under section 239(a). 15 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN 16 PRESENCE OR RESIDENCE.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 18 vided in clauses (ii) and (iii), an alien shall 19 be considered to have failed to maintain 20 continuous physical presence in the United 21 States under this subsection if the alien 22 has departed from the United States for 23 any period exceeding 90 days or for any 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8585 IH periods, in the aggregate, exceeding 180 1 days. 2 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSIONS FOR EXTENUATING 3 CIRCUMSTANCES.—The Secretary may ex- 4 tend the time period described in clause (i) 5 for an alien who demonstrates that the 6 failure to timely return to the United 7 States was due to extenuating cir- 8 cumstances beyond the alien’s control, in- 9 cluding the serious illness of the alien, or 10 death or serious illness of a parent, grand- 11 parent, sibling, or child of the alien. 12 ‘‘(iii) TRAVEL AUTHORIZED BY THE 13 SECRETARY.—Any period of travel outside 14 of the United States by an alien that was 15 authorized by the Secretary of Homeland 16 Security may not be counted toward any 17 period of departure from the United States 18 under clause (i). 19 ‘‘(3) CRIMINAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY 20 BARS.— 21 ‘‘(A) GROUNDS OF INELIGIBILITY.—Ex- 22 cept as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), 23 an alien is ineligible for cancellation of removal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Nov 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8585 IH and adjustment of status under this subsection 1 if any of the following apply: 2 ‘‘(i) The alien is inadmissible under 3 paragraph (2) or (3) of section 212(a) of 4 the Immigration and Nationality Act. 5 ‘‘(ii) Excluding any offense under 6 State law for which an essential element is 7 the alien’s immigration status, and any 8 minor traffic offense, the alien has been 9 convicted of— 10 ‘‘(I) any felony offense; 11 ‘‘(II) three or more misdemeanor 12 offenses (excluding simple possession 13 of cannabis or cannabis-related para- 14 phernalia, any offense involving can- 15 nabis or cannabis-related para- 16 phernalia which is no longer prosecut- 17 able in the State in which the convic- 18 tion was entered, and any offense in- 19 volving civil disobedience without vio- 20 lence) not occurring on the same date, 21 and not arising out of the same act, 22 omission, or scheme of misconduct; or 23 ‘‘(III) a misdemeanor offense of 24 domestic violence, unless the alien 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8585 IH demonstrates that such crime is re- 1 lated to the alien having been— 2 ‘‘(aa) a victim of domestic 3 violence, sexual assault, stalking, 4 child abuse or neglect, abuse or 5 neglect in later life, or human 6 trafficking; 7 ‘‘(bb) battered or subjected 8 to extreme cruelty; or 9 ‘‘(cc) a victim of criminal ac- 10 tivity described in section 11 101(a)(15)(U)(iii). 12 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN OFFENSE 13 INVOLVING DRIVING.—Notwithstanding section 14 101(h), any crime of reckless driving or of driv- 15 ing while intoxicated or under the influence of 16 alcohol or of prohibited substances shall only be 17 considered for purposes of this subsection if— 18 ‘‘(i) such crime involves personal in- 19 jury or death to another; or 20 ‘‘(ii) the alien has been convicted of 21 reckless driving or of driving while intoxi- 22 cated or under the influence of alcohol or 23 of prohibited substances more than once 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8585 IH during the 10 years immediately preceding 1 the date of the alien’s application. 2 ‘‘(C) WAIVERS FOR CERTAIN MIS- 3 DEMEANORS.—For humanitarian purposes, 4 family unity, or if otherwise in the public inter- 5 est, the Secretary may— 6 ‘‘(i) waive the grounds of inadmis- 7 sibility under subparagraphs (A), (C), and 8 (D) of section 212(a)(2), unless the convic- 9 tion forming the basis for inadmissibility 10 would otherwise render the alien ineligible 11 under subparagraph (A)(ii) (subject to 12 clause (ii)); and 13 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of subclauses (II) 14 and (III) of subparagraph (A)(ii), waive 15 consideration of— 16 ‘‘(I) one misdemeanor offense if 17 the alien has not been convicted of 18 any offense in the 5-year period pre- 19 ceding the date on which the alien ap- 20 plies for adjustment of status under 21 this subsection; or 22 ‘‘(II) up to two misdemeanor of- 23 fenses if the alien has not been con- 24 victed of any offense in the 10-year 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8585 IH period preceding the date on which 1 the alien applies for adjustment of 2 status under this subsection. 3 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SEC- 4 ONDARY REVIEW.