American Families United Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8708 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 30, 2020 Ms. ESCOBAR (for herself, Mr. WOODALL, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following 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. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The rights and interests of U.S. citizens 8 should be protected by our Nation’s immigration 9 laws. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Nov 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8708 IH (2) It is the intent of Congress to provide the 1 Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Secu- 2 rity with the limited ability to exercise their discre- 3 tion in favor of the spouses, children, and parents of 4 American citizens in immigration proceedings, on a 5 case-by-case basis, to ensure fairness and prevent 6 hardships associated with family separation. 7 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 8 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to provide the 9 Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security 10 with the ability to exercise the discretionary authority pro- 11 vided in this Act, except on a case-by-case basis. 12 SEC. 4 DEFINITION OF CONVICTION. 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(48) of the 14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 15 1101(a)(48)) is amended by striking subparagraphs 16 (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 17 ‘‘(A) The term ‘conviction’ means, with re- 18 spect to an alien, a final, formal judgment of 19 guilt entered by a court. A State or Federal 20 court adjudication or judgment of guilt that has 21 been withheld, deferred, expunged, annulled, in- 22 validated, or vacated; an order of probation 23 without entry of judgment; or any similar dis- 24 position under State or Federal law shall not be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Nov 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8708 IH considered a conviction for purposes of the im- 1 migration laws. 2 ‘‘(B) A pardon entered by a State or Fed- 3 eral authority shall render the underlying con- 4 viction null and void for purposes of the immi- 5 gration laws. 6 ‘‘(C) Any reference to a term of imprison- 7 ment or sentence with respect to an offense is 8 deemed to include only the actual period of in- 9 carceration or confinement ordered by a court 10 of law. The suspension of the imposition or exe- 11 cution of a term of imprisonment or sentence in 12 whole or in part shall not be included as a part 13 of the sentence for purposes of the immigration 14 laws.’’. 15 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.—The 16 amendments made by paragraph (1) shall take effect 17 on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall 18 apply to convictions and sentences entered before, 19 on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Nov 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8708 IH SEC. 5. DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO RE- 1 MOVAL, DEPORTATION, INELIGIBILITY OR IN- 2 ADMISSIBILITY OF CITIZEN FAMILY MEM- 3 BERS. 4 (a) APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF FROM REMOVAL.— 5 Section 240(c)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 6 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(4)) is amended by adding at the end 7 the following: 8 ‘‘(D) JUDICIAL DISCRETION.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 10 alien subject to removal, deportation, or 11 exclusion proceedings, the Attorney Gen- 12 eral may, for reasons described in clause 13 (ii)— 14 ‘‘(I) decline to order such alien 15 removed, deported, or excluded from 16 the United States; 17 ‘‘(II) terminate such removal, de- 18 portation, or exclusion proceedings; 19 and 20 ‘‘(III) grant such alien permis- 21 sion to reapply for admission to the 22 United States or any other application 23 for relief from removal. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Nov 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8708 IH ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON DISCRETION.— 1 The Attorney General may exercise the 2 discretion described in clause (i)— 3 ‘‘(I) for humanitarian purposes; 4 or 5 ‘‘(II) to preserve family unity in 6 the United States if the alien is— 7 ‘‘(aa) the spouse of a United 8 States citizen; or 9 ‘‘(bb) the parent of a United 10 States citizen child and such 11 child’s other parent is a United 12 States citizen or was a United 13 States citizen at the time of such 14 other parent’s death. 15 ‘‘(iii) EXCLUSIONS.—This subpara- 16 graph shall not apply to an alien whom the 17 Attorney General determines— 18 ‘‘(I) is inadmissible or deportable 19 under— 20 ‘‘(aa) subparagraph (B), 21 (C), (D)(ii), (E), (H), or (I) of 22 section 212(a)(2); 23 ‘‘(bb) section 212(a)(3); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8708 IH ‘‘(cc) subparagraph (A), (C), 1 or (D) of section 212(a)(10); or 2 ‘‘(dd) paragraph (2)(A)(ii), 3 (2)(A)(v), (2)(F), (4), or (6) of 4 section 237(a); or 5 ‘‘(II) has— 6 ‘‘(aa) been convicted of con- 7 duct described in paragraph (8), 8 (11), or (12) of section 103 of 9 the Trafficking Victims Protec- 10 tion Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 11 7102); or 12 ‘‘(bb) a felony conviction de- 13 scribed in section 101(a)(43) that 14 would have been classified as an 15 aggravated felony at the time of 16 conviction.’’. 17 (b) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION.—Section 212 of the 18 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is 19 amended— 20 (1) by redesignating the second subsection (t) 21 as subsection (u); and 22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(v) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8708 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien who 1 is inadmissible under subsection (a), deportable 2 under section 237, or ineligible for any immigration 3 benefit or relief under the immigration laws, the 4 Secretary of Homeland Security may, for reasons 5 described in paragraph (2)— 6 ‘‘(A) and subject to paragraph (3), waive 7 one or more grounds of inadmissibility or de- 8 portability; 9 ‘‘(B) decline to issue a notice to appear re- 10 quiring such an alien to appear in a removal 11 proceeding; 12 ‘‘(C) decline to reinstate an order of re- 13 moval under section 241(a)(5); and 14 ‘‘(D) grant such an alien permission to re- 15 apply for admission to the United States or any 16 other application for immigration benefits. 17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON DISCRETION.—The Sec- 18 retary of Homeland Security may exercise the dis- 19 cretion described in clause (i)— 20 ‘‘(A) for humanitarian purposes; or 21 ‘‘(B) to preserve family unity in the United 22 States if the alien is— 23 ‘‘(i) the spouse of a United States cit- 24 izen; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8708 IH ‘‘(ii) the parent of a United States cit- 1 izen child and such child’s other parent is 2 a United States citizen or was a United 3 States citizen at the time of such other 4 parent’s death. 5 ‘‘(3) This subsection shall not apply to an alien 6 whom the Secretary determines— 7 ‘‘(A) is inadmissible or deportable under— 8 ‘‘(i) subparagraph (B), (C), (D)(ii), 9 (E), (H), or (I) of subsection (a)(2); 10 ‘‘(ii) subsection (a)(3); 11 ‘‘(iii) subparagraph (A), (C), or (D) of 12 subsection (a)(10); or 13 ‘‘(iv) paragraph (2)(A)(ii), (2)(A)(v), 14 (2)(F), or (6) of section 237(a); or 15 ‘‘(B) has— 16 ‘‘(i) been convicted of conduct de- 17 scribed in paragraph (8), (11), or (12) of 18 section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Pro- 19 tection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102); or 20 ‘‘(ii) a felony conviction described in 21 section 101(a)(43) that would have been 22 classified as an aggravated felony at the 23 time of conviction;’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8708.IH H8708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS