I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5383 

To reform the process for enforcing the immigration laws of the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2019 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois (for himself, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. BASS, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. 

ESCOBAR, Ms. OMAR, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 

OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of 

Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. RUSH, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

TAKANO, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 

VARGAS, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. CORREA, and Mr. MEEKS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform the process for enforcing the immigration laws 

of the United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Way Forward 

5 Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—END MANDATORY DE2 TENTION AND REQUIRE 

3 PROBABLE CAUSE FOR AR4 REST 

5 SEC. 101. PHASE-OUT OF PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT DETENTION 

6 FACILITIES AND USE OF JAILS. 

7 (a) SECURE DETENTION FACILITIES.—Beginning on 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security may not enter into, or extend, any con10 tract with any public or private for-profit entity that owns 

11 or operates a detention facility for use of that facility to 

12 detain aliens in the custody of the Department of Home13 land Security, and shall terminate any such contract not 

14 later than the date that is 3 years after the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act. Beginning on the date that is 3 

16 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, any facil17 ity at which aliens in the custody of the Department of 

18 Homeland Security are detained shall be owned and oper19 ated by the Department of Homeland Security. 

20 (b) NON-SECURE DETENTION PROGRAMS.—Begin21 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary of Homeland Security may not enter into, or ex23 tend, any contract with any public or private for-profit en24 tity that owns or operates a program or facility that pro25 vides for non-residential detention-related activities for 


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1 aliens who are subject to monitoring by the Department 

2 of Homeland Security, and shall terminate any such con3 tact not later than the date that is 3 years after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act. Beginning on the date that 

5 is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

6 any such program or facility shall be owned and operated 

7 by a nonprofit organization or by the Department of 

8 Homeland Security. 

9 (c) PUBLICATION OF PLAN.—Not later than 60 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 shall develop, and make publicly available, a plan and 

12 timeline for the implementation of this section. 

13 SEC. 102. PROCEDURES FOR DETAINING ALIENS. 

14 (a) CUSTODY AND BOND DETERMINATIONS.—Sec15 tion 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1226) is amended— 

17 (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c) and 

18 inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(a) ARREST, DETENTION, AND RELEASE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On a warrant issued by an 

21 immigration judge, or pursuant to section 287(a)(2), 

22 the Secretary of Homeland Security may arrest an 

23 alien and, in accordance with this section, may, 

24 pending a decision on whether the alien is to be re25 moved from the United States— 


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1 ‘‘(A) detain the alien; or 

2 ‘‘(B) release the alien— 

3 ‘‘(i) on bond; 

4 ‘‘(ii) subject to conditions; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) on the alien’s own recognizance. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply 

7 to an unaccompanied alien child (as defined in sec8 tion 462(g)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 

9 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2))). Such an alien shall be 

10 transferred to the custody of the Secretary of Health 

11 and Human Services pursuant to section 235(b)(3) 

12 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Pro13 tection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 

14 1232(b)(3)). 

15 ‘‘(b) CUSTODY AND BOND DETERMINATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) INITIAL DETERMINATION.—Not later than 

17 48 hours after taking an alien into custody, the Sec18 retary of Homeland Security shall make an initial 

19 custody determination with regard to that alien, and 

20 provide that determination in writing to the alien. If 

21 the Secretary determines that the release without 

22 conditions of an alien will not reasonably assure the 

23 appearance of the alien as required or will endanger 

24 the safety of any other person or the community, the 

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1 pose the least restrictive conditions, as described in 

2 paragraph (4). 

3 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—If an alien seeks to challenge 

4 the initial custody determination under paragraph 

5 (1), the alien shall be provided with the opportunity 

6 for a hearing before an immigration judge to deter7 mine whether the alien should be detained, which 

8 hearing shall occur not later than 72 hours after the 

9 initial custody determination, except that an immi10 gration judge may grant a reasonable continuance 

11 upon the alien’s request for additional time to pre12 pare for the hearing. 

