America’s CHILDREN Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3442 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize lawful permanent resident status for certain college graduates who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Ms. ROSS (for herself, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. BERA, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. HINSON, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. SOTO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. BACON, Mr. STANTON, Ms. MACE, Mr. WOMACK, and Mrs. FOUSHEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize lawful permanent resident status for certain college grad- uates who entered the United States as children, 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 ‘‘America’s CHIL- 4 DREN Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘Protecting Children of Long- 5 Term Visa Holders Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3442 IH SEC. 2. PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR CERTAIN COL- 1 LEGE GRADUATES WHO ENTERED THE 2 UNITED STATES AS CHILDREN. 3 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 201(b)(1) of the Im- 4 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is 5 amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(F) Any alien who— 7 ‘‘(i) is not inadmissible under section 8 212(a) or deportable under section 237(a); 9 ‘‘(ii) was lawfully present in the United 10 States as a dependent child of a nonimmigrant 11 admitted to engage in employment in the 12 United States (other than a nonimmigrant de- 13 scribed in subparagraph (A), (G), (N), or (S) of 14 section 101(a)(15)) for an aggregate period of 15 not less than 8 years; 16 ‘‘(iii) on the date on which an application 17 under section 204(a)(1)(M) is submitted, has 18 been lawfully present in the United States for 19 an aggregate period of not less than 10 years; 20 and 21 ‘‘(iv) has graduated from an institution of 22 higher education (as defined in section 102(a) 23 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 24 U.S.C. 1002(a))) in the United States.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3442 IH (b) PETITION.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigra- 1 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)) is amend- 2 ed by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(M) Any alien entitled to classification 4 under section 201(b)(1)(F) may file a petition 5 with the Secretary of Homeland Security for 6 such classification.’’. 7 SEC. 3. AGE-OUT PROTECTIONS AND PRIORITY DATE RE- 8 TENTION. 9 (a) AGE-OUT PROTECTIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Immigration and Na- 11 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended— 12 (A) in section 101(b) (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)), 13 by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATION OF CHILD STATUS.—A 15 determination as to whether an alien is a child shall 16 be made as follows: 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of a pe- 18 tition under section 204 and any subsequent 19 application for an immigrant visa or adjustment 20 of status, such determination shall be made 21 using the age of the alien on the earlier of— 22 ‘‘(i) the date on which the petition is 23 filed with the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 24 rity; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3442 IH ‘‘(ii) the date on which an application 1 for a labor certification under section 2 212(a)(5)(A)(i) is filed with the Secretary 3 of Labor. 4 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN DEPENDENTS OF NON- 5 IMMIGRANTS.—With respect to an alien who, 6 for an aggregate period of 8 years before at- 7 taining the age of 21, was in the status of a de- 8 pendent child of a nonimmigrant pursuant to a 9 lawful admission as an alien eligible to be em- 10 ployed in the United States (other than a non- 11 immigrant described in subparagraph (A), (G), 12 (N), or (S) of section 101(a)(15)), notwith- 13 standing clause (i), the determination of the 14 alien’s age shall be based on the date on which 15 such initial nonimmigrant employment-based 16 petition or application was filed by the alien’s 17 nonimmigrant parent. 18 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO ACQUIRE STATUS AS 19 ALIEN LAWFULLY ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT 20 RESIDENCE.—With respect to an alien who has 21 not sought to acquire status as an alien lawfully 22 admitted for permanent residence during the 2 23 years beginning on the date on which an immi- 24 grant visa becomes available to such alien, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3442 IH alien’s age shall be determined based on the 1 alien’s biological age, unless the failure to seek 2 to acquire such status was due to extraordinary 3 circumstances.’’; and 4 (B) in section 201(f) (8 U.S.C. 1151)— 5 (i) by striking the subsection heading 6 and all that follows through ‘‘TERMI- 7 NATION DATE.—’’ in paragraph (3) and 8 inserting ‘‘RULE FOR DETERMINING 9 WHETHER CERTAIN ALIENS ARE IMME- 10 DIATE RELATIVES.—’’; and 11 (ii) by striking paragraph (4). 12 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made 14 by this subsection shall be effective as if in- 15 cluded in the Child Status Protection Act (Pub- 16 lic Law 107–208; 116 Stat. 927). 17 (B) MOTION TO REOPEN OR RECON- 18 SIDER.— 19 (i) IN GENERAL.—A motion to reopen 20 or reconsider the denial of a petition or ap- 21 plication described in the amendment made 22 by paragraph (1)(A) may be granted if— 23 (I) such petition or application 24 would have been approved if the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3442 IH amendment described in such para- 1 graph had been in effect at the time 2 of adjudication of the petition or ap- 3 plication; 4 (II) the individual seeking relief 5 pursuant to such motion was in the 6 United States at the time the under- 7 lying petition or application was filed; 8 and 9 (III) such motion is filed with the 10 Secretary of Homeland Security or 11 the Attorney General not later than 12 the date that is 2 years after the date 13 of the enactment of this Act. 14 (ii) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL 15 LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other 16 provision of law, an individual granted re- 17 lief pursuant to a motion to reopen or re- 18 consider under clause (i) shall be exempt 19 from the numerical limitations in sections 20 201, 202, and 203 of the Immigration and 21 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151, 1152, and 22 1153). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3442 IH (b) NONIMMIGRANT DEPENDENT CHILDREN.—Sec- 1 tion 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 2 1184) is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(s) DERIVATIVE BENEFICIARIES.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as described in 5 paragraph (2), the determination as to whether an 6 alien who is the derivative beneficiary of a properly 7 filed pending or approved immigrant petition under 8 section 204 is eligible to be a dependent child shall 9 be based on whether the alien is determined to be 10 a child under section 101(b)(6). 11 ‘‘(2) LONG-TERM DEPENDENTS.—If otherwise 12 eligible, an alien who is determined to be a child 13 pursuant to section 101(b)(6)(B) may change status 14 to, or extend status as, a dependent child of a non- 15 immigrant with an approved employment-based peti- 16 tion under this section or an approved application 17 under section 101(a)(15)(E), notwithstanding such 18 alien’s marital status. 19 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—An alien 20 admitted to the United States as a dependent child 21 of a nonimmigrant who is described in this section 22 is authorized to engage in employment in the United 23 States incident to status.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3442 IH (c) PRIORITY DATE RETENTION.—Section 203(h) of 1 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(h)) 2 is amended— 3 (1) by striking the subsection heading and in- 4 serting ‘‘RETENTION OF PRIORITY DATES’’; 5 (2) by striking paragraphs (1) through (4); 6 (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para- 7 graph (3); and 8 (4) by inserting before paragraph (3) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The priority date for an in- 11 dividual shall be the date on which a petition under 12 section 204 is filed with the Secretary of Homeland 13 Security or the Secretary of State, as applicable, un- 14 less such petition was preceded by the filing of a 15 labor certification with the Secretary of Labor, in 16 which case the date on which the labor certification 17 is filed shall be the priority date. 18 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The principal beneficiary 19 and all derivative beneficiaries shall retain the pri- 20 ority date associated with the earliest of any ap- 21 proved petition or labor certification, and such pri- 22 ority date shall be applicable to any subsequently ap- 23 proved petition.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3442.IH H3442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS