I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 945

To adjust the immigration status of certain Colombian and Peruvian nationals

who are in the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 8, 2001

Mr. DIAZ-BALART (for himself, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr.

MENENDEZ, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. CAPUANO,

Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DEUTSCH, Ms. ESHOO,

Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. GILMAN, Ms.

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. LEE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. MEEK of

Florida, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr.

PASCRELL, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr.

TOWNS, Mr. WEXLER, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To adjust the immigration status of certain Colombian and

Peruvian nationals who are 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 ‘‘Andean Adjustment

5 Act of 2001’’.
2

•HR 945 IH

1 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN COLOMBIAN

2 AND PERUVIAN NATIONALS.

3 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

5 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the

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

7 be adjusted by the Attorney General to that of an

8 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if

9 the alien—

10 (A) applies for such adjustment before

11 April 1, 2005; and

12 (B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im13 migrant visa and is otherwise admissible to the

14 United States for permanent residence, except

15 in determining such admissibility the grounds

16 for inadmissibility specified in paragraphs (4),

17 (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the

18 Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

19 apply.

20 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER21 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United

22 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re23 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily, from the

24 United States under any provision of the Immigra25 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such

26 order, apply for adjustment of status under para-
3

•HR 945 IH

1 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a

2 condition on submitting or granting such applica3 tion, to file a motion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate

4 such order. If the Attorney General grants the appli5 cation, the Attorney General shall cancel the order.

6 If the Attorney General renders a final administra7 tive decision to deny the application, the order shall

8 be effective and enforceable to the same extent as if

9 the application had not been made.

10 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA11 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply

12 to any alien who is a national of Colombia or Peru—

13 (1) who was physically present in the United

14 States on December 1, 1995; and

15 (2) has been physically present in the United

16 States for at least 1 year and is physically present

17 in the United States on the date the application for

18 adjustment of status under this Act is filed, except

19 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to

20 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of

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

22 any periods in the aggregate not exceeding 180

23 days.

24 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.—
4

•HR 945 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

2 provide by regulation for an alien subject to a final

3 order of deportation, removal, or exclusion to seek a

4 stay of such order based on the filing of an applica5 tion under subsection (a).

6 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith7 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na8 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order

9 any alien to be removed from the United States, if

10 the alien is in exclusion, deportation, or removal pro11 ceedings under any provision of such Act and raises

12 as a defense to such an order the eligibility of the

13 alien to apply for adjustment of status under sub14 section (a), except where the Attorney General has

15 rendered a final administrative determination to

16 deny the application.

17 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney

18 General may authorize an alien who has applied for

19 adjustment of status under subsection (a) to engage

20 in employment in the United States during the

21 pendency of such application and may provide the

22 alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ endorsement

23 or other appropriate document signifying authoriza24 tion of employment, except that if such application

25 is pending for a period exceeding 180 days, and has
5

•HR 945 IH

1 not been denied, the Attorney General shall author2 ize such employment.

3 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

4 CHILDREN.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

6 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the

7 status of an alien shall be adjusted by the Attorney

8 General to that of an alien lawfully admitted for per9 manent residence, if—

10 (A) the alien is the spouse, child, or un11 married son or daughter, of an alien whose sta12 tus is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully ad13 mitted for permanent residence under sub14 section (a), except that in the case of such an

15 unmarried son or daughter, the son or daughter

16 shall be required to establish that they have

17 been physically present in the United States for

18 at least 1 year;

19 (B) the alien applies for such adjustment

20 and is physically present in the United States

21 on the date the application is filed; and

22 (C) the alien is otherwise eligible to receive

23 an immigrant visa and is otherwise admissible

24 to the United States for permanent residence,

25 except in determining such admissibility the
6

•HR 945 IH

1 grounds for exclusion specified in paragraphs

2 (4), (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of

3 the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

4 apply.

5 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For

6 purposes of establishing the period of continuous

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

8 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to

9 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of

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

11 any periods in the aggregate not exceeding 180

12 days.

13 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

14 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad15 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

16 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

17 to—

18 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under

19 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

20 or

21 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under

22 section 240 of such Act.

23 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter24 mination by the Attorney General as to whether the status
7

•HR 945 IH

1 of any alien should be adjusted under this Act is final and

2 shall not be subject to review by any court.

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

4 When an alien is granted the status of having been law5 fully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this

6 Act, the Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce

7 the number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued

8 under any provision of the Immigration and Nationality

9 Act.

10 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION11 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically

12 provided in this section, the definitions contained in the

13 Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the admin14 istration of this Act. Nothing contained in this Act shall

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

16 the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the Attorney

17 General in the administration and enforcement of such

18 Act or any other law relating to immigration, nationality,

19 or naturalization. The fact that an alien may be eligible

20 to be granted the status of having been lawfully admitted

21 for permanent residence under this section shall not pre22 clude the alien from seeking such status under any other

23 provision of law for which the alien may be eligible.

Æ