13 ‘‘(3) PRESUMPTION OF RELEASE.—In a hearing 

14 under this subsection, there shall be a rebuttable 

15 presumption that the alien should be released. The 

16 Government shall have the duty of rebutting this 

17 presumption by clear and convincing evidence based 

18 on credible and individualized information that es19 tablishes that the use of alternatives to detention 

20 will not reasonably assure the appearance of the 

21 alien at removal proceedings, or that the alien is a 

22 threat to another person or the community. The fact 

23 that an alien has a prior conviction or a criminal 

24 charge pending against the alien may not be the sole 

25 factor to justify the continued detention of the alien. 


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1 ‘‘(4) LEAST RESTRICTIVE CONDITIONS RE2 QUIRED.—If an immigration judge determines pur3 suant to a hearing under this section that the re4 lease without conditions of an alien will not reason5 ably assure the appearance of the alien as required 

6 or will endanger the safety of any other person or 

7 the community, the immigration judge shall order 

8 the least restrictive conditions, or combination of 

9 conditions, that the judge determines will reasonably 

10 assure the appearance of the alien as required and 

11 the safety of any other person and the community, 

12 which may include secured or unsecured release on 

13 bond, or participation in a program described in 

14 subsection (i). Any conditions assigned to an alien 

15 pursuant to this paragraph shall be reviewed by the 

16 immigration judge on a monthly basis. 

17 ‘‘(5) BOND DETERMINATION.—In the case that 

18 an immigration judge makes a determination to re19 lease an alien on bond under subsection (a)(1)(B)(i), 

20 the immigration judge shall consider, for purposes of 

21 setting the amount of the bond, the alien’s financial 

22 resources and ability to pay the bond without impos23 ing financial hardship on the alien. 

24 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULE FOR VULNERABLE PER25 SONS AND PRIMARY CAREGIVERS.—In a case in 


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1 which an alien who is the subject of a custody deter2 mination under this subsection is a vulnerable per3 son or a primary caregiver, the alien may not be de4 tained unless the Government shows, in addition to 

5 the requirements under paragraph (3), that it is un6 reasonable or not practicable to place the individual 

7 in a community-based supervision program. 

8 ‘‘(7) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

9 ‘vulnerable person’ means an individual who— 

10 ‘‘(A) is under 21 years of age or over 60 

11 years of age; 

12 ‘‘(B) is pregnant; 

13 ‘‘(C) identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

14 transgender, or intersex; 

15 ‘‘(D) is victim or witness of a crime; 

16 ‘‘(E) has filed a nonfrivolous civil rights 

17 claim in Federal or State court; 

18 ‘‘(F) has a serious mental or physical ill19 ness or disability; 

20 ‘‘(G) has been determined by an asylum of21 ficer in an interview conducted under section 

22 235(b)(1)(B) to have a credible fear of persecu23 tion or a reasonable fear of persecution under 

24 section 208.31 or 241.8(e) of title 8, Code of 


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1 Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of 

2 the enactment of the New Way Forward Act); 

3 ‘‘(H) has limited English language pro4 ficiency and is not provided access to appro5 priate and meaningful language services in a 

6 timely fashion; or 

7 ‘‘(I) has been determined by an immigra8 tion judge or the Secretary of Homeland Secu9 rity to be experiencing severe trauma or to be 

10 a survivor of torture or gender-based violence, 

11 based on information obtained during intake, 

12 from the alien’s attorney or legal service pro13 vider, or through credible self-reporting. 

