I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8039 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish immigration and 

residency requirements for individuals served by Federal TRIO programs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 17, 2024 

Mr. BANKS (for himself and Ms. FOXX) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish 

immigration and residency requirements for individuals 

served by Federal TRIO programs, 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 ‘‘American Students 

5 First Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL TRIO 

2 PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 402A of the Higher Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–11) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) through (h) 

6 as subsections (g) through (i), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(f) CITIZENSHIP AND RESIDENCY REQUIRE10 MENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to participate 

12 in a program that receives assistance under this 

13 chapter, an individual shall be— 

14 ‘‘(A) a national of the United States (as 

15 defined in paragraph (22) of section 101(a) of 

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

17 1101(a))); 

18 ‘‘(B) an alien (as defined in paragraph (3) 

19 of such section) lawfully admitted for perma20 nent residence (as defined in paragraph (20) of 

21 such section); 

22 ‘‘(C) an alien (as defined in paragraph (3) 

23 of such section) who is physically present in the 

24 United States (as defined in paragraph (38) of 

25 such section) for other than a temporary pur26 pose and who is able to provide evidence from 


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1 the Secretary of Homeland Security of the 

2 alien’s intent to become lawfully admitted for 

3 permanent residence (as defined in paragraph 

4 (20) of such section); 

5 ‘‘(D) a citizen of one of the Freely Associ6 ated States lawfully residing in the United 

7 States in accordance with the Compact of Free 

8 Association set forth in section 201 of the Com9 pact of Free Association Act of 1985 (48 

10 U.S.C. 1901 note; Public Law 99–239) or the 

11 Compact of Free Association set forth in sec12 tion 201 of Public Law 99–658 (48 U.S.C. 

13 1931 note); 

14 ‘‘(E) an alien having CNMI Resident sta15 tus under section 6(e)(6) of the Joint Resolu16 tion entitled ‘A Joint Resolution to approve the 

17 Covenant To Establish a Commonwealth of the 

18 Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union 

19 with the United States of America, and for 

20 other purposes’, approved March 24, 1976 (48 

21 U.S.C. 1806); or 

22 ‘‘(F) a lawful resident of one of the Freely 

23 Associated States. 

24 ‘‘(2) WAIVER PROHIBITED.—The requirement 

25 under paragraph (1) may not be waived under— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any provision of section 523 of De2 partments of Labor, Health and Human Serv3 ices, and Education, and Related Agencies Ap4 propriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118–47); 

5 ‘‘(B) any of the authorities provided by 

6 any of the laws referred to in subsection (b) of 

7 such section 523; or 

8 ‘‘(C) any other authority provided in any 

9 law— 

10 ‘‘(i) to carry out, or participate in, a 

11 Performance Partnership Pilot (as defined 

12 in section 526(1) of the Departments of 

13 Labor, Health and Human Services, and 

14 Education, and Related Agencies Appro15 priations Act, 2014 (42 U.S.C. 12301 

16 note)); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) that allows additional time to op18 erate, or participate in, a Performance 

19 Partnership Pilot site selected on or before 

20 the date of the enactment of such law.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Higher Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is further 

23 amended— 


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1 (1) in section 318(b) (20 U.S.C. 1059e(b)), by 

2 striking ‘‘section 402A(h)’’ each place it appears and 

3 inserting ‘‘section 402A(i)’’; 

4 (2) in section 371(c) (20 U.S.C. 1067q(c)), by 

5 striking ‘‘section 402A(h)’’ each place it appears and 

6 inserting ‘‘section 402A(i)’’; 

7 (3) in section 402E(g) (20 U.S.C. 1070a– 

8 15(g)), by striking ‘‘section 402A(g)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘section 402A(h)’’; and 

10 (4) in section 402H (20 U.S.C. 1070a–18), by 

11 striking ‘‘section 402A(f)(4)’’ each place it appears 

12 and inserting ‘‘section 402A(g)(4)’’. 

Æ 


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