I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3651

To account for all aliens unlawfully present in the United States by providing 

incentives for such aliens to register with the Secretary of Homeland 

Security, to provide immunity from criminal prosecution for the employer 

of such an alien if the employer pays all taxes and penalties owed 

by reason of such employment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2003

Mr. ISSA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To account for all aliens unlawfully present in the United 

States by providing incentives for such aliens to register 

with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to provide 

immunity from criminal prosecution for the employer 

of such an alien if the employer pays all taxes and 

penalties owed by reason of such employment, 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 ‘‘Alien Accountability 

5 Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ACCOUNTING FOR ALL UNLAWFULLY PRESENT 

2 ALIENS. 

3 (a) REGISTRATION.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of each alien un5 lawfully present in the United States on December 

6 8, 2003 (or in the case of each alien who is a resi7 dent in a foreign contiguous territory and was habit8 ually unlawfully present in the United States during 

9 the 6-month period ending on December 8, 2003) 

10 who registers with the Secretary of Homeland Secu11 rity during the 6-month period beginning on a date 

12 (not later than 180 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act) designated by the Secretary, and 

14 provides the Secretary with such biometric identi15 fiers as the Secretary may require—

16 (A) if the alien is eligible for adjustment of 

17 status under section 251 of the Immigration 

18 and Nationality Act (as added by section 3 of 

19 this Act), the Secretary shall permit the alien to 

20 apply for such adjustment; or 

21 (B) if the alien is not so eligible, or does 

22 not desire to apply for such adjustment, and 

23 has not been determined by an immigration 

24 judge to be inadmissible under paragraph (2) or 

25 (3) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and 

26 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) or deport-
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1 able under paragraph (2)(A)(iii) or (4) of sec2 tion 237(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a))—

3 (i) the Secretary shall permit the alien 

4 voluntarily to depart the United States at 

5 the alien’s own expense in lieu of being 

6 subject to proceedings under section 240 of 

7 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a) during a vol8 untary departure period not exceeding 120 

9 days; and 

10 (ii) if the alien does so depart, the 

11 Secretary shall disregard such unlawful 

12 presence in the United States (and the 

13 alien’s unlawful entrance into the United 

14 States, where applicable) for purposes of 

15 any determination under such Act, or any 

16 other immigration law of the United 

17 States, made subsequent to such depar18 ture. 

19 (2) EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE JOINT REGISTRA20 TION.—An alien unlawfully present in the United 

21 States may register under paragraph (1) alone or to22 gether with the alien’s present or former employer. 

23 (3) EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION OF UNLAWFULLY

24 EMPLOYED ALIEN.—If an employer desires to make 

25 a joint registration described in paragraph (2) with 
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1 an alien who has not yet registered under paragraph 

2 (1), but the alien refuses to do so, the employer may 

3 notify the Secretary of Homeland Security of such 

4 refusal. 

5 (b) IMMUNITY FROM FINES AND PENALTIES FOR

6 UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employer 

8 who submits a joint registration described in sub9 section (a)(2) or a notification described in sub10 section (a)(3), if the employer pays to the Secretary 

11 of the Treasury any Federal tax (including penalties 

12 and interest) owed by reason of the employment of 

13 the alien, the employer shall considered relieved of li14 ability for any violation of section 274A of the Immi15 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) aris16 ing out of such employment. Such immunity shall 

17 cover employment of the alien from the commence18 ment of such employment through the earlier of—

19 (A) the end of the application period de20 scribed in section 251(a)(1) of such Act (as 

21 added by section 3 of this Act), if the alien fails 

22 to submit an application under such section; or 

23 (B) the date on which the application of 

24 the alien under such section is finally adju25 dicated. 
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1 (2) RECOUPMENT OF CERTAIN COSTS.—The 

2 Secretary of the Treasury may impose a fee on an 

3 employer paying taxes, penalties, or interest under 

4 paragraph (1), to be set at a level necessary to re5 cover the costs of collecting and processing such 

6 payments. 

7 (3) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO STATES.—

8 The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide to any 

9 State in which an employer conducts (or has con10 ducted) business information that is collected by the 

11 Federal Government pursuant to the employer’s sub12 mission of a joint registration described in sub13 section (a)(2) or a notification described in sub14 section (a)(3), or pursuant to the employer’s pay15 ment of taxes, penalties, or interest under paragraph 

16 (1), but only if the State agrees to accept payment 

17 of all State and local taxes (including penalties and 

18 interest) owed by the employer in lieu of criminal 

19 prosecution. 

20 (c) EXIT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Homeland Se21 curity shall implement an exit program to ensure that ap22 propriate data are collected about aliens departing volun23 tarily under subsection (a)(1)(B). 