14 ‘‘(c) SUBSEQUENT DETERMINATIONS.—An alien who 

15 is detained under this section shall be provided with a de 

16 novo custody determination hearing under this subsection 

17 every 60 days, as well as upon showing of a change in 

18 circumstances or good cause for a de novo custody deter19 mination hearing.’’; and 

20 (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(e) RELEASE UPON AN ORDER GRANTING RELIEF

23 FROM REMOVAL.—In the case of an alien with respect to 

24 whom an immigration judge has entered an order termi25 nating removal proceedings or an order providing for relief 


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1 from removal, including an order granting asylum, or pro2 viding for withholding, deferral, or cancellation of removal, 

3 which order is pending appeal, the Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security shall immediately release the alien upon entry of 

5 the order, and may impose only reasonable conditions on 

6 the alien’s release from custody. 

7 ‘‘(f) ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security shall establish programs that provide alter10 natives to detaining aliens, which shall offer a con11 tinuum of supervision mechanisms and options, in12 cluding community-based supervision programs and 

13 community support. The Secretary may contract 

14 with nongovernmental community-based organiza15 tions to provide programs, which may include case 

16 management services, appearance assistance serv17 ices, and screenings of aliens who have been de18 tained. 

19 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALIZED DETERMINATION RE20 QUIRED.—In determining whether to order an alien 

21 to participate in a program under this subsection, 

22 the Secretary, or the immigration judge, as appro23 priate shall make an individualized determination to 

24 determine the appropriate level of supervision for the 

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1 section may not be ordered for an alien for whom it 

2 is determined that release on reasonable bond or re3 cognizance will reasonably assure the appearance of 

4 the alien as required and the safety of any other 

5 person and the community.’’. 

6 (b) PROBABLE CAUSE HEARING.—Section 287(a) of 

7 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(a)) 

8 is amended by striking the matter preceding paragraph 

9 (3) and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(a) Any officer or employee of the Department of 

11 Homeland Security authorized under regulations pre12 scribed by the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have 

13 power without warrant— 

14 ‘‘(1) to interrogate any alien or person believed 

15 to be an alien as to the person’s right to be or to 

16 remain in the United States, provided that such in17 terrogation is not based on the person’s race, eth18 nicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, 

19 color, spoken language, or English language pro20 ficiency; and 

21 ‘‘(2) to arrest any alien who in the officer or 

22 employee’s presence or view is entering or attempt23 ing to enter the United States in violation of any law 

24 or regulation made in pursuance of law regulating 

25 the admission, exclusion, expulsion, or removal of 


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1 aliens, or to arrest any alien in the United States, 

2 if— 

3 ‘‘(A) the officer or employee has probable 

4 cause to believe that the alien so arrested is in 

5 the United States in violation of any such law 

6 or regulation and is likely to escape before a 

7 warrant can be obtained for his arrest; 

8 ‘‘(B) the officer or employee has reason to 

9 believe that the person would knowingly and 

10 willfully fail to appear in immigration court in 

11 response to a properly served notice to appear; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(C) not later than 48 hours after being 

14 taken into custody, the arrested alien is pro15 vided with a hearing before an immigration 

16 judge to determine whether there is probable 

17 cause as required by this section, including 

18 probable cause to believe that the person would 

19 have knowingly and willfully failed to appear as 

20 required under subparagraph (B), which burden 

21 to establish probable cause shall be on the Gov22 ernment.’’. 

23 (c) MANDATORY DETENTION REPEALED.—The Im24 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in section 235(b)(1)(B)(ii)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘may’’; and 

4 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

5 end the following: ‘‘pursuant to the custody re6 view procedures set forth in section 236’’; 

7 (2) by striking section 235(b)(1)(B)(iii)(IV); 

8 (3) in section 235(b)(2)(A)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘may’’; and 

11 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

12 end the following: ‘‘pursuant to the custody re13 view procedures set forth in section 236’’; 

14 (4) by striking section 236A; 

15 (5) in section 238(a)(2), by striking ‘‘pursuant 

16 to section 236(c)’’; and 

17 (6) in section 506(a)(2)— 

18 (A) by striking the paragraph heading and 

19 inserting the following: ‘‘RELEASE HEARING

20 FOR ALIENS DETAINED’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

22 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

23 by striking ‘‘lawfully admitted for perma24 nent residence’’; 

25 (ii) by striking clause (i); and 


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1 (iii) by redesignating clauses (ii) and 

2 (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively. 

