II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5301 

To amend section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to 

reform immigration parole, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19, 2022 

Mr. GRASSLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform immigration parole, 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 ‘‘Immigration Parole 

5 Reform Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMMIGRATION PAROLE REFORM. 

7 Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality 

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(5)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) or 

10 section 214(f), the Secretary of Homeland Security, in the 


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1 discretion of the Secretary, may temporarily parole into 

2 the United States any alien applying for admission to the 

3 United States who is not present in the United States, 

4 under such conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, on 

5 a case-by-case basis, and not according to eligibility cri6 teria describing an entire class of potential parole recipi7 ents, for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public 

8 benefit. Parole granted under this subparagraph may not 

9 be regarded as an admission of the alien. When the pur10 poses of such parole have been served in the opinion of 

11 the Secretary, the alien shall immediately return or be re12 turned to the custody from which the alien was paroled. 

13 After such return, the case of the alien shall be dealt with 

14 in the same manner as the case of any other applicant 

15 for admission to the United States. 

16 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant 

17 parole to any alien who— 

18 ‘‘(i) is present in the United States without 

19 lawful immigration status; 

20 ‘‘(ii) is the beneficiary of an approved petition 

21 under section 203(a); 

22 ‘‘(iii) is not otherwise inadmissible or remov23 able; and 

24 ‘‘(iv) is the spouse or child of a member of the 

25 Armed Forces serving on active duty. 


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1 ‘‘(C) For purposes of determining an alien’s eligibility 

2 for parole under subparagraph (A), an urgent humani3 tarian reason shall be limited to circumstances in which— 

4 ‘‘(i)(I) the alien has a medical emergency; and 

5 ‘‘(II)(aa) the alien cannot obtain necessary 

6 treatment in the foreign state in which the alien is 

7 residing; or 

8 ‘‘(bb) the medical emergency is life-threatening 

9 and there is insufficient time for the alien to be ad10 mitted through the normal visa process; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the alien is the parent or legal guardian of 

12 an alien described in clause (i) and the alien de13 scribed in clause (i) is a minor; 

14 ‘‘(iii) the alien is needed in the United States 

15 in order to donate an organ or other tissue for 

16 transplant and there is insufficient time for the alien 

17 to be admitted through the normal visa process; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the alien has a close family member in the 

19 United States whose death is imminent and the alien 

20 could not arrive in the United States in time to see 

21 such family member alive if the alien were to be ad22 mitted through the normal visa process; 

23 ‘‘(v) the alien is seeking to attend the funeral 

24 of a close family member and the alien could not ar25 rive in the United States in time to attend such fuVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5301.IS S5301

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1 neral if the alien were to be admitted through the 

2 normal visa process; 

3 ‘‘(vi) the alien is an adopted child with an ur4 gent medical condition who is in the legal custody of 

5 the petitioner for a final adoption-related visa and 

6 whose medical treatment is required before the ex7 pected award of a final adoption-related visa; or 

8 ‘‘(vii) the alien is a lawful applicant for adjust9 ment of status under section 245 and is returning 

10 to the United States after temporary travel abroad. 

11 ‘‘(D) For purposes of determining an alien’s eligi12 bility for parole under subparagraph (A), a significant 

13 public benefit may be determined to result from the parole 

14 of an alien only if— 

15 ‘‘(i) the alien has assisted (or will assist, wheth16 er knowingly or not) the United States Government 

17 in a law enforcement matter; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the alien’s presence is required by the Gov19 ernment in furtherance of such law enforcement 

20 matter; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) the alien is inadmissible, does not satisfy 

22 the eligibility requirements for admission as a non23 immigrant, or there is insufficient time for the alien 

24 to be admitted through the normal visa process. 


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1 ‘‘(E) For purposes of determining an alien’s eligi2 bility for parole under subparagraph (A), the term ‘case3 by-case basis’ means that the facts in each individual case 

4 are considered and parole is not granted based on mem5 bership in a defined class of aliens to be granted parole. 

6 The fact that aliens are considered for or granted parole 

7 one-by-one and not as a group is not sufficient to establish 

8 that the parole decision is made on a ‘case-by-case basis’. 

