I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3364 

To amend the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act 

to identify and register certain Central Americans residing in the United 

States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2005 

Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SMITH of New 

Jersey, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

of Florida, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CANNON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. 

SOLIS, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, 

and Mr. GUTIERREZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American 

Relief Act to identify and register certain Central Americans residing in the United States. 

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 ‘‘Central American Se5 curity Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN NATIONALS 

2 FROM EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, AND HON3 DURAS. 

4 Section 202 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Cen5 tral American Relief Act (title II of Public Law 105–100; 

6 8 U.S.C. 1255 note) is amended— 

7 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘NICA8 RAGUANS AND CUBANS’’ and inserting ‘‘NICA9 RAGUANS, CUBANS, SALVADORANS, GUATEMALANS, 

10 AND HONDURANS’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘April 

12 1, 2000’’ and inserting ‘‘two years after the date of 

13 promulgation of a final rule implementing the Cen14 tral American Security Act’’; 

15 (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘Nicaragua 

16 or Cuba’’ and inserting ‘‘Nicaragua, Cuba, El Sal17 vador, Guatemala, or Honduras’’; and 

18 (4) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking ‘‘April 

19 1, 2000’’ and inserting ‘‘two years after the date of 

20 promulgation of a final rule implementing the Cen21 tral American Security Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS PENDING UNDER AMENDMENTS 

2 MADE BY SECTION 203 OF THE NICARAGUAN 

3 ADJUSTMENT AND CENTRAL AMERICAN RE4 LIEF ACT. 

5 An application for relief properly filed by a national 

6 of Guatemala or El Salvador under the amendments made 

7 by section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central 

8 American Relief Act which was filed on or before the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act, and on which a final adminis10 trative determination has not been made, shall, at the elec11 tion of the applicant, be considered to be an application 

12 for adjustment of status under the provisions of section 

13 202 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American 

14 Relief Act, as amended by this Act, upon the payment of 

15 any fees, and in accordance with procedures, that the Sec16 retary of Homeland Security shall prescribe by regulation. 

17 The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Se18 curity may not refund any fees paid in connection with 

19 an application filed by a national of Guatemala or El Sal20 vador under the amendments made by section 203 of that 

21 Act. 
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1 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO THE NICARAGUAN 

2 ADJUSTMENT AND CENTRAL AMERICAN RE3 LIEF ACT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202 of the Nicaraguan 

5 Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (title II of 

6 Public Law 105–111; 8 U.S.C. 1255 note) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by inserting before the period at the 

9 end of paragraph (1)(B) the following: ‘‘, and 

10 the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive 

11 the grounds of inadmissibility specified in para12 graphs (1)(A)(i) and (6)(C) of section 212(a) of 

13 such Act for humanitarian purposes, to assure 

14 family unity, or when it is otherwise in the pub15 lic interest’’; and 

16 (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

17 follows: 

18 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER19 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United 

20 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, or 

21 removed, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the 

22 United States under any provision of the Immigra23 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such 

24 order, apply for adjustment of status under para25 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a 

26 condition of submitting or granting such application, 
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1 to file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, or 

2 vacate such order. Such an alien may be required to 

3 seek a stay of such an order in accordance with sub4 section (c) to prevent the execution of the order 

5 pending the adjudication of the application for ad6 justment of status. If the Secretary of Homeland Se7 curity denies a stay of a final order of exclusion, de8 portation, or removal, or if the Secretary renders a 

9 final administrative determination to deny the appli10 cation for adjustment of status, the order shall be 

11 effective and enforceable to the same extent as if the 

12 application had not been made. If the Secretary 

13 grants the application for adjustment of status, the 

14 Secretary shall cancel the order.’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end 

16 the following: ‘‘Subsection (a) shall not apply to an 

17 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, un18 less the alien is applying for relief under that sub19 section in deportation or removal proceedings.’’; 

20 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by adding at the end 

21 the following: ‘‘Nothing in this section requires the 

22 Secretary of Homeland Security to stay the removal 

23 of an alien who is ineligible for adjustment of status 

24 under this section.’’; 

25 (4) in subsection (d)— 
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1 (A) by amending the heading by striking 

2 ‘‘SPOUSES AND CHILDREN’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘SPOUSES, CHILDREN, AND UNMARRIED SONS

4 AND DAUGHTERS’’; 

5 (B) by amending the heading of paragraph 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS’’; 

8 (C) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read 

9 as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) the alien entered the United States 

11 on or before the date of the enactment of the 

12 Central American Security Act;’’; 

13 (D) by amending paragraph (1)(B) to read 

14 as follows: 

15 ‘‘(B) the alien— 

16 ‘‘(i) is the spouse, child, or unmarried 

17 son or daughter of an alien whose status is 

18 adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admit19 ted for permanent residence under sub20 section (a) or pursuant to the amendments 