3 (d) ALIENS ORDERED REMOVED.—Section 241(a) of 

4 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(a)) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘90 days’’ 

7 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘60 days’’; 

8 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(2) INITIAL CUSTODY REDETERMINATION

11 HEARING.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 72 

13 hours after the entry of a final administrative 

14 order of removal, the alien ordered removed 

15 shall be provided with a custody redetermina16 tion hearing before an immigration judge. 

17 ‘‘(B) PRESUMPTION OF DETENTION.—For 

18 purposes of the hearing under subparagraph 

19 (A), the alien shall be detained during the re20 moval period unless the alien can show, by a 

21 preponderance of the evidence, that the alien’s 

22 removal is not reasonably foreseeable and that 

23 the alien does not pose a risk to the safety of 

24 any individual or to the community.’’; 

25 (3) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘90-DAY’’ and inserting ‘‘60-DAY’’; and 

3 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

4 (A), by striking ‘‘the alien, pending removal, 

5 shall be subject to supervision under’’ and in6 serting the following: ‘‘except as provided in 

7 paragraph (7), any alien who has been detained 

8 during the removal period shall be released 

9 from custody, pending removal, subject to indi10 vidualized supervision requirements in accord11 ance with’’; 

12 (4) by striking paragraph (6); and 

13 (5) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(7) SUBSEQUENT CUSTODY REDETERMINA16 TION HEARINGS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Government may 

18 request a subsequent redetermination hearing 

19 before an immigration judge seeking continued 

20 detention for an alien ordered to be detained 

21 pursuant to paragraph (2) who has not been re22 moved within the removal period. 

23 ‘‘(B) STANDARD.—An alien may only be 

24 detained after the removal period upon a show25 ing by the Government that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the alien’s removal is reasonably 

2 foreseeable; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the alien poses a risk to the safe4 ty of an individual or the community, 

5 which may only be established based on 

6 credible and individualized information 

7 that establishes objective risk factors, and 

8 may not be established based only on the 

9 fact that the alien has been charged with 

10 or is suspected of a crime. 

11 ‘‘(C) PERIOD OF DETENTION.—An alien 

12 may not be detained pursuant to an order 

13 under this paragraph for longer than a 60-day 

14 period. The Government may seek subsequent 

15 redetermination hearings under this paragraph 

16 in order to continue detaining an alien beyond 

17 each such 60-day period.’’. 

18 TITLE II—STATUTE OF 

19 LIMITATIONS 

20 SEC. 201. TIME FOR COMMENCING REMOVAL PRO21 CEEDINGS. 

22 Section 239(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

23 Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(d)) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), any removal 

2 proceeding against an alien previously admitted to the 

3 United States for being within a class of deportable aliens 

4 described in section 237(a)(2), or within a class of inad5 missible aliens described in section 212(a)(2), shall not be 

6 entertained unless commenced not later than the date that 

7 is five years after the date on which the alien became de8 portable or inadmissible. 

9 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall apply to any removal pro10 ceeding resulting in an order of removal before the date 

11 of the enactment of the New Way Forward Act as if in 

12 effect on the date on which the removal proceeding was 

13 commenced.’’. 

14 TITLE III—LIMIT CRIMINAL15 SYSTEM-TO-REMOVAL PIPELINE 

16 SEC. 301. CRIMINAL OFFENSES AND IMMIGRATION LAWS. 

17 (a) INADMISSIBILITY BASED ON CRIMINAL AND RE18 LATED GROUNDS.—Section 212(a)(2) of the Immigration 

19 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking subparagraph (A); and 

21 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

22 through (I) as subparagraphs (A) through (H), re23 spectively. 