9 ‘‘(F) The Secretary of Homeland Security may not 

10 use the parole authority under this paragraph— 

11 ‘‘(i) to allow an alien who is the beneficiary of 

12 a pending or approved immigrant petition to enter 

13 the United States (except as otherwise authorized 

14 under this paragraph) before an immigrant visa is 

15 issued to such alien; 

16 ‘‘(ii) to parole into the United States aliens en17 tering for the purpose of performing skilled or un18 skilled labor; 

19 ‘‘(iii) to parole into the United States aliens 

20 seeking to undertake activities described in existing 

21 nonimmigrant classifications, including by paroling 

22 aliens seeking to undertake activities authorized 

23 under section 101(a)(15)(B) and who are nationals 

24 of a country that has not been designated as a pro25 gram country under section 212(l) or 217; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) to parole into the United States an alien 

2 who is a refugee or who is described in a designated 

3 class of aliens granted access to the United States 

4 Refugee Admissions Program, unless such alien may 

5 otherwise be paroled under this paragraph; or 

6 ‘‘(v) to parole an alien into the United States 

7 for any reason or purpose other than those described 

8 in subparagraphs (C) and (D). 

9 ‘‘(G) Parole granted after a departure from the 

10 United States shall not be regarded as an admission of 

11 the alien. An alien granted parole, whether as an initial 

12 grant of parole or parole upon reentry into the United 

13 States, is not eligible to adjust status to lawful permanent 

14 residence or for any other immigration benefit if the immi15 gration status the alien had at the time of departure did 

16 not authorize the alien to adjust status or to be eligible 

17 for such benefit. 

18 ‘‘(H)(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), 

19 parole shall be granted to an alien under this paragraph 

20 for the shorter of— 

21 ‘‘(I) a period of sufficient length to accomplish 

22 the activity described in subparagraph (C) or (D) for 

23 which the alien was granted parole; or 

24 ‘‘(II) 1 year. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Grants of parole pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

2 may be extended once, in the discretion of the Secretary, 

3 for an additional period that is the shorter of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the period that is necessary to accomplish 

5 the activity described in subparagraph (C) or (D) for 

6 which the alien was granted parole; or 

7 ‘‘(II) 1 year. 

8 ‘‘(iii) Aliens who have a pending application to adjust 

9 status to permanent residence under section 245 may re10 quest extensions of parole under this paragraph, in 1-year 

11 increments, until the application for adjustment has been 

12 adjudicated. Such parole shall terminate immediately upon 

13 the denial of such adjustment application. 

14 ‘‘(I) Not later than 90 days after the last day of each 

15 fiscal year, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall sub16 mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

17 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep18 resentatives and make available to the public, a report— 

19 ‘‘(i) identifying the total number of aliens pa20 roled into the United States under this paragraph 

21 during the previous fiscal year; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) containing information and data regarding 

23 all aliens paroled during such fiscal year, includ24 ing— 

25 ‘‘(I) the duration of parole; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the type of parole; and 

2 ‘‘(III) the current status of the aliens so 

3 paroled.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

6 (b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

7 take effect on the date that is 30 days after the date of 

8 the enactment of this Act. 

9 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a)— 

10 (1) any application for parole or advance parole 

11 filed by an alien before the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act shall be adjudicated under the law that was 

13 in effect on the date on which the application was 

14 properly filed and any approved advance parole shall 

15 remain valid under the law that was in effect on the 

16 date on which the advance parole was approved; 

17 (2) section 212(d)(5)(G) of the Immigration 

18 and Nationality Act, as added by section 2(b), shall 

19 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act; 

20 and 

21 (3) the provisions of this Act, and the amend22 ments made by this Act, affecting aliens who were 

23 paroled into the United States pursuant to section 

24 212(d)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality 

25 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A)) before the date of the 


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1 enactment of this Act shall take effect on the date 

2 that is 180 days after such date of enactment. 

3 SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION. 

4 Any person, State, or local government that experi5 ences financial harm in excess of $1,000 due to a failure 

6 of the Federal Government to lawfully apply the provisions 

7 of this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall have 

8 standing to bring a civil action against the Federal Gov9 ernment in an appropriate district court of the United 

10 States. 

11 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

12 If any provision of this Act or any amendment by 

13 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend14 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be uncon15 stitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application 

16 of such provision or amendment to any other person or 

17 circumstance shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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