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 6 an alien’s eligibility for adjustment of sta- 7 tus under this subsection, and subject to 8 the procedures described in this subpara- 9 graph, the Secretary of Homeland Security 10 or the Attorney General may, as a matter 11 of non-delegable discretion, provisionally 12 deny an application for adjustment of sta- 13 tus if the Secretary or the Attorney Gen- 14 eral, based on clear and convincing evi- 15 dence, which shall include credible law en- 16 forcement information, determines that the 17 alien is described in clause (ii) or (iv). 18 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC SAFETY.—An alien is de- 19 scribed in this clause if— 20 ‘‘(I) excluding simple possession 21 of cannabis or cannabis-related para- 22 phernalia, any offense involving can- 23 nabis or cannabis-related para- 24 phernalia which is no longer prosecut- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8585 IH able in the State in which the convic- 1 tion was entered, any offense under 2 State law for which an essential ele- 3 ment is the alien’s immigration sta- 4 tus, any offense involving civil disobe- 5 dience without violence, and any 6 minor traffic offense, the alien— 7 ‘‘(aa) has been convicted of 8 a misdemeanor offense punish- 9 able by a term of imprisonment 10 of more than 30 days; or 11 ‘‘(bb) has been adjudicated 12 delinquent in a State or local ju- 13 venile court proceeding that re- 14 sulted in a disposition ordering 15 placement in a secure facility; 16 and 17 ‘‘(II) the alien poses a significant 18 and continuing threat to public safety 19 related to such conviction or adjudica- 20 tion. 21 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC SAFETY DETERMINA- 22 TION.—For purposes of clause (ii)(II), the 23 Secretary shall consider the recency of the 24 conviction or adjudication; the length of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8585 IH any imposed sentence or placement; the 1 nature and seriousness of the conviction or 2 adjudication, including whether the ele- 3 ments of the offense include the unlawful 4 possession or use of a deadly weapon to 5 commit an offense or other conduct in- 6 tended to cause serious bodily injury; and 7 any mitigating factors pertaining to the 8 alien’s role in the commission of the of- 9 fense. 10 ‘‘(iv) GANG PARTICIPATION.—An alien 11 is described in this clause if the alien has, 12 within the 5 years immediately preceding 13 the date of the application, knowingly, will- 14 fully, and voluntarily participated in of- 15 fenses committed by a criminal street gang 16 (as described in subsections (a) and (c) of 17 section 521 of title 18, United States 18 Code) with the intent to promote or fur- 19 ther the commission of such offenses. 20 ‘‘(v) EVIDENTIARY LIMITATION.—For 21 purposes of clause (iv), allegations of gang 22 membership obtained from a State or Fed- 23 eral in-house or local database, or a net- 24 work of databases used for the purpose of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8585 IH recording and sharing activities of alleged 1 gang members across law enforcement 2 agencies, shall not establish the participa- 3 tion described in such clause. 4 ‘‘(vi) NOTICE.— 5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Prior to ren- 6 dering a discretionary decision under 7 this subparagraph, the Secretary of 8 Homeland Security or the Attorney 9 General shall provide written notice of 10 the intent to provisionally deny the 11 application to the alien (or the alien’s 12 counsel of record, if any) by certified 13 mail and, if an electronic mail address 14 is provided, by electronic mail (or 15 other form of electronic communica- 16 tion). Such notice shall— 17 ‘‘(aa) articulate with speci- 18 ficity all grounds for the prelimi- 19 nary determination, including the 20 evidence relied upon to support 21 the determination; and 22 ‘‘(bb) provide the alien with 23 not less than 90 days to respond. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8585 IH ‘‘(II) SECOND NOTICE.—Not 1 more than 30 days after the issuance 2 of the notice under subclause (I), the 3 Secretary of Homeland Security or 4 the Attorney General shall provide a 5 second written notice that meets the 6 requirements of such clause. 7 ‘‘(III) NOTICE NOT RECEIVED.— 8 Notwithstanding any other provision 9 of law, if an applicant provides good 10 cause for not contesting a provisional 11 denial under this paragraph, including 12 a failure to receive notice as required 13 under this subparagraph, the Sec- 14 retary of Homeland Security or the 15 Attorney General shall, upon a motion 16 filed by the alien, reopen an applica- 17 tion for adjustment of status under 18 this subsection and allow the appli- 19 cant an opportunity to respond, con- 20 sistent with subclause (I)(bb). 21 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 22 paragraph— 23 ‘‘(i) the term ‘felony offense’ means 24 an offense under Federal or State law that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 8585 IH is punishable by a maximum term of im- 1 prisonment of more than 1 year; 2 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘misdemeanor offense’ 3 means an offense under Federal or State 4 law that is punishabl [Text truncated for display. 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