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1 (b) DEPORTABILITY BASED ON CRIMINAL OF2 FENSES.—Section 237(a)(2) of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (A) by striking clauses (i) and (ii); 

6 (B) by redesignating clauses (iii) through 

7 (vi) as clauses (i) through (iv), respectively; and 

8 (C) in clause (iv), as so redesignated, by 

9 striking ‘‘Clauses (i), (ii), and (iii)’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘Clauses (i) and (ii)’’; 

11 (2) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

12 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through 

13 (F) as subparagraphs (B) through (E), respectively. 

14 SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS. 

15 (a) AGGRAVATED FELONY.—Section 101(a)(43) of 

16 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

17 1101(a)(43)) is amended— 

18 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

19 by striking ‘‘means—’’ and inserting ‘‘means a fel20 ony, for which a term of imprisonment of not less 

21 than 5 years was imposed, that is—’’; 

22 (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘for which 

23 the term of imprisonment at least one year’’; 

24 (3) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘for 

25 which’’ and all that follows through ‘‘year’’; 


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1 (4) in subparagraph (J), by striking ‘‘, for 

2 which a sentence of one year imprisonment or more 

3 may be imposed’’; 

4 (5) in subparagraph (P)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘(i)’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘and (ii) for which the 

7 term of imprisonment imposed (regardless of 

8 any suspension of such imprisonment) is at 

9 least 12 months’’; 

10 (6) in subparagraph (R), by striking ‘‘for which 

11 the term of imprisonment is at least one year’’; 

12 (7) in subparagraph (S), by striking ‘‘, for 

13 which the term of imprisonment is at least one 

14 year’’; and 

15 (8) by striking the last sentence. 

16 (b) CONVICTION.—Section 101(a)(48) of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48)) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘court’’ 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘to be imposed.’’ and 

21 inserting the following: ‘‘court. An adjudication or 

22 judgment of guilt that has been dismissed, ex23 punged, sealed, deferred, annulled, invalidated, with24 held, or vacated, or where a court has issued a judi25 cial recommendation against removal, or an order of 


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1 probation without entry of judgment or any similar 

2 disposition, shall not be considered a conviction for 

3 purposes of this Act. No judgment on appeal or 

4 within the time to file direct appeal shall be deemed 

5 a ‘conviction’ for the purposes of this Act.’’; and 

6 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘only’’ after ‘‘deemed to 

8 include’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘or confinement’’ and all 

10 that follows through the period at the end and 

11 inserting ‘‘ordered by a court of law. Any such 

12 reference shall not be deemed to include any 

13 suspension of the imposition or execution of 

14 that imprisonment or sentence in whole or in 

15 part.’’. 

16 (c) PARTICULARLY SERIOUS CRIME.—Section 

17 208(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

18 (8 U.S.C. 1158)(b)(2)(B)(i)) is amended to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(i) CONVICTION OF AGGRAVATED

21 FELONY.—For purposes of clause (ii) of 

22 subparagraph (A), section 241(b)(3)(B), or 

23 any other provision of this Act, only an 

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1 ment of not less than five years was im2 posed shall be considered to have been con3 victed of a particularly serious crime.’’. 

4 (d) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

5 section shall apply to— 

6 (1) admissions and conduct occurring before, 

7 on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act; 

8 and 

9 (2) convictions and sentences entered before, 

10 on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 TITLE IV—RESTORE JUDICIAL 

12 DISCRETION AND END RE13 MOVAL WITHOUT DUE PROC14 ESS 

15 SEC. 401. IMMIGRATION PROCEDURAL CHANGES. 

16 (a) DECISION AND BURDEN OF PROOF.—Section 

17 240(c)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1229(c)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting after the 

19 period at the end the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding any 

20 other provision of law, an immigration judge may grant 

21 any relief or deferral from removal, including withholding 

22 of removal, to any individual who is otherwise eligible for 

23 such relief but for a prior criminal conviction, or the com24 mission of or a finding of the commission of other conduct 

25 described in section 212(a)(2), 237(a)(2), or 237(a)(3), if 


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1 the immigration judge finds such an exercise of discretion 

2 appropriate in pursuit of humanitarian purposes, to as3 sure family unity, or when it is otherwise in the public 

4 interest.’’. 

