1 | 1 | | I |
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2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2453 |
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5 | 5 | | To amend section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to |
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6 | 6 | | reform immigration parole, and for other purposes. |
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7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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8 | 8 | | MARCH30, 2023 |
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9 | 9 | | Mr. T |
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10 | 10 | | IFFANYintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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11 | 11 | | Committee on the Judiciary |
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12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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13 | 13 | | To amend section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nation- |
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14 | 14 | | ality Act to reform immigration parole, and for other |
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15 | 15 | | purposes. |
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16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Immigration Parole 4 |
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20 | 20 | | Reform Act of 2023’’. 5 |
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21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. IMMIGRATION PAROLE REFORM. 6 |
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22 | 22 | | Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality 7 |
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23 | 23 | | Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 8 |
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24 | 24 | | ‘‘(5)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs 9 |
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25 | 25 | | (B) and (C) and section 214(f), the Secretary of 10 |
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28 | 28 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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29 | 29 | | Homeland Security, in the discretion of the Sec-1 |
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30 | 30 | | retary, may temporarily parole into the United 2 |
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31 | 31 | | States any alien applying for admission to the 3 |
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32 | 32 | | United States who is not present in the United 4 |
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33 | 33 | | States, under such conditions as the Secretary may 5 |
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34 | 34 | | prescribe, on a case-by-case basis, and not according 6 |
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35 | 35 | | to eligibility criteria describing an entire class of po-7 |
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36 | 36 | | tential parole recipients, for urgent humanitarian 8 |
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37 | 37 | | reasons or significant public benefit. Parole granted 9 |
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38 | 38 | | under this subparagraph may not be regarded as an 10 |
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39 | 39 | | admission of the alien. When the purposes of such 11 |
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40 | 40 | | parole have been served in the opinion of the Sec-12 |
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41 | 41 | | retary, the alien shall immediately return or be re-13 |
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42 | 42 | | turned to the custody from which the alien was pa-14 |
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43 | 43 | | roled. After such return, the case of the alien shall 15 |
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44 | 44 | | be dealt with in the same manner as the case of any 16 |
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45 | 45 | | other applicant for admission to the United States. 17 |
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46 | 46 | | ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security may 18 |
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47 | 47 | | grant parole to any alien who— 19 |
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48 | 48 | | ‘‘(i) is present in the United States without 20 |
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49 | 49 | | lawful immigration status; 21 |
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50 | 50 | | ‘‘(ii) is the beneficiary of an approved peti-22 |
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51 | 51 | | tion under section 203(a); 23 |
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52 | 52 | | ‘‘(iii) is not otherwise inadmissible or re-24 |
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53 | 53 | | movable; and 25 |
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56 | 56 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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57 | 57 | | ‘‘(iv) is the spouse or child of a member of 1 |
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58 | 58 | | the Armed Forces serving on active duty. 2 |
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59 | 59 | | ‘‘(C) The Secretary of Homeland Security may 3 |
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60 | 60 | | grant parole to any alien— 4 |
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61 | 61 | | ‘‘(i) who is a national of the Republic of 5 |
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62 | 62 | | Cuba and is living in the Republic of Cuba; 6 |
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63 | 63 | | ‘‘(ii) who is the beneficiary of an approved 7 |
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64 | 64 | | petition under section 203(a); 8 |
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65 | 65 | | ‘‘(iii) for whom an immigrant visa is not 9 |
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66 | 66 | | immediately available; 10 |
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67 | 67 | | ‘‘(iv) who meets all eligibility requirements 11 |
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68 | 68 | | for an immigrant visa; 12 |
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69 | 69 | | ‘‘(v) who is not otherwise inadmissible; and 13 |
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70 | 70 | | ‘‘(vi) who is receiving a grant of parole in 14 |
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71 | 71 | | furtherance of the commitment of the United 15 |
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72 | 72 | | States to the minimum level of annual legal mi-16 |
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73 | 73 | | gration of Cuban nationals to the United States 17 |
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74 | 74 | | specified in the U.S.-Cuba Joint Communique´ 18 |
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75 | 75 | | on Migration, done at New York September 9, 19 |
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76 | 76 | | 1994, and reaffirmed in the Cuba-United 20 |