24 (d) MINORS.—In the case of an alien who is under 

25 18 years of age, a parent or legal guardian of the alien 
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1 may exercise the authorities under this section on behalf 

2 of the alien. 

3 (e) LIMITATION ON REGISTRATION.—Any alien 

4 whose unlawful presence in the United States is known 

5 to officials of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs 

6 Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security (as 

7 evidenced by documentary records) at any time prior to 

8 the alien’s registration under this section is ineligible for 

9 such registration. Any purported registration by such an 

10 alien, or any purported notification made by an employer 

11 under subsection (a)(3) with respect to such an alien, shall 

12 be deemed null and void. 

13 (f) LIMITATIONS ON VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE.—

14 (1) FINANCIAL MEANS.—No alien may be per15 mitted to depart voluntarily under this section un16 less the alien has established by clear and convincing 

17 evidence that the alien has the means to depart the 

18 United States and intends to do so. 

19 (2) BOND.—An alien permitted to depart volun20 tarily under this section shall be required to post a 

21 voluntary departure bond, in an amount necessary to 

22 ensure that the alien will depart, to be surrendered 

23 upon proof that the alien has departed the United 

24 States within the time specified. 
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1 (3) ALIENS NOT ELIGIBLE.—The Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security shall not permit an alien to de3 part voluntarily under this section if the alien is sub4 ject to pending civil or criminal proceedings, impris5 oned, sentenced to imprisonment, or on parole, su6 pervised release, or probation. 

7 (4) CIVIL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO DE8 PART.—In addition to being subject to removal pro9 ceedings under section 240 of the Immigration and 

10 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a), if an alien is per11 mitted to depart voluntarily under this section and 

12 fails to do so within the time period specified, the 

13 alien shall be subject to a civil penalty in accordance 

14 with section 240B(d) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1229c(d)). 

16 SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN REG17 ISTRANTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title II of the Immi19 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255 et seq.) is 

20 amended by inserting after section 250 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 251. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN REG22 ISTRANTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—The Secretary of 

24 Homeland Security shall adjust the status of an alien who 

25 has registered under section 2(a) of the Alien Account-
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1 ability Act to that of a nonimmigrant under section 

2 101(a)(15)(W) if the alien meets the following require3 ments: 

4 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION PERIOD.—The alien applies 

5 for such adjustment during the 6-month period be6 ginning on a date designated by the Secretary and 

7 occurring not later than 6 months after the termi8 nation of the registration period described in such 

9 section. 

10 ‘‘(2) FEE.—The alien (or a present or former 

11 employer of the alien) pays a fee established by the 

12 Secretary in accordance with subsection (g). 

13 ‘‘(3) ABANDONMENT OF OTHER APPLICATIONS

14 FOR RELIEF.—The alien must withdraw or otherwise 

15 demonstrate voluntary abandonment or termination 

16 of any other application for relief from removal 

17 under this Act, or any other Federal immigration 

18 law, which may have been pending prior to the sub19 mission of the application under paragraph (1), and 

20 the alien must permanently relinquish the oppor21 tunity subsequently to submit any such application. 

22 ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT OR SPONSORSHIP.—The 

23 alien, or an employer or other sponsor of the alien, 

24 has satisfied the requirements of subsection (b). 
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1 ‘‘(5) CONTINUOUS UNLAWFUL RESIDENCE OR

2 HABITUAL PRESENCE.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The alien must estab4 lish that the alien entered the United States be5 fore December 8, 2003, and has resided con6 tinuously in the United States in an unlawful 

7 status since such date and through the date the 

8 application is filed under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(B) NONIMMIGRANTS.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

11 alien who entered the United States as a 

12 nonimmigrant before December 8, 2003, 

13 the alien must establish that the alien’s pe14 riod of authorized stay as a nonimmigrant 

15 expired before such date through the pas16 sage of time. 

17 ‘‘(ii) EXCHANGE VISITORS.—If the 

18 alien was at any time a nonimmigrant ex19 change alien (as defined in section 

20 101(a)(15)(J)), the alien must establish 

21 that the alien was not subject to the two22 year foreign residence requirement of sec23 tion 212(e) or has fulfilled that require24 ment or received a waiver thereof. 
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1 ‘‘(C) HABITUAL BORDER CROSSERS.—Not2 withstanding subparagraph (A), in the case of 

3 an alien who is a resident of a foreign contig4 uous territory and has not established a resi5 dence in the United States, the alien must es6 tablish that the alien was habitually unlawfully 

7 present in the United States during the 6-

8 month period ending on December 8, 2003. 