21 made by section 203, except that— 

22 ‘‘(I) any determination of wheth23 er the alien satisfies the age require24 ment in the matter preceding sub25 paragraph (A) of section 101(b)(1) 
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1 shall be made using the age of the 

2 alien on the date on which the prin3 cipal alien filed for adjustment under 

4 subsection (a) or pursuant to the 

5 amendments made by section 203; 

6 ‘‘(II) in the case of such a 

7 spouse, stepchild, or unmarried step8 son or stepdaughter, the spouse, step9 child, stepson, or stepdaughter shall 

10 be required to establish that the quali11 fying marriage was entered into be12 fore the date of the enactment of the 

13 Central American Security Act; and 

14 ‘‘(III) in the case of such an un15 married son or daughter, the son or 

16 daughter shall be required to establish 

17 that the son or daughter has been 

18 physically present in the United 

19 States for a continuous period begin20 ning not later than December 1, 

21 1995, and ending not earlier than the 

22 date on which the application for ad23 justment under this subsection is 

24 filed; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) was, at the time at which a prin2 cipal alien filed for adjustment under sub3 section (a) or pursuant to the amendments 

4 made by section 203, the spouse or child of 

5 such principal alien, the status of such 

6 principal alien is adjusted to that of an 

7 alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi8 dence under subsection (a) or pursuant to 

9 the amendments made by section 203, and 

10 the spouse, child, or child of the spouse 

11 has been battered or subjected to extreme 

12 cruelty by such principal alien;’’; and 

13 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN SPOUSES AND

16 CHILDREN FOR ISSUANCE OF IMMIGRANT VISAS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with 

18 regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

20 State, upon approval of an application for ad21 justment of status to that of an alien lawfully 

22 admitted for permanent residence under sub23 section (a) or pursuant to the amendments 

24 made by section 203, an alien who is the spouse 

25 or child of the alien being granted such status 
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1 may be issued a visa for admission to the 

2 United States as an immigrant following to join 

3 the principal applicant, if the spouse or child— 

4 ‘‘(i) satisfies the requirements in 

5 paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(D); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) applies for such a visa within a 

7 time period to be established by such regu8 lations. 

9 ‘‘(B) RETENTION OF FEES FOR PROC10 ESSING APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary of State 

11 may retain fees to recover the cost of immi12 grant visa application processing and issuance 

13 for certain spouses and children of aliens whose 

14 applications for adjustment of status under sub15 section (a) have been approved. Such fees— 

16 ‘‘(i) shall be deposited as an offsetting 

17 collection to any Department of State ap18 propriation to recover the cost of such 

19 processing and issuance; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) shall be available until expended 

21 for the same purposes of such appropria22 tion to support consular activities.’’; 

23 (5) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘or an immi24 grant visa under subsection (d)(4)’’ after ‘‘pursuant 

25 to this section’’; and 
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1 (6) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(i) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

4 section authorizes any alien to apply for admission to, be 

5 admitted to, be paroled into, or otherwise lawfully return 

6 to the United States, to apply for, or to pursue an applica7 tion for adjustment of status under this section without 

8 the express authorization of the Attorney General or the 

9 Secretary of Homeland Security.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 paragraphs (1)(B), (2), and (6) of subsection (a) shall be 

12 effective as if included in the enactment of the Nicaraguan 

13 Adjustment and Central American Relief Act. The amend14 ments made by paragraphs (1)(A), (3), (4), and (5) of 

15 such subsection shall take effect on the date of the enact16 ment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 5. SECURITY AND CRIMINAL BACKGROUND INVES18 TIGATIONS. 

19 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no appli20 cant for relief under this Act, or the amendments made 

21 by this Act, is eligible to receive a waiver from any security 

22 or criminal background investigation required to process 

23 an application under section 202 of the Nicaraguan Ad24 justment and Central American Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1255 

25 note). All applicants seeking relief under this Act, or the 
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1 amendments made by this Act, shall submit fingerprints 

2 to the appropriate government agency in order to facilitate 

3 such processing. 

4 SEC. 6. MOTIONS TO REOPEN. 

5 Notwithstanding any time and number limitations 

6 imposed by law on motions to reopen, a national of Cuba 

7 or Nicaragua who, on the date of the enactment of the 

8 Act, has a final administrative denial of an application for 

9 adjustment of status under section 202 of the Nicaraguan 

10 Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, and who is 

11 made eligible for adjustment of status under that Act by 

12 the amendments made by this Act, may file one motion 

13 to reopen an exclusion, deportation, or removal proceeding 

14 to have the application reconsidered. Any such motion 

15 shall be filed within 180 days of the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act. The scope of any proceeding reopened on this 

17 basis shall be limited to a determination of the alien’s eli18 gibility for adjustment of status under the Nicaraguan Ad19 justment and Central American Relief Act. 

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