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77 | 77 | | States: Joint Statement on Normalization of 21 |
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78 | 78 | | Migration, Building on the Agreement of Sep-22 |
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79 | 79 | | tember 9, 1994, done at New York May 2, 23 |
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80 | 80 | | 1995. 24 |
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83 | 83 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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84 | 84 | | ‘‘(D) The Secretary of Homeland Security may 1 |
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85 | 85 | | grant parole to an alien who is returned to a contig-2 |
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86 | 86 | | uous country under section 235(b)(2)(C) to allow 3 |
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87 | 87 | | the alien to attend the alien’s immigration hearing. 4 |
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88 | 88 | | The grant of parole shall not exceed the time re-5 |
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89 | 89 | | quired for the alien to be escorted to, and attend, 6 |
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90 | 90 | | the alien’s immigration hearing scheduled on the 7 |
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91 | 91 | | same calendar day as the grant, and to immediately 8 |
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92 | 92 | | thereafter be escorted back to the contiguous coun-9 |
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93 | 93 | | try. A grant of parole under this subparagraph shall 10 |
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94 | 94 | | not be considered for purposes of determining 11 |
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95 | 95 | | whether the alien is inadmissible under this Act. 12 |
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96 | 96 | | ‘‘(E) For purposes of determining an alien’s eli-13 |
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97 | 97 | | gibility for parole under subparagraph (A), an ur-14 |
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98 | 98 | | gent humanitarian reason shall be limited to cir-15 |
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99 | 99 | | cumstances in which the alien establishes that— 16 |
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100 | 100 | | ‘‘(i)(I) the alien has a medical emergency; 17 |
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101 | 101 | | and 18 |
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102 | 102 | | ‘‘(II)(aa) the alien cannot obtain necessary 19 |
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103 | 103 | | treatment in the foreign state in which the alien 20 |
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104 | 104 | | is residing; or 21 |
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105 | 105 | | ‘‘(bb) the medical emergency is life-threat-22 |
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106 | 106 | | ening and there is insufficient time for the alien 23 |
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107 | 107 | | to be admitted through the normal visa process; 24 |
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110 | 110 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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111 | 111 | | ‘‘(ii) the alien is the parent or legal guard-1 |
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112 | 112 | | ian of an alien described in clause (i) and the 2 |
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113 | 113 | | alien described in clause (i) is a minor; 3 |
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114 | 114 | | ‘‘(iii) the alien is needed in the United 4 |
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115 | 115 | | States in order to donate an organ or other tis-5 |
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116 | 116 | | sue for transplant and there is insufficient time 6 |
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117 | 117 | | for the alien to be admitted through the normal 7 |
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118 | 118 | | visa process; 8 |
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119 | 119 | | ‘‘(iv) the alien has a close family member 9 |
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120 | 120 | | in the United States whose death is imminent 10 |
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121 | 121 | | and the alien could not arrive in the United 11 |
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122 | 122 | | States in time to see such family member alive 12 |
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123 | 123 | | if the alien were to be admitted through the 13 |
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124 | 124 | | normal visa process; 14 |
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125 | 125 | | ‘‘(v) the alien is seeking to attend the fu-15 |
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126 | 126 | | neral of a close family member and the alien 16 |
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127 | 127 | | could not arrive in the United States in time to 17 |
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128 | 128 | | attend such funeral if the alien were to be ad-18 |
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129 | 129 | | mitted through the normal visa process; 19 |
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130 | 130 | | ‘‘(vi) the alien is an adopted child with an 20 |
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131 | 131 | | urgent medical condition who is in the legal 21 |
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132 | 132 | | custody of the petitioner for a final adoption-re-22 |
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133 | 133 | | lated visa and whose medical treatment is re-23 |
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134 | 134 | | quired before the expected award of a final 24 |
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135 | 135 | | adoption-related visa; or 25 |
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138 | 138 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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139 | 139 | | ‘‘(vii) the alien is a lawful applicant for ad-1 |
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140 | 140 | | justment of status under section 245 and is re-2 |
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141 | 141 | | turning to the United States after temporary 3 |
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142 | 142 | | travel abroad. 4 |
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143 | 143 | | ‘‘(F) For purposes of determining an alien’s eli-5 |
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144 | 144 | | gibility for parole under subparagraph (A), a signifi-6 |
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145 | 145 | | cant public benefit may be determined to result from 7 |
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146 | 146 | | the parole of an alien only if— 8 |
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147 | 147 | | ‘‘(i) the alien has assisted (or will assist, 9 |
