TPS Act

Summary: TPS Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to terminate new grants of temporary protected status (TPS) to aliens except for individuals with a pending TPS application. (TPS designations permit eligible nationals of designated counties affected by armed conflict or natural disasters to temporarily reside and work in the United States.) The bill provides for: (1) a three-year TPS extension for individuals with TPS status or with a pending TPS application that is subsequently granted, and (2) subsequent adjustment to lawful permanent residence (LPR) status.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall allow eligible individuals, including minors, to apply for LPR relief without requiring placement in removal proceedings and without requiring the immediate availability of an immigrant visa.   An alien who has a pending LPR application and appears prima facie eligible for such relief may not be removed. DHS shall provide such alien with provisional protected presence and work authorization effective until the alien's LPR application is denied or approved.  DHS may rescind an alien's provisional protected presence and employment authorization if DHS determines that the alien: (1) poses a national security or public safety threat; or (2) has traveled outside of the United States without DHS authorization.  Beginning in FY2022, the fiscal year number of family-sponsored, employment-based, and diversity immigrant visas shall be reduced by 50,000, subject to a specified limitation.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``TPS Act''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF GRANTS OF TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS.

    Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Termination.--
            ``(1) In general.--Beginning on the date of the enactment 
        of this subsection, no alien shall be eligible for a new grant 
        of temporary protected status under this section, except for an 
        alien with an application under subsection (a) pending on such 
        date pursuant to a designation of a foreign state made under 
        subsection (b) before such date.
            ``(2) Extension of period.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this section, in the case of an alien having 
        temporary protected status on the date of the enactment of this 
        subsection, or obtaining a grant of temporary protected status 
        pursuant to an application described in paragraph (1), the 
        period in which the alien is granted temporary protected status 
        under this section is deemed to be the 3-year period beginning 
        on the date of the enactment of this subsection, and the 
        documentation described in subsection (d) shall be valid during 
        such period. The provisions of subsections (c) through (h) 
        shall continue to apply during such period.''.

SEC. 3. PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR FORMER TPS HOLDERS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall adjust 
the status of an alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 
permanent residence if the alien--
            (1) had temporary protected status on the day before the 
        end of the 3-year period beginning on the date of the enactment 
        of this Act;
            (2) makes application for such adjustment during period 
        beginning 6 months before the end of the 3-year period 
        beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act;
            (3) is admissible as an immigrant under the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) at the time of 
        examination for adjustment of such alien, except that in the 
        determination of the alien's admissibility for purposes of this 
        section, the Secretary shall apply the terms of section 
        244(c)(2)(A) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(A)); and
            (4) otherwise satisfies the requirements of this section.
    (b) Procedures.--The Secretary shall by rule establish a procedure 
allowing eligible individuals to apply for the relief available under 
this section without requiring placement in removal proceedings and 
without requiring the immediate availability of an immigrant visa 
pursuant to the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). Such procedure shall provide for the ability of a 
minor to apply for such relief, including through a legal guardian or 
counsel. Except as provided in subsection (g), aliens provided status 
under this section shall not be subject to, or counted against, any 
numerical limitation under sections 201 through 203 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151-1153).
    (c) Application Fee.--The Secretary may require an alien applying 
for permanent resident status under this section to pay a reasonable 
fee that is commensurate with the cost of processing the application.
    (d) Submission of Biometric and Biographic Data.--The Secretary may 
not grant an alien permanent resident status under this section unless 
the alien submits biometric and biographic data, in accordance with 
procedures established by the Secretary. The Secretary shall provide an 
alternative procedure for aliens who are unable to provide such 
biometric or biographic data because of a physical impairment.
    (e) Background Checks.--
            (1) Requirement for background checks.--The Secretary shall 
        utilize biometric, biographic, and other data that the 
        Secretary determines appropriate--
                    (A) to conduct security and law enforcement 
                background checks of an alien seeking permanent 
                resident status under this section; and
                    (B) to determine whether there is any criminal, 
                national security, or other factor that would render 
                the alien ineligible for such status.
            (2) Completion of background checks.--The security and law 
        enforcement background checks of an alien required under 
        paragraph (1) shall be completed, to the satisfaction of the 
        Secretary, before the date on which the Secretary grants such 
        alien permanent resident status under this section.
    (f) Treatment of Aliens Pending Grant of Permanent Residence.--
            (1) Limitation on removal.--The Secretary or the Attorney 
        General may not remove an alien who has pending an application 
        for relief under this section and appears prima facie eligible 
        for such relief.
            (2) Provisional protected status.--
                    (A) In general.--In the case of an alien described 
                in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall grant provisional 
                protected presence to the alien and shall provide the 
                alien with employment authorization effective until the 
                date on which--
                            (i) the alien's application for relief 
                        under this section is finally denied; or
                            (ii) the Secretary adjusts the status of 
                        the alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted 
                        for permanent residence.
                    (B) Status during period of provisional protected 
                presence.--An alien granted provisional protected 
                presence is not considered to be unlawfully present in 
                the United States during the period beginning on the 
                date such status is granted and ending on a date 
                described in subparagraph (A), except that the 
                Secretary may rescind an alien's provisional protected 
                presence and employment authorization under this 
                paragraph if the Secretary determines that the alien--
                            (i) poses a threat to national security or 
                        a threat to public safety; or
                            (ii) has traveled outside of the United 
                        States without authorization from the 
                        Secretary.
    (g) Temporary Reduction in Immigrant Visas.--
            (1) In general.--Beginning in fiscal year 2022, subject to 
        paragraph (2), the total number of immigrant visas available 
        for a fiscal year under subsections (c) through (e) of section 
        201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151), as 
        modified by subsections (d) and (e) of section 203 of the 
        Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1151 note; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note), shall be reduced by 50,000 from 
        the number of visas otherwise available under such subsections 
        for such fiscal year. In carrying out the preceding sentence, 
        each category of family-sponsored, employment-based, and 
        diversity immigrant visas described in section 203 of such Act 
        (8 U.S.C. 1153) shall be reduced in the same proportion as the 
        number of visas otherwise allocable to the category bears to 
        the total number of immigrant visas that otherwise would be 
        available for the fiscal year absent the enactment of this 
        subsection.
            (2) Limitation.--In no case shall the reduction under 
        paragraph (1) for a fiscal year exceed the amount by which--
                    (A) the total number of individuals who have 
                adjusted their status to that of aliens lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence under subsection (a) 
                as of the end of the previous fiscal year; exceeds
                    (B) the total of the reductions in available visas 
                under this subsection for all previous fiscal years.
    (h) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Secretary'' means the 
Secretary of Homeland Security.