I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2258 

To adjust the immigration status of certain Liberian nationals who were 

provided refuge in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2009 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. ELLISON, and Mr. MCMAHON) 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 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN LIBERIAN 

7 NATIONALS. 

8 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

10 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the 


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

2 be adjusted by the Secretary of Homeland Security 

3 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

4 residence, if the alien— 

5 (A) applies for such adjustment before 

6 April 1, 2011; and 

7 (B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im8 migrant visa and is otherwise admissible to the 

9 United States for permanent residence, except 

10 in determining such admissibility the grounds 

11 for inadmissibility specified in paragraphs (4), 

12 (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the 

13 Immigration and Nationality Act shall not 

14 apply. 

15 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER16 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United 

17 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re18 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the 

19 United States under any provision of the Immigra20 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such 

21 order, apply for adjustment of status under para22 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a 

23 condition on submitting or granting such applica24 tion, to file a motion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate 

25 such order. If the Secretary of Homeland Security 


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1 grants the application, the Secretary of Homeland 

2 Security shall cancel the order. If the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security renders a final administrative 

4 decision to deny the application, the order shall be 

5 effective and enforceable to the same extent as if the 

6 application had not been made. 

7 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA8 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply 

9 to any alien who— 

10 (1) is a national of Liberia; and 

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

12 status on or after March 27, 1991; or 

13 (B) was eligible to apply for temporary pro14 tected status on or after March 27, 1991. 

15 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.— 

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

17 Security shall provide by regulation for an alien sub18 ject to a final order of deportation or removal or ex19 clusion to seek a stay of such order based on the fil20 ing of an application under subsection (a). 

21 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith22 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na23 tionality Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

24 shall not order any alien to be removed from the 

25 United States, if the alien is in exclusion, deportaVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:45 May 06, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2258.IH H2258

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1 tion, or removal proceedings under any provision of 

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

3 the eligibility of the alien to apply for adjustment of 

4 status under subsection (a), except where the Sec5 retary of Homeland Security has rendered a final 

6 administrative determination to deny the application. 

7 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security may authorize an alien who has 

9 applied for adjustment of status under subsection 

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

11 during the pendency of such application and may 

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

13 endorsement or other appropriate document signi14 fying authorization of employment, except that if 

15 such application is pending for a period exceeding 

16 180 days, and has not been denied, the Secretary of 

17 Homeland Security shall authorize such employment. 

18 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

19 CHILDREN.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

21 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the 

22 status of an alien shall be adjusted by the Secretary 

23 of Homeland Security to that of an alien lawfully 

24 admitted for permanent residence, if— 

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


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1 (B) the alien is the spouse, child, or un2 married son or daughter, of an alien whose sta3 tus is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully ad4 mitted for permanent residence under sub5 section (a), except that in the case of such an 

6 unmarried son or daughter, the son or daughter 

7 shall be required to establish that they have 

8 been physically present in the United States for 

9 at least 1 year and is physically present in the 

10 United States on the date the application for 

11 such adjustment is filed; 

12 (C) the alien applies for such adjustment 

13 and is physically present in the United States 

14 on the date the application is filed; and 

15 (D) the alien is otherwise eligible to receive 

16 an immigration visa and is otherwise admissible 

17 to the United States for permanent residence, 

18 except in determining such admissibility the 

19 grounds for exclusion specified in paragraphs 

20 (4), (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of 

21 the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not 

22 apply. 

23 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For 

24 purposes of establishing the period of continuous 

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


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1 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to 

2 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of 

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

4 any periods in aggregate not exceeding 180 days. 

5 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

6 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to ap7 plicants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) the 

8 same right to, and procedures for, administrative review 

9 as are provided to— 

10 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 

11 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; 

12 or 

13 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 

14 section 240 of such Act. 

15 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter16 mination by the Secretary of Homeland Security as to 

17 whether the status of any alien should be adjusted under 

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

19 any court. 

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

21 When an alien is granted the status of having been law22 fully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this 

23 section, the Secretary of State shall not be required to re24 duce the number of immigrant visas authorized to be 


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1 issued under any provision of the Immigration and Na2 tionality Act. 

3 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION4 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically 

5 provided in this Act, the definitions contained in the Immi6 gration and Nationality Act shall apply in the administra7 tion of this section. Nothing contained in this Act shall 

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

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

10 of Homeland Security in the administration and enforce11 ment of such Act or any other law relating to immigration, 

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

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

14 admitted for permanent residence under this section shall 

15 not preclude the alien from seeking such status under any 

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

Æ 


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