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148 | 148 | | whether knowingly or not) the United States 10 |
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149 | 149 | | Government in a law enforcement matter; 11 |
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150 | 150 | | ‘‘(ii) the alien’s presence is required by the 12 |
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151 | 151 | | Government in furtherance of such law enforce-13 |
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152 | 152 | | ment matter; and 14 |
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153 | 153 | | ‘‘(iii) the alien is inadmissible, does not 15 |
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154 | 154 | | satisfy the eligibility requirements for admission 16 |
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155 | 155 | | as a nonimmigrant, or there is insufficient time 17 |
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156 | 156 | | for the alien to be admitted through the normal 18 |
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157 | 157 | | visa process. 19 |
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158 | 158 | | ‘‘(G) For purposes of determining an alien’s eli-20 |
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159 | 159 | | gibility for parole under subparagraph (A), the term 21 |
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160 | 160 | | ‘case-by-case basis’ means that the facts in each in-22 |
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161 | 161 | | dividual case are considered and parole is not grant-23 |
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162 | 162 | | ed based on membership in a defined class of aliens 24 |
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163 | 163 | | to be granted parole. The fact that aliens are consid-25 |
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166 | 166 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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167 | 167 | | ered for or granted parole one-by-one and not as a 1 |
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168 | 168 | | group is not sufficient to establish that the parole 2 |
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169 | 169 | | decision is made on a ‘case-by-case basis’. 3 |
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170 | 170 | | ‘‘(H) The Secretary of Homeland Security may 4 |
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171 | 171 | | not use the parole authority under this paragraph to 5 |
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172 | 172 | | parole an alien into the United States for any reason 6 |
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173 | 173 | | or purpose other than those described in subpara-7 |
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174 | 174 | | graphs (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F). 8 |
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175 | 175 | | ‘‘(I) An alien granted parole may not accept 9 |
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176 | 176 | | employment, except that an alien granted parole 10 |
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177 | 177 | | pursuant to subparagraph (B) or (C) is authorized 11 |
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178 | 178 | | to accept employment for the duration of the parole, 12 |
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179 | 179 | | as evidenced by an employment authorization docu-13 |
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180 | 180 | | ment issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 14 |
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181 | 181 | | ‘‘(J) Parole granted after a departure from the 15 |
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182 | 182 | | United States shall not be regarded as an admission 16 |
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183 | 183 | | of the alien. An alien granted parole, whether as an 17 |
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184 | 184 | | initial grant of parole or parole upon reentry into 18 |
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185 | 185 | | the United States, is not eligible to adjust status to 19 |
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186 | 186 | | lawful permanent residence or for any other immi-20 |
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187 | 187 | | gration benefit if the immigration status the alien 21 |
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188 | 188 | | had at the time of departure did not authorize the 22 |
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189 | 189 | | alien to adjust status or to be eligible for such ben-23 |
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190 | 190 | | efit. 24 |
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193 | 193 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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194 | 194 | | ‘‘(K)(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) and 1 |
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195 | 195 | | (iii), parole shall be granted to an alien under this 2 |
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196 | 196 | | paragraph for the shorter of— 3 |
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197 | 197 | | ‘‘(I) a period of sufficient length to accom-4 |
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198 | 198 | | plish the activity described in subparagraph 5 |
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199 | 199 | | (D), (E), or (F) for which the alien was grant-6 |
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200 | 200 | | ed parole; or 7 |
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201 | 201 | | ‘‘(II) 1 year. 8 |
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202 | 202 | | ‘‘(ii) Grants of parole pursuant to subparagraph 9 |
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203 | 203 | | (A) may be extended once, in the discretion of the 10 |
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204 | 204 | | Secretary, for an additional period that is the short-11 |
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205 | 205 | | er of— 12 |
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206 | 206 | | ‘‘(I) the period that is necessary to accom-13 |
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207 | 207 | | plish the activity described in subparagraph (E) 14 |
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208 | 208 | | or (F) for which the alien was granted parole; 15 |
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209 | 209 | | or 16 |
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210 | 210 | | ‘‘(II) 1 year. 17 |
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211 | 211 | | ‘‘(iii) Aliens who have a pending application to 18 |
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212 | 212 | | adjust status to permanent residence under section 19 |
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213 | 213 | | 245 may request extensions of parole under this 20 |
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214 | 214 | | paragraph, in 1-year increments, until the applica-21 |
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215 | 215 | | tion for adjustment has been adjudicated. Such pa-22 |
