I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1348
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust the status of
certain aliens who are nationals of Venezuela to that of aliens lawfully
admitted for permanent residence, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY13, 2025
Mr. S
OTO(for himself, Ms. SALAZAR, Ms. WASSERMANSCHULTZ, and Ms.
W
ILSONof Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust
the status of certain aliens who are nationals of Ven-
ezuela to that of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent
residence, 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 ‘‘Venezuelan Adjust-4
ment Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. VENEZUELAN REFUGEE IMMIGRATION FAIRNESS. 6
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 7
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifi-1
cally provided, any term used in this Act that is 2
used in the immigration laws shall have the meaning 3
given the term in the immigration laws. 4
(2) I
MMIGRATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘immigra-5
tion laws’’ has the meaning given the term in section 6
101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 7
(8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)). 8
(3) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 10
(b) A
DJUSTMENT OFSTATUS.— 11
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-12
graph (3), the Secretary shall adjust the status of 13
an alien described in subsection (c) to that of an 14
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if 15
the alien— 16
(A) applies for adjustment not later than 17
3 years after the date of the enactment of this 18
Act; 19
(B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im-20
migrant visa; and 21
(C) subject to paragraph (2), is admissible 22
to the United States for permanent residence. 23
(2) A
PPLICABILITY OF GROUNDS OF INADMIS -24
SIBILITY.—In determining the admissibility of an 25
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alien under paragraph (1)(C), the grounds of inad-1
missibility specified in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A), 2
and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and 3
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) shall not apply. 4
(3) E
XCEPTIONS.—An alien shall not be eligible 5
for adjustment of status under this subsection if the 6
Secretary determines that the alien— 7
(A) has been convicted of any aggravated 8
felony; 9
(B) has been convicted of two or more 10
crimes involving moral turpitude (other than a 11
purely political offense); or 12
(C) has ordered, incited, assisted, or other-13
wise participated in the persecution of any per-14
son on account of race, religion, nationality, 15
membership in a particular social group, or po-16
litical opinion. 17
(4) R
ELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER -18
TAIN ORDERS.— 19
(A) I
N GENERAL.—An alien present in the 20
United States who has been subject to an order 21
of exclusion, deportation, removal, or voluntary 22
departure under any provision of the Immigra-23
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 24
seq.) may, notwithstanding such order, submit 25
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an application for adjustment of status under 1
this subsection if the alien is otherwise eligible 2
for adjustment of status under paragraph (1). 3
(B) S
EPARATE MOTION NOT REQUIRED .— 4
An alien described in subparagraph (A) shall 5
not be required, as a condition of submitting or 6
granting an application under this subsection, 7
to file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, 8
or vacate an order described in subparagraph 9
(A). 10
(C) E
FFECT OF DECISION BY SEC -11
RETARY.— 12
(i) G
RANT.—If the Secretary adjusts 13
the status of an alien pursuant to an appli-14
cation under this subsection, the Secretary 15
shall cancel any order described in sub-16
paragraph (A) to which the alien has been 17
subject. 18
(ii) D
ENIAL.—If the Secretary makes 19
a final decision to deny such application, 20
any such order shall be effective and en-21
forceable to the same extent that such 22
order would be effective and enforceable if 23
the application had not been made. 24
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(c) ALIENSELIGIBLE FORADJUSTMENT OF STA-1
TUS.— 2
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The benefits provided under 3
subsection (b) shall apply to any alien who— 4
(A)(i) is a national of Venezuela; 5
(ii) entered the United States before or on 6
December 31, 2021; and 7
(iii) has been continuously physically 8
present in the United States for not less than 9
1 year as of the date on which the alien submits 10
an application under such subsection (b); or 11
(B) is the spouse, child, or unmarried son 12
or daughter of an alien described in subpara-13
graph (A). 14
(2) D
ETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PHYS -15
ICAL PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing the 16
period of continuous physical presence referred to in 17
paragraph (1)(A)(ii), an alien shall not be consid-18
ered to have failed to maintain continuous physical 19
presence based on one or more absences from the 20
United States for one or more periods amounting, in 21
the aggregate, to not more than 180 days. 22
(d) S
TAY OFREMOVAL.— 23
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall promul-24
gate regulations establishing procedures by which an 25
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alien who is subject to a final order of deportation, 1
removal, or exclusion, may seek a stay of such order 2
based on the filing of an application under sub-3
section (b). 4
(2) D
URING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS .— 5
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 6
subparagraph (B), notwithstanding any provi-7
sion of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 8
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), the Secretary may not 9
order an alien to be removed from the United 10
States if the alien— 11
(i) is in exclusion, deportation, or re-12
moval proceedings under any provision of 13
such Act; and 14
(ii) has submitted an application for 15
adjustment of status under subsection (b). 16
(B) E
XCEPTION.—The Secretary may 17
order an alien described in subparagraph (A) to 18
be removed from the United States if the Sec-19
retary has made a final determination to deny 20
the application for adjustment of status under 21
subsection (b) of the alien. 22
(3) W
ORK AUTHORIZATION.— 23
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary may— 24
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(i) authorize an alien who has applied 1
for adjustment of status under subsection 2
(b) to engage in employment in the United 3
States during the period in which a deter-4
mination on such application is pending; 5
and 6
(ii) provide such alien with an ‘‘em-7
ployment authorized’’ endorsement or 8
other appropriate document signifying au-9
thorization of employment. 10
(B) P
ENDING APPLICATIONS.—If an appli-11
cation for adjustment of status under sub-12
section (b) is pending for a period exceeding 13
180 days and has not been denied, the Sec-14
retary shall authorize employment for the appli-15
cable alien. 16
(e) R
ECORD OFPERMANENTRESIDENCE.—On the 17
approval of an application for adjustment of status under 18
subsection (b) of an alien, the Secretary shall establish 19
a record of admission for permanent residence for the 20
alien as of the date of the arrival of the alien in the United 21
States. 22
(f) A
VAILABILITY OFADMINISTRATIVEREVIEW.— 23
The Secretary shall provide applicants for adjustment of 24
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status under subsection (b) with the same right to, and 1
procedures for, administrative review as are provided to— 2
(1) applicants for adjustment of status under 3
section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 4
(8 U.S.C. 1255); and 5
(2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 6
section 240 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a). 7
(g) L
IMITATION ONJUDICIALREVIEW.— 8
(1) I
N GENERAL.—A determination by the Sec-9
retary with respect to the adjustment of status of 10
any alien under this section is final and shall not be 11
subject to review by any court. 12
(2) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in 13
paragraph (1) shall be construed to preclude the re-14
view of a constitutional claim or a question of law 15
under section 704 of title 5, United States Code, 16
with respect to a denial of adjustment of status 17
under this section. 18
(h) N
OOFFSET INNUMBER OFVISASAVAILABLE.— 19
The Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce the 20
number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued under 21
any provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 22
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) to offset the adjustment of status 23
of an alien who has been lawfully admitted for permanent 24
residence pursuant to this section. 25
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(i) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION-1
ALITYACTPROVISIONS.— 2
(1) S
AVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act 3
may be construed to repeal, amend, alter, modify, ef-4
fect, or restrict the powers, duties, function, or au-5
thority of the Secretary in the administration and 6
enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act 7
(8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or any other law relating to 8
immigration, nationality, or naturalization. 9
(2) E
FFECT OF ELIGIBILITY FOR ADJUSTMENT 10
OF STATUS.—The eligibility of an alien to be law-11
fully admitted for permanent residence under this 12
section shall not preclude the alien from seeking any 13
status under any other provision of law for which 14
the alien may otherwise be eligible. 15
Æ
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