9 ‘‘(6) CRIMINAL, SECURITY, OR RELATED

10 GROUNDS.—The alien must establish that the alien 

11 has not been determined by an immigration judge to 

12 be inadmissible under paragraph (2) or (3) of sec13 tion 212(a) or deportable under paragraph 

14 (2)(A)(iii) or (4) of section 237(a). 

15 ‘‘(7) COOPERATION.—The alien must have pro16 vided truthful answers to all questions posed by offi17 cials of the Department of Homeland Security, and 

18 otherwise have cooperated in investigative efforts by 

19 such officials. 

20 ‘‘(b) MEANS OF SUPPORT.—

21 ‘‘(1) EMPLOYMENT.—An employer employing 

22 an alien in the United States may demonstrate (to 

23 the satisfaction of the Secretary pursuant to such 

24 standards as the Secretary shall by regulations es25 tablish) that such employment produces adequate 
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1 means financially to support the alien, and depend2 ents of the alien, for the duration of the period dur3 ing which the alien will be a nonimmigrant described 

4 in section 101(a)(15)(W). Alternatively, if the em5 ployer of the alien does not desire to make such 

6 demonstration, the alien may do so using adequate 

7 employment documentation established by the Sec8 retary. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPONSORSHIP.—In the case of an alien 

10 who is not able to satisfy the requirements of para11 graph (1), if the alien is a financial dependent of an12 other individual, the alien may demonstrate (to the 

13 satisfaction of the Secretary pursuant to such stand14 ards as the Secretary shall by regulations establish) 

15 that such individual possesses lawful means ade16 quately to support the alien financially and has 

17 agreed (in a legally enforceable writing promulgated 

18 by the Secretary under such regulations) to provide 

19 such support for the duration of the period during 

20 which the alien will be a nonimmigrant described in 

21 section 101(a)(15)(W). 

22 ‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENT.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each alien provided status 

24 under section 101(a)(15)(W) shall be given an iden25 tification document that uses biometric identifiers. 
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1 In carrying out the preceding sentence, the Sec2 retary of Homeland Security shall select from among 

3 biometric identifiers recognized by domestic and 

4 international standards organizations. 

5 ‘‘(2) COST.—The cost of producing and issuing 

6 the identification documents described in paragraph 

7 (1) shall be taken into account in establishing fees 

8 under subsection (g). 

9 ‘‘(d) BENEFITS.——

10 ‘‘(1) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

11 Homeland Security shall authorize an adult alien 

12 whose status has been adjusted under subsection (a) 

13 to engage in employment in the United States dur14 ing the term of the alien’s lawful status and shall 

15 provide the alien with an ‘employment authorized’ 

16 endorsement or other appropriate document signi17 fying authorization of employment. 

18 ‘‘(2) CHANGE IN NONIMMIGRANT CLASSIFICA19 TION; ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—In the case of a 

20 nonimmigrant having lawful status under section 

21 101(a)(15)(W), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

22 may authorize a change of nonimmigrant classifica23 tion, or may adjust the status of the alien to that 

24 of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi-
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1 dence, if the alien otherwise satisfies the require2 ments for such change or adjustment. 

3 ‘‘(3) TRAVEL ABROAD.—The Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security shall permit the alien to travel 

5 abroad for temporary periods without the prior con6 sent of the Secretary during periods of lawful status 

7 as a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(W). 

8 ‘‘(4) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN GROUNDS

9 FOR REMOVAL.—For purposes of obtaining the bene10 fits described in this subsection, and for purposes of 

11 any other determination under the immigration laws 

12 of the United States, any ground for removal or de13 nial of admission applicable to an alien granted sta14 tus under section 101(a)(15)(W) shall be dis15 regarded if the ground is reflected in the records of 

16 the Department of Homeland Security or the De17 partment of State on the date on which the alien 

18 first applied for such status. 

19 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE FOR HABITUAL BORDER

20 CROSSERS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

21 this section, in the case of an alien described in sub22 section (a)(5)(C), the Secretary of Homeland Secu23 rity shall have the discretion to impose conditions on 

24 the alien’s status under section 101(a)(15)(W) de25 signed to permit the alien to engage solely in those 
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1 activities in the United States in which the alien en2 gaged during the 6-month period described in sub3 section (a)(5)(C). 

4 ‘‘(6) FAMILY MEMBERS MAY NOT FOLLOW TO

5 JOIN.—No relative of an alien having status under 

6 section 101(a)(15)(W) may follow to join the alien. 

7 ‘‘(e) MINORS.—In the case of an alien who is under 

8 18 years of age, a parent or legal guardian of the alien 

9 may exercise the authorities under this section on behalf 

10 of the alien. 

11 ‘‘(f) PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED ADMISSION.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The initial period of au13 thorized admission as a nonimmigrant described in 

14 section 101(a)(15)(W) shall be 1 year. 

