II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1291

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility

Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher

education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and

adjustment of status of certain alien college-bound students who are

long-term United States residents.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 1, 2001

Mr. HATCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant

Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine

State residency for higher education purposes and to

authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment

of status of certain alien college-bound students who

are long-term United States residents.

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 ‘‘Development, Relief,

5 and Education for Alien Minors Act’’ or ‘‘DREAM Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF STATE OPTION TO DETERMINE

2 RESIDENCY FOR PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDU3 CATION BENEFITS.

4 Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and

5 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Pub6 lic Law 104–208; 110 Stat 3009–672; 8 U.S.C. 1623) is

7 repealed.

8 SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND ADJUSTMENT OF

9 STATUS OF CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENT

10 STUDENTS.

11 (a) SPECIAL RULE FOR CHILDREN IN QUALIFIED IN12 STITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

14 provision of law and subject to paragraph (2), the

15 Attorney General may cancel removal of, and adjust

16 to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for per17 manent residence, subject to the conditional basis

18 described in section 4, an alien who is inadmissible

19 or deportable from the United States, if the alien

20 demonstrates that—

21 (A) the alien has applied for relief under

22 this subsection not later than two years after

23 the date of enactment of this Act;

24 (B) the alien has not, at the time of appli25 cation, attained the age of 21;
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1 (C) the alien, at the time of application, is

2 attending an institution of higher education in

3 the United States (as defined in section 101 of

4 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

5 1001));

6 (D) the alien was physically present in the

7 United States on the date of the enactment of

8 this Act and has been physically present in the

9 United States for a continuous period of not

10 less than five years immediately preceding the

11 date of enactment of this Act;

12 (E) the alien has been a person of good

13 moral character during such period; and

14 (F) the alien is not inadmissible under sec15 tion 212(a)(2) or 212(a)(3) or deportable under

16 section 237(a)(2) or 237(a)(4).

17 (2) PROCEDURES.—The Attorney General shall

18 provide a procedure by regulation allowing eligible

19 individuals to apply affirmatively for the relief avail20 able under this paragraph without being placed in

21 removal proceedings.

22 (b) TERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PERIOD.—For

23 purposes of this section, any period of continuous resi24 dence or continuous physical presence in the United States

25 of an alien who applies for cancellation of removal under
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1 this section shall not terminate when the alien is served

2 a notice to appear under section 239(a) of the Immigra3 tion and Nationality Act.

4 (c) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN PRES5 ENCE.—An alien shall be considered to have failed to

6 maintain continuous physical presence in the United

7 States under subsection (a) if the alien has departed from

8 the United States for any period in excess of 90 days or

9 for any periods in the aggregate exceeding 180 days.

10 (d) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this

11 section may be construed to apply a numerical limitation

12 on the number of aliens who may be eligible for cancella13 tion of removal or adjustment of status under this section.

14 (e) REGULATIONS.—

15 (1) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Not later than

16 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

17 the Attorney General shall publish proposed regula18 tions implementing this section.

19 (2) INTERIM, FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later

20 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of

21 this Act, the Attorney General shall publish final

22 regulations implementing this section. Such regula23 tions shall be effective immediately on an interim

24 basis, but are subject to change and revision after
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1 public notice and opportunity for a period for public

2 comment.

3 SEC. 4. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR

4 CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENT STUDENTS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—

6 (1) CONDITIONAL BASIS FOR STATUS.—Not7 withstanding any other provision of this Act, an

8 alien whose status has been adjusted under section

9 3 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma10 nent residence shall be considered, at the time of ob11 taining the adjustment of status, to have obtained

12 such status on a conditional basis subject to the pro13 visions of this section.

14 (2) NOTICE OF REQUIREMENTS.—

15 (A) AT TIME OF OBTAINING PERMANENT

16 RESIDENCE.—At the time an alien obtains per17 manent resident status on a conditional basis

18 under paragraph (1), the Attorney General

19 shall provide for notice to such alien respecting

20 the provisions of this section and the require21 ments of subsection (c)(1) to have the condi22 tional basis of such status removed.

23 (B) AT TIME OF REQUIRED PETITION.—In

24 addition, the Attorney General shall attempt to

25 provide notice to such an alien, at or about the
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1 date of the alien’s graduation from an institu2 tion of higher education of the requirements of

3 subsection (c)(1).

4 (C) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO PROVIDE NO5 TICE.—The failure of the Attorney General to

6 provide a notice under this paragraph shall not

7 affect the enforcement of the provisions of this

8 section with respect to such an alien.

9 (b) TERMINATION OF STATUS IF FINDING THAT

10 QUALIFYING EDUCATION IMPROPER.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien with

12 permanent resident status on a conditional basis

13 under subsection (a), if the Attorney General deter14 mines that the alien is no longer a student in good

15 standing at an accredited institution of higher edu16 cation, the Attorney General shall so notify the alien

17 and, subject to paragraph (2), shall terminate the

18 permanent resident status of the alien as of the date

19 of the determination.

20 (2) HEARING IN REMOVAL PROCEEDING.—Any

21 alien whose permanent resident status is terminated

22 under paragraph (1) may request a review of such

23 determination in a proceeding to remove the alien.