5 (b) REMOVAL OF ALIENS WHO ARE NOT PERMA6 NENT RESIDENTS.—Section 238 of the Immigration and 

7 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1228) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking subsection (b); and 

9 (2) by redesignating the first subsection (c) as 

10 subsection (b). 

11 (c) REINSTATEMENT OF REMOVAL ORDERS AGAINST

12 ALIENS ILLEGALLY REENTERING.—Section 241(a) of the 

13 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(a)) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by striking paragraph (5); and 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 

17 paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively. 

18 (d) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO CONTINUOUS

19 RESIDENCE OR PHYSICAL PRESENCE.—Section 240A(d) 

20 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

21 U.S.C.1229b(d)) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking paragraph (1); 

23 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 

24 paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively. 


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1 (e) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ORDERS OF REMOVAL.— 

2 Section 242 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1252) is amended by striking subsection (a)(2)(C). 

4 TITLE V—PROHIBITION AGAINST 

5 PERFORMANCE OF IMMIGRA6 TION OFFICER FUNCTIONS BY 

7 STATE AND LOCAL OFFICERS 

8 AND EMPLOYEES 

9 SEC. 501. LOCAL ENFORCEMENT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 287(g) of the Immigra11 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.1357(g)) is amended 

12 to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(g)(1) The officers and employees of any State, or 

14 any political subdivision of a State, are prohibited from 

15 performing the function of an immigration officer in rela16 tion to the investigation, apprehension, transport, or de17 tention of aliens in the United States or otherwise assist 

18 in the performance of such functions. 

19 ‘‘(2) Civil immigration warrants shall not be made 

20 available to the officers or employees of any State, or any 

21 political subdivision of a State, through the National 

22 Crime Information Center database or its incorporated 

23 criminal history databases. Federal, State, and local law 

24 enforcement officials are prohibited from entering into the 

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1 porated criminal history databases information that re2 lates to an alien’s immigration status, the existence of a 

3 prior removal, deportation, or voluntary departure order 

4 entered against an alien, or any allegations of civil viola5 tions of the immigration laws. Any information described 

6 in this paragraph that is in the National Crime Informa7 tion Center database shall be removed from such database 

8 not later than 90 days after the enactment of the New 

9 Way Forward Act.’’. 

10 (b) PROHIBITING COORDINATION FOR ENFORCE11 MENT OF IMMIGRATION LAWS.— 

12 (1) PROHIBITING STATE AND LOCAL LAW EN13 FORCEMENT ARREST AND DETENTION OF ALIENS.— 

14 Section 439 of the Antiterrorism and Effective 

15 Death Penalty Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1252c) is re16 pealed. 

17 (2) COMMUNICATION.—Section 434 of the Per18 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec19 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1644) is repealed. 

20 (c) COMMUNICATION AND ENFORCEMENT.—Section 

21 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re22 sponsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373) is repealed. 

23 SEC. 502. NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER. 

24 Section 534(f) of title 28, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para2 graph (4); and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(3) Civil immigration warrants shall not be 

6 made available to the officers or employees of any 

7 State, or any political subdivision of a State, 

8 through the National Crime Information Center 

9 database or its incorporated criminal history data10 bases. Federal, State, and local law enforcement of11 ficials are prohibited from entering into the National 

12 Crime Information Center database or its incor13 porated criminal history databases information that 

14 relates to an alien’s immigration status, the exist15 ence of a prior removal, deportation, or voluntary 

16 departure order entered against an alien, or any al17 legations of civil violations of the immigration laws. 