15 ‘‘(2) RENEWAL.—Such initial period may be re16 newed by the Secretary of Homeland Security up to 

17 5 times, in 1-year increments. The Secretary of 

18 Homeland Security shall impose a fee on applicants 

19 for status renewal in accordance with subsection (g). 

20 Renewal shall be contingent on the alien, or an em21 ployer or other sponsor of the alien, demonstrating 

22 continuous satisfaction of the employment or spon23 sorship requirements of subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT OR SPONSORSHIP TERMI25 NATION.—If at any time the employment or sponsor-
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1 ship conditions described in subsection (b) that were 

2 the predicate for an initial or subsequent grant of 

3 status as a nonimmigrant under section 

4 101(a)(15)(W) terminate or change, the non5 immigrant shall notify the Secretary of Homeland 

6 Security. The Secretary shall grant the alien 30 

7 days to arrange new employment or sponsorship so 

8 as to satisfy such conditions. Such 30-day period 

9 may be extended by the Secretary in 30-day incre10 ments not more than twice. If the alien is unable to 

11 satisfy such conditions within the period granted by 

12 the Secretary, the Secretary shall terminate the 

13 alien’s authorization to remain in the United States. 

14 If the Secretary determines that an alien has failed 

15 to comply with the notification requirement of this 

16 paragraph, the Secretary shall terminate the alien’s 

17 authorization to remain in the United States. 

18 ‘‘(g) AMOUNT OF FEES.—Fees collected under sub19 section (a)(2), and upon renewal of nonimmigrant status 

20 pursuant to subsection (f)(2), shall be set at a level that 

21 ensures recovery of at least the following costs: 

22 ‘‘(1) The cost of processing applications for ad23 justment of status under subsection (a)(1) and ap24 plications for status renewal under subsection (f)(2). 
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1 ‘‘(2) Other costs of administering this section 

2 and section 2 of the Alien Accountability Act. 

3 ‘‘(3) The cost of increasing the personnel of the 

4 Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

5 by the number established under section 5(a)(2) of 

6 such Act. 

7 ‘‘(h) SUNSET.—The authority of the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security to adjust the status of an alien under 

9 subsection (a) shall expire 6 years after the first day on 

10 which any alien is provided status under section 

11 101(a)(15)(W). 

12 ‘‘(i) WORK AUTHORIZATION FOR APPLICANTS.—The 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security may authorize an alien 

14 who has applied for adjustment of status under subsection 

15 (a) to engage in employment in the United States during 

16 the pendency of such application and may provide the 

17 alien with an ‘employment authorized’ endorsement or 

18 other appropriate document signifying authorization of 

19 employment, except that if such application is pending for 

20 a period exceeding 180 days, and has not been denied, 

21 the Secretary shall authorize such employment. Notwith22 standing the preceding sentence, the Secretary shall not 

23 be required to authorize employment for an alien described 

24 in subsection (a)(5)(C) unless the alien engaged in em-
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1 ployment in the United States during the 6-month period 

2 described in such subsection.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 for the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 

5 inserting after the item relating to section 250 the fol6 lowing:

‘‘Sec. 251. Adjustment of status for certain registrants.’’.

7 SEC. 4. NEW NONIMMIGRANT VISA CATEGORY. 

8 Section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nation9 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is amended—

10 (1) in subparagraph (U), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (V), by striking the period 

13 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(W) an alien whose status is adjusted under 

16 section 251.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR IN18 CREASE IN NUMBER OF CERTAIN IMMIGRA19 TION-RELATED PERSONNEL. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro21 priated for fiscal year 2005 and subsequent fiscal years 

22 such sums as may be necessary to enable the Secretary 

23 of Homeland Security to increase, above the number of 

24 positions for which funds were allotted for the preceding 

25 fiscal year, the total number of personnel of the Bureau 
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1 of Immigration and Customs Enforcement engaged in in2 terior enforcement and alien removal functions by—

3 (1) 3,000, for the fiscal year in which this Act 

4 is enacted; and 

5 (2) the number derived under subsection (b) for 

6 each subsequent fiscal year. 

7 (b) INCREASE.—The number derived under this sub8 section shall equal 1,000 for each 1,000,000 aliens initially 

9 granted status as nonimmigrants under section 

10 101(a)(15)(H)(W) of the Immigration and Nationality 

11 Act (as added by section 4 of this Act) during the previous 

12 fiscal year. 

13 SEC. 6. STUDY OF IMMIGRATION LEVELS. 

14 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall conduct a 

15 study to determine whether, for each program under Fed16 eral immigration law for which a number of eligible aliens 

17 is specified for a year or otherwise, such number ought 

18 to be modified in view of the number of aliens registered 

19 under section 2.

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