I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1684

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 

Act of 1996 to permit States to determine state residency for higher 

education purposes and to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act 

to cancel the removal and adjust the status of certain alien collegebound students who are long-term U.S. residents. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2003

Mr. CANNON (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. BONILLA, 

Mr. DREIER, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, 

Mr. HOYER, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. GUTIERREZ, 

Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. WU, Mr. NUNES, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. 

WELLER, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Ms. HART, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. 

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. RENZI, Ms. LINDA T. 

SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. SHAYS, and Ms. SOLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 

in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 

Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine 

state residency for higher education purposes and to 

amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to cancel 

the removal and adjust the status of certain alien collegebound students who are long-term U.S. residents.
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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 ‘‘Student Adjustment 

5 Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF STATE OPTION TO DETERMINE 

7 RESIDENCY FOR PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDU8 CATION BENEFITS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 505 of the Illegal Immi10 gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 

11 (division C of Public Law 104–208; 110 Stat 3009–672; 

12 8 U.S.C. 1623) is repealed. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal made by sub14 section (a) shall take effect as if included in the enactment 

15 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon16 sibility Act of 1996. 

17 SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN LONG-TERM 

18 RESIDENT STUDENTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 240A of the Immigration 

20 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b) is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (3) of subsection (b)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1) or (2)’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), or (3)’’ each 

24 place it appears; 
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1 (B) by redesignating such paragraph as 

2 paragraph (5); and 

3 (C) by moving such paragraph to follow 

4 paragraph (4); 

5 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) of sub6 section (b) the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR CHILDREN IN MIDDLE

8 OR SECONDARY SCHOOL.—

9 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 shall cancel removal of, and adjust to the status 

12 of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent res13 idence, an alien who is inadmissible or deport14 able from the United States if the alien dem15 onstrates that—

16 ‘‘(i) the alien has not, at the time of 

17 application, attained the age of 21; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the alien was physically present 

19 in the United States on the date of the en20 actment of the Student Adjustment Act of 

21 2003 and has been physically present in 

22 the United States for a continuous period 

23 of not less than five years immediately pre24 ceding the date of such application; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the alien has been a person of 

2 good moral character during such period; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(iv) the alien, at the time of applica5 tion, is enrolled at or above the 7th grade 

6 level in a school in the United States or is 

7 enrolled in or actively pursuing admission 

8 to an institution of higher education in the 

9 United States as defined in section 101 of 

10 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 1001). 

12 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro13 vide a procedure by regulation allowing eligible 

14 individuals to apply affirmatively for the relief 

15 available under this paragraph without being 

16 placed in removal proceedings. An alien shall 

17 not be considered to have failed to maintained 

18 continuous physical presence in the United 

19 States for purposes of clause (ii) by virtue of 

20 brief, casual, and innocent absences from the 

21 United States. 

22 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTIONS ON AUTHORITY.—The 

23 provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to 

24 any of the following aliens: 
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1 ‘‘(i) An alien who is inadmissible 

2 under section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) or is de3 portable under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) (re4 lating to crimes of moral turpitude), unless 

5 the Secretary of Homeland Security deter6 mines that the alien’s removal would result

7 in extreme hardship to the alien, the 

8 alien’s child, or (in the case of an alien 

9 who is a child) to the alien’s parent. 

10 ‘‘(ii) An alien who is inadmissible 

11 under section 212(a)(3) or is deportable 

12 under section 237(a)(2)(D)(i) or 

13 237(a)(2)(D)(ii) (relating to security and 

14 related grounds).’’; and 

15 (3) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘or 

16 (b)(3)’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)(2)’’. 

17 (b) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—

18 Section 240A(e)(3) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(e)(3)) 

19 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(C) Aliens described in subsection 

22 (b)(3).’’. 

23 (c) GRANDFATHER PROVISIONS.—For purpose of ap24 plying section 240A(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nation25 ality Act (as inserted by subsection (a)) with respect to 
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1 an application filed under such section not later than 120 

2 days after the effective date of regulations implementing 

3 this section—

4 (1) an individual shall be considered to be 

5 under the age of 21 if the individual’s 21st birthday 

6 occurs after the date of the enactment of this Act 

7 but no more than 120 days after the effective date 

8 of such regulations; and 

9 (2) an individual shall be treated as meeting the 

10 requirements of clauses (i), (ii), and (iv) of subpara11 graph (A) of such section if—

12 (A) the individual would have met such re13 quirements based upon an application filed at 

14 any time during the 4-year period ending on the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act; and 

16 (B) the individual has graduated from, or 

17 is at the time of application enrolled in, an ac18 credited institution of higher education in the 

19 United States (described in clause (iv) of such 

20 subparagraph). 

21 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—Neither 

22 the Secretary of Homeland Security, nor any other official 

23 or employee of the Department of Homeland Security or 

24 other Department, bureau, or agency of the United States, 

25 may—
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1 (1) use the information furnished by the appli2 cant pursuant to an application filed under the 

3 amendments made by this section for any purpose 

4 other than to make a determination on the applica5 tion; 

6 (2) make any publication whereby the informa7 tion furnished by any particular individual can be 

8 identified; or 

9 (3) permit anyone other than the sworn officers 

10 and employees of the Department of Homeland Se11 curity or bureau or agency or, with respect to appli12 cations filed with a designated entity, that des13 ignated entity, to examine individual applications. 

14 Whoever knowingly uses, publishes, or permits informa15 tion to be examined in violation of this subsection shall 

16 be fined not more than $10,000. 

17 (e) ELIGIBILITY OF CANCELLATION APPLICANTS FOR

18 FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 431(b) of 

19 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec20 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(b)) is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘; or’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (6) and inserting a comma; 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (7) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and 
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(8) an alien who has been granted relief under 

4 section 240A(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nation5 ality Act, or with respect to whom an application 

6 under such section has been filed but not finally 

7 been adjudicated.’’. 

8 (f) REGULATIONS.—

9 (1) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

10 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

11 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall publish 

12 proposed regulations implementing this section. 

13 (2) INTERIM, FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later 

14 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

16 publish final regulations implementing this section. 

17 Such regulations shall be effective immediately on an 

18 interim basis, but are subject to change and revision 

19 after public notice and opportunity for a period for 

20 public comment.

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