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216 | 216 | | role shall terminate immediately upon the denial of 23 |
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217 | 217 | | such adjustment application. 24 |
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220 | 220 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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221 | 221 | | ‘‘(L) Not later than 90 days after the last day 1 |
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222 | 222 | | of each fiscal year, the Secretary of Homeland Secu-2 |
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223 | 223 | | rity shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 3 |
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224 | 224 | | of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary 4 |
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225 | 225 | | of the House of Representatives and make available 5 |
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226 | 226 | | to the public, a report— 6 |
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227 | 227 | | ‘‘(i) identifying the total number of aliens 7 |
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228 | 228 | | paroled into the United States under this para-8 |
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229 | 229 | | graph during the previous fiscal year; and 9 |
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230 | 230 | | ‘‘(ii) containing information and data re-10 |
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231 | 231 | | garding all aliens paroled during such fiscal 11 |
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232 | 232 | | year, including— 12 |
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233 | 233 | | ‘‘(I) the duration of parole; 13 |
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234 | 234 | | ‘‘(II) the type of parole; and 14 |
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235 | 235 | | ‘‘(III) the current status of the aliens 15 |
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236 | 236 | | so paroled.’’. 16 |
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237 | 237 | | SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION. 17 |
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238 | 238 | | (a) I |
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239 | 239 | | NGENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 18 |
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240 | 240 | | (b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 19 |
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241 | 241 | | take effect on the date that is 30 days after the date of 20 |
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242 | 242 | | the enactment of this Act. 21 |
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243 | 243 | | (b) E |
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244 | 244 | | XCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 22 |
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245 | 245 | | each of the following exceptions apply: 23 |
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246 | 246 | | (1) Any application for parole or advance parole 24 |
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247 | 247 | | filed by an alien before the date of the enactment of 25 |
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250 | 250 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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251 | 251 | | this Act shall be adjudicated under the law that was 1 |
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252 | 252 | | in effect on the date on which the application was 2 |
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253 | 253 | | properly filed and any approved advance parole shall 3 |
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254 | 254 | | remain valid under the law that was in effect on the 4 |
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255 | 255 | | date on which the advance parole was approved. 5 |
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256 | 256 | | (2) Section 212(d)(5)(J) of the Immigration 6 |
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257 | 257 | | and Nationality Act, as added by section 2, shall 7 |
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258 | 258 | | take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 8 |
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259 | 259 | | (3) Aliens who were paroled into the United 9 |
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260 | 260 | | States pursuant to section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Im-10 |
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261 | 261 | | migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 11 |
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262 | 262 | | 1182(d)(5)(A)) before January 1, 2023, shall con-12 |
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263 | 263 | | tinue to be subject to the terms of parole that were 13 |
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264 | 264 | | in effect on the date on which their respective parole 14 |
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265 | 265 | | was approved. 15 |
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266 | 266 | | SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION. 16 |
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267 | 267 | | Any person, State, or local government that experi-17 |
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268 | 268 | | ences financial harm in excess of $1,000 due to a failure 18 |
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269 | 269 | | of the Federal Government to lawfully apply the provisions 19 |
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270 | 270 | | of this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall have 20 |
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271 | 271 | | standing to bring a civil action against the Federal Gov-21 |
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272 | 272 | | ernment in an appropriate district court of the United 22 |
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273 | 273 | | States for appropriate relief. 23 |
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276 | 276 | | •HR 2453 IH |
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277 | 277 | | SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 1 |
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278 | 278 | | If any provision of this Act or any amendment by 2 |
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279 | 279 | | this Act, or the application of such provision or amend-3 |
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280 | 280 | | ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be uncon-4 |
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281 | 281 | | stitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application 5 |
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282 | 282 | | of such provision or amendment to any other person or 6 |
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283 | 283 | | circumstance shall not be affected. 7 |
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284 | 284 | | Æ |
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