18 Any information described in this paragraph that is 

19 in the National Crime Information Center database 

20 shall be removed from such database not later than 

21 90 days after the enactment of the New Way For22 ward Act.’’. 


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1 TITLE VI—DECRIMINALIZE 

2 MIGRATION 

3 SEC. 601. REPEALING MIGRATION CRIMINAL LAWS. 

4 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR ENTRY AT IMPROPER

5 TIME OR PLACE.—Section 275 of the Immigration and 

6 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325) is repealed. 

7 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR REENTRY.—Section 

8 276 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

9 1326) is repealed. 

10 TITLE VII—RIGHT TO COME 

11 HOME 

12 SEC. 701. RECONSIDERING AND REOPENING IMMIGRATION 

13 CASES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi15 sion of law, the Attorney General— 

16 (1) shall grant a motion to reconsider or reopen 

17 proceedings pursuant to paragraph (6) or (7) of sec18 tion 240(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

19 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) with respect to any alien who— 

20 (A) on or after April 24, 1996— 

21 (i) was ordered removed, deported, or 

22 excluded; or 

23 (ii) departed the United States pursu24 ant to a grant of voluntary departure 

25 under section 240B of the Immigration 


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1 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229c) (re2 gardless of whether or not the alien was 

3 ordered removed, deported, or excluded); 

4 and 

5 (B) demonstrates that the alien— 

6 (i) would not have been considered in7 admissible, excludable, or deportable under 

8 the immigration laws (as defined in section 

9 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nation10 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) if this 

11 Act, and the amendments made by this 

12 Act, had been in effect on the date on 

13 which such order was issued or the vol14 untary departure took place; or 

15 (ii) would have been eligible to apply 

16 for relief from removal, deportation, or ex17 clusion under such laws if this Act, and 

18 the amendments made by this Act, had 

19 been in effect on the date on which such 

20 order was issued or the voluntary depar21 ture took place; and 

22 (2) shall deem an alien who makes the dem23 onstration under paragraph (1)(B) as not having 

24 been removed, deported, excluded, or departed, and 

25 as not having failed to depart under a voluntary deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5383.IH H5383

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1 parture order, for all purposes under the Immigra2 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

3 (b) PREVIOUSLY FILED APPLICATION; PREVIOUS

4 MOTIONS TO REOPEN OR RECONSIDER.—The Attorney 

5 General may not reject or deny a motion to reconsider or 

6 reopen under subsection (a) because— 

7 (1) the alien did not include a copy of any pre8 viously filed application for relief; or 

9 (2) the alien had previously filed a motion to 

10 reopen or reconsider. 

11 (c) DEADLINE.—The deadline described in para12 graphs (6)(B) and (7)(C)(i) of section 240(c) of the Immi13 grations and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) shall not 

14 apply to a motion to reopen or reconsider under this sec15 tion. 

16 (d) TRANSPORTATION.—The Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security shall provide transportation for aliens eligible for 

18 reopening or reconsideration of their proceedings under 

19 this section, at Government expense, to return to the 

20 United States for further immigration proceedings and 

21 shall admit or parole the alien into the United States. 

22 (e) PHYSICAL PRESENCE REQUIREMENT.—For the 

23 purpose of applications filed subsequent to reopening 

24 under this section pursuant to section 240A of the Immi25 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b), or any 


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1 other application for relief under the immigration laws (as 

2 defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))), removal, deporta4 tion, exclusion, or voluntary departure shall not be consid5 ered to toll any physical presence requirement. 

6 (f) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other 

7 provision of the Immigration and National Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1101 et seq.), any denial of a motion to reopen or recon9 sider submitted pursuant to this section is subject to de 

10 novo judicial review in a Federal district court having ju11 risdiction over the applicant’s residence or, in the case of 

12 an applicant who was removed from the United States, 

13 the last known residential address of the applicant in the 

14 United States. 

Æ 


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