24 In such proceeding, the burden of proof shall be on

25 the alien to establish, by a preponderance of the evi-
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1 dence, that the condition described in paragraph (1)

2 is not met.

3 (c) REQUIREMENTS OF TIMELY PETITION FOR RE4 MOVAL OF CONDITION.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order for the conditional

6 basis established under subsection (a) for an alien to

7 be removed the alien must submit to the Attorney

8 General, during the period described in subsection

9 (d)(2), a petition which requests the removal of such

10 conditional basis and which states, under penalty of

11 perjury, the facts and information described in sub12 section (d)(1).

13 (2) TERMINATION OF PERMANENT RESIDENT

14 STATUS FOR FAILURE TO FILE PETITION.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien

16 with permanent resident status on a conditional

17 basis under subsection (a), if no petition is filed

18 with respect to the alien in accordance with the

19 provisions of paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen20 eral shall terminate the permanent resident sta21 tus of the alien as of the 90th day after the

22 graduation of the alien from an institution of

23 higher education.

24 (B) HEARING IN REMOVAL PROCEEDING.—

25 In any removal proceeding with respect to an
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1 alien whose permanent resident status is termi2 nated under subparagraph (A), the burden of

3 proof shall be on the alien to establish compli4 ance with the condition of paragraph (1).

5 (3) DETERMINATION AFTER PETITION AND

6 INTERVIEW.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a petition is filed in

8 accordance with the provisions of paragraph

9 (1), the Attorney General shall make a deter10 mination, within 90 days, as to whether the

11 facts and information described in subsection

12 (d)(1) and alleged in the petition are true with

13 respect to the alien’s education.

14 (B) REMOVAL OF CONDITIONAL BASIS IF

15 FAVORABLE DETERMINATION.—If the Attorney

16 General determines that such facts and infor17 mation are true, the Attorney General shall so

18 notify the alien and shall remove the conditional

19 basis of the status of the alien effective as of

20 the 90th day after the alien’s graduation from

21 an institution of higher education.

22 (C) TERMINATION IF ADVERSE DETER23 MINATION.—If the Attorney General determines

24 that such facts and information are not true,

25 the Attorney General shall so notify the alien
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1 and, subject to subparagraph (D), shall termi2 nate the permanent resident status of an alien

3 as of the date of the determination.

4 (D) HEARING IN REMOVAL PRO5 CEEDING.—Any alien whose permanent resident

6 status is terminated under subparagraph (C)

7 may request a review of such determination in

8 a proceeding to remove the alien. In such pro9 ceeding, the burden of proof shall be on the At10 torney General to establish, by a preponderance

11 of the evidence, that the facts and information

12 described in subsection (d)(1) and alleged in the

13 petition are not true with respect to the alien’s

14 education.

15 (d) DETAILS OF PETITION.—

16 (1) CONTENTS OF PETITION.—Each petition

17 under subsection (c)(1)(A) shall contain the fol18 lowing facts and information:

19 (A) The alien graduated from an institu20 tion of higher education, as evidenced by an of21 ficial report from the registrar—

22 (i) within six years, in the case of a

23 four-year bachelor’s degree program; or
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1 (ii) within four years, in the case of

2 the degree program of a two-year institu3 tion.

4 (B) The alien maintained good moral char5 acter.

6 (C) The alien has not been convicted of

7 any offense described in section 237(a)(2) or

8 237(a)(4).

9 (D) The alien has maintained continuous

10 physical residence in the United States.

11 (2) PERIOD FOR FILING PETITION.—The peti12 tion under subsection (c)(1)(A) must be filed during

13 the 90-day period after the alien’s graduation from

14 a institution of higher education.

15 (e) TREATMENT OF PERIOD FOR PURPOSES OF NAT16 URALIZATION.—For purposes of title III of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act, in the case of an alien who is

18 in the United States as a lawful permanent resident on

19 a conditional basis under this section, the alien shall be

20 considered to have been admitted as an alien lawfully ad21 mitted for permanent residence and to be in the United

22 States as an alien lawfully admitted to the United States

23 for permanent residence.

24 (f) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN WAIVERS.—In the case

25 of an alien who has permanent residence status on a con-
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1 ditional basis under this section, if, in order to obtain such

2 status, the alien obtained a waiver under subsection (h)

3 or (i) of section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality

4 Act of certain grounds of inadmissibility, such waiver ter5 minates upon the termination of such permanent residence

6 status under this section.

7 (g) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION DE8 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘institution of higher

9 education’’ has the meaning given the term in section 101

10 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.1001).

11 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT.

12 Six years after the date of enactment of this Act, the

13 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a

14 report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate

15 and the House of Representatives setting forth—

16 (1) the number of aliens who were eligible for

17 cancellation of removal and adjustment of status

18 during the application period described in section

19 3(a)(1)(A);

20 (2) the number of aliens who applied for adjust21 ment of status under section 3(a);

22 (3) the number of aliens who were granted ad23 justment of status under section 3(a); and
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1 (4) the number of aliens with respect to whom

2 the conditional basis of their status was removed

3 under section 4.

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