110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 110–826 

FOR THE RELIEF OF KUMI IIZUKA-BARCENA 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2008.—Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be printed 

Mr. CONYERS, from the Committee on the Judiciary, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

ADDITIONAL VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 5243] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 5243) for the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and 

recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 1 

Background and Need for the Legislation ............................................................. 2 

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 2 

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 2 

Committee Votes ...................................................................................................... 3 

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 3 

New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures ...................................................... 3 

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate .......................................................... 3 

Performance Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 4 

Constitutional Authority Statement ...................................................................... 4 

Advisory on Earmarks ............................................................................................. 4 

Section-by-Section Analysis .................................................................................... 4 

Agency Views ........................................................................................................... 5 

Additional Views ...................................................................................................... 10 

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for adjustment of her status to that of a permanent resident. 


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BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

Kumi Iizuka was born on October 28, 1965, in Shibukawa 

Gumma, Japan. She is currently 42 years old. She entered the 

United States on an F-1 student visa in 1992. She received a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a master’s 

degree from the University of Hartford. In 1998, Ms. Iizuka began 

working for Elcom, Inc., pursuant to an H-1B specialty worker visa. 

While in the United States on the H-1B visa, Ms. Iizuka met and 

fell in love with Andrew Barcena, a U.S. citizen. She married Mr. 

Barcena on July 29, 2004, while he was training to be a police officer for the El Paso Police Department. A few weeks later, on August 16, 2004, Mr. Barcena filed immigration petitions for his wife 

(now Kumi Iizuka-Barcena) based on their marriage (Form I-130, 

Petition for Alien Relative, and Form I-485, Application for Permanent Residence). 

Mr. Barcena graduated from the police academy on August 26, 

2004. Just 1 month later, in the early morning hours of September 

25, he was shot and killed while attempting to subdue an aggressive spouse during a domestic disturbance call. 

Mr. Barcena died before the Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) could process and approve the immigration petitions that he 

had filed on his wife’s behalf. Due to the circumstances, however, 

DHS granted Ms. Iizuka-Barcena deferred action status along with 

employment authorization. She was thus able to stay in the U.S., 

where she continued to care for Andrew’s father, who was a diabetic and suffered partial paralysis due to a stroke. 

In June 2006, less than 2 years after her husband’s death, Ms. 

Iizuka-Barcena was diagnosed with breast cancer. She immediately 

had surgery to remove cancerous tissue from her breasts, and she 

required a second procedure when doctors discovered another lump 

in her breasts. She also engaged in months of chemo and radiation 

therapy, and she is now on a hormone medication regimen. 

Due to the circumstances in Ms. Iizuka-Barcena’s case, DHS has 

granted her deferred action status on an annual basis. As with a 

stay of removal, grants of deferred action status are temporary and 

discretionary. Ms. Iizuka-Barcena has no basis to immigrate to the 

United States other than a private bill. 

On February 26, 2008, the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law requested, in accordance with its customary practice for private immigration bills, that DHS’ Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) provide the Subcommittee with information regarding Ms. Iizuka-Barcena relevant to the bill. ICE’s report, submitted to the Subcommittee on June 13, 2008, contained no derogatory information about Ms. Iizuka-Barcena. The ICE report is reprinted in full in the ‘‘Agency Views’’ section below. 

HEARINGS

The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 5243. 

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

On July 10, 2008, the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law met in 

open session and ordered the bill, H.R. 5243, favorably reported, 


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without amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present. On 

July 30, 2008, the Committee met in open session and ordered the 

bill, H.R. 5243, favorably reported without amendment, by voice 

vote, a quorum being present. 

COMMITTEE VOTES

In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there were 

no recorded votes during the Committee’s consideration of H.R. 

5243. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the findings 

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report. 

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does not provide new 

budgetary authority or increased tax expenditures. 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with respect to 

the bill, H.R. 5243, the following estimate and comparison prepared 

by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:(r)MDNM 

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, August 1, 2008. 

Hon. JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Chairman, 

Committee on the Judiciary, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5243, a bill for the relief 

of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz, who 

can be reached at 226–2860. 

Sincerely, 

PETER R. ORSZAG, 

DIRECTOR. 

Enclosure 

cc: Honorable Lamar S. Smith. 

Ranking Member 

H.R. 5243—A bill for the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena. 

H.R. 5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for permanent residence in the United States. CBO estimates that enacting 


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this legislation would have no significant impact on the Federal 

budget. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, who 

can be reached at 226–2860. This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.(r)MD23 

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 5243 would 

make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for adjustment of her status to 

that of a lawful permanent resident. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for this legislation in article 1, section 8, clause 4 of the Constitution. 

ADVISORY ON EARMARKS

In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, H.R. 5243 does not contain any congressional 

earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 

in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of Rule XXI. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

The following discussion describes the bill as reported by the 

Committee. 

Sec. 1. Permanent Resident Status for Kumi Iizuka-Barcena. Subsection (a) provides that, notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of 

section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Kumi IizukaBarcena is eligible for issuance of an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

residence upon filing an application for issuance of an immigrant 

visa under section 204 of such Act or for adjustment of status to 

lawful permanent resident. 

Subsection (b) provides that if Kumi Iizuka-Barcena enters the 

United States before the filing deadline specified in subsection (c), 

she must be considered to have entered and remained lawfully and, 

if otherwise eligible, be eligible for adjustment of status under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act as of the date of 

the enactment of this Act. 

Subsection (c) provides that subsections (a) and (b) apply only if 

the application for issuance of an immigrant visa or the application 

for adjustment of status is filed with appropriate fees within 2 

years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Subsection (d) provides that, upon the granting of an immigrant 

visa or permanent residence to Kumi Iizuka-Barcena, the Secretary 

of State must instruct the proper officer to reduce by one, during 

the current or next following fiscal year, the total number of immigrant visas that are made available to natives of the country of the 

alien’s birth under section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act or, if applicable, the total number of immigrant visas that 

are made available to natives of the country of the alien’s birth 

under section 202(e) of such Act. 


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AGENCY VIEWS

The report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement on H.R. 5243 is set forth 

below: 


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ADDITIONAL VIEWS

Meritorious private bills should either represent unique and compelling circumstances or fit within private bill precedent of the 

modern era (from the 97th Congress onward, following the ABSCAM private bill scandal). 

There is precedent in the modern era for the enactment of private bills where the alien spouse of an American citizen lost the 

right to immigrate because of the death of the American citizen before the approval of the petition for conditional permanent residence for the alien (usually, but not always, there was also a U.S. 

citizen child involved). Congress has also passed private bills where 

the beneficiary was the spouse of a U.S. citizen or legal alien who 

died while in service to the United States (such as in the military 

or the State Department). 

A DHS report on Ms. Iizuka-Barcena was received on June 13, 

2008, and contained no derogatory information. Because H.R. 5243 

fits within private bill precedent and the DHS report contained no 

derogatory information, this is a meritorious private bill. 

LAMAR SMITH. 

Æ 


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