I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1941 

To adjust the immigration status of certain Liberian nationals who were 

provided refuge in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2007 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

LYNCH, and Mr. WALBERG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To adjust the immigration status of certain Liberian 

nationals who were provided refuge 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 ‘‘Liberian Refugee Im5 migration Protection Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN LIBERIAN 

7 NATIONALS. 

8 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

2 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the 

3 status of any alien described in subsection (b) shall 

4 be adjusted by the Secretary of Homeland Security 

5 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

6 residence, if the alien— 

7 (A) applies for such adjustment before 

8 April 1, 2009; 

9 (B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im10 migrant visa and is otherwise admissible to the 

11 United States for permanent residence, except 

12 in determining such admissibility the grounds 

13 for inadmissibility specified in paragraphs (4), 

14 (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the 

15 Immigration and Nationality Act shall not 

16 apply. 

17 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER18 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United 

19 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re20 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the 

21 United States under any provision of the Immigra22 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such 

23 order, apply for adjustment of status under para24 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a 

25 condition on submitting or granting such applicaVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:40 Apr 20, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1941.IH H1941

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1 tion, to file a motion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate 

2 such order. If the Secretary of Homeland Security 

3 grants the application, the Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security shall cancel the order. If the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security renders a final administrative 

6 decision to deny the application, the order shall be 

7 effective and enforceable to the same extent as if the 

8 application had not been made. 

9 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA10 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply 

11 to any alien who— 

12 (1) is a national of Liberia; and 

13 (2)(A) who was granted temporary protected 

14 status on or after March 27, 1991; or 

15 (B) was eligible to apply for temporary pro16 tected status on or after March 27, 1991. 

17 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security shall provide by regulation for an alien sub20 ject to a final order of deportation or removal or ex21 clusion to seek a stay of such order based on the fil22 ing of an application under subsection (a). 

23 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith24 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na25 tionality Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 


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1 shall not order any alien to be removed from the 

2 United States, if the alien is in exclusion, deporta3 tion, or removal proceedings under any provision of 

4 such Act and raises as a defense to such an order 

5 the eligibility of the alien to apply for adjustment of 

6 status under subsection (a), except where the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security has rendered a final 

8 administrative determination to deny the application. 

9 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

10 Homeland Security may authorize an alien who has 

11 applied for adjustment of status under subsection 

12 (a) to engage in employment in the United States 

13 during the pendency of such application and may 

14 provide the alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ 

15 endorsement or other appropriate document signi16 fying authorization of employment, except that if 

17 such application is pending for a period exceeding 

18 180 days, and has not been denied, the Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security shall authorize such employment. 

20 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

21 CHILDREN.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

23 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the 

24 status of an alien shall be adjusted by the Secretary 


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1 of Homeland Security to that of an alien lawfully 

2 admitted for permanent residence, if— 

3 (A) the alien is a national of Liberia; 

4 (B) the alien is the spouse, child, or un5 married son or daughter, of an alien whose sta6 tus is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully ad7 mitted for permanent residence under sub8 section (a), except that in the case of such an 

9 unmarried son or daughter, the son or daughter 

10 shall be required to establish that they have 

11 been physically present in the United States for 

12 at least 1 year and is physically present in the 

13 United States on the date the application for 

14 such adjustment is filed; 

15 (C) the alien applies for such adjustment 

16 and is physically present in the United States 

17 on the date the application is filed; and 

18 (D) the alien is otherwise eligible to receive 

19 an immigration visa and is otherwise admissible 

20 to the United States for permanent residence, 

21 except in determining such admissibility the 

22 grounds for exclusion specified in paragraphs 

23 (4), (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of 

24 the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not 

25 apply. 


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1 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For 

2 purposes of establishing the period of continuous 

3 physical presence referred to in paragraph (1)(B), 

4 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to 

5 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of 

6 an absence, or absences, from the United States for 

7 any periods in aggregate not exceeding 180 days. 

8 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

9 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to ap10 plicants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) the 

11 same right to, and procedures for, administrative review 

12 as are provided to— 

13 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 

14 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; 

15 or 

16 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 

17 section 240 of such Act. 

18 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter19 mination by the Secretary of Homeland Security as to 

20 whether the status of any alien should be adjusted under 

21 this section is final and shall not be subject to review by 

22 any court. 

23 (g) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.— 

24 When an alien is granted the status of having been law25 fully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this 


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1 section, the Secretary of State shall not be required to re2 duce the number of immigrant visas authorized to be 

3 issued under any provision of the Immigration and Na4 tionality Act. 

5 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION6 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically 

7 provided in this Act, the definitions contained in the Immi8 gration and Nationality Act shall apply in the administra9 tion of this section. Nothing contained in this Act shall 

10 be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, effect, or restrict 

11 the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the Secretary 

12 of Homeland Security in the administration and enforce13 ment of such Act or any other law relating to immigration, 

14 nationality, or naturalization. The fact that an alien may 

15 be eligible to be granted the status of having been lawfully 

16 admitted for permanent residence under this section shall 

17 not preclude the alien from seeking such status under any 

18 other provision of law for which the alien may be eligible